PROJECT REPORT: HERITAGE & ADAPTIVE REUSE 39
© Fiona Smallshaw
© Fiona Smallshaw
frame had corroded in some areas, and had cracked the masonry inside and out. In areas where cracking was more severe, whole brick sections were replaced with heritage bricks to match the original design with isolated replacement stonework. However, most of the cracking was able to be restored without wholesale replacement. One “major intervention” into the facade that Partridge describes was the reinstatement of the original grand entrance, which had been blocked off with a matching stone plinth. The reopening of the main entrance has been a “significant improvement to the building, and its place within the street scene,” he adds. Before the works were carried out, the architect said it was “easy to pass by the building.” However now that the glazed entrance has been reinstated, “people walking along Counterslip can see into the thriving hub of the Clockwise Office operation.” The historic 120-year-old windows have also been reinstated – from the ground to the fourth floor. Covered with several layers of (lead-based) paint, a careful strategy was required to refurbish them insitu. Partridge details the windows’ restoration work sequence: “removing the putty,
ADF FEBRUARY 2023
deglazing the panes, sand-blast the frames (ensuring waste was captured and did not enter the adjacent harbour), make good any frames, prime the frames, paint the frames, reglaze with new panes, and finally, apply mastic sealant to the perimeter of window assemblies.”
Although elements of the original structure were replaced, the teams put the overall emphasis on retaining the original finish while making the building as safe as possible – rather than producing an ‘as- new’ look. Partridge explains the intent to keep the finish as “raw” as possible as “a conscious decision, so that the progression of The Generator Building through time could be retained.” As a result, most of the core structure was left unaltered. However, the north gable wall was an exception, with new openings created into the new extension. This wall had been subject to “numerous alterations during its life but there was still some original structure – varying between 750 and 900 mm thick – that required new openings to be formed,” says Partridge. An extension to the north end of the building has been purposely designed by Bush using different materials to the
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
© Fiona Smallshaw
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
