Renovation

Building Within

This case study is from SelfBuild & Design November 2020 | Buy this issue | Subscribe

Extending into the ruins of an old parchment factory and cattle shed has enabled this listed house in Northamptonshire to become a unique and award-winning building within a building.

Story: Debbie Jeffery Photography: Johan Dehlin

In Brief

Originally built to produce paper rumoured to have been used by royalty, only crumbling masonry walls remained of the old parchment works when Francis and Louise Bennett first took on the structure in 2012.

“It stood in the grounds of the house we wanted to buy, along with a cowshed also dating back to the 17th century,” explains Francis. “Converting and connecting all the buildings hadn’t originally crossed our minds – we were just intent on restoring the house.”

Connected to the Grade-II listed double-fronted house was a small disused cowshed and beyond that the ruin.

Undeterred, Francis and Louise determined to take on the three-bedroom property. Connected to the Grade-II listed double-fronted house was a small disused cowshed and beyond that the ruin. Only three partial walls remained, with no roof or floor, and it was completely overgrown and open to the elements.

“The house itself was very dated – the interiors hadn’t been touched for around 30 years,” continues Francis. “It was probably originally built in the early 1700s, when it was set back from the road. A Victorian extension was then added to the front.”

The garden enjoys tremendous views across the Welland Valley to the rear, which Louise and Francis felt could be maximised by building a glazed kitchen extension. Their initial thoughts were that the ruined parchment works was structurally unsound, and they believed keeping it would prove unviable.

“Although we were conscious of the fact that it was listed, we felt that realistically the old ruin would have to come down, because the cost to do anything with it would be so great,” says Francis.

Initially, the brief was to convert the cattle shed and demolish the ruin to make way for a new extension. From the beginning of the design process with Will Gamble Architects it was clear that the couple viewed the ruin as a constraint, as opposed to a positive asset to be celebrated.

Instead of demolishing the ruin, however, Will Gamble proposed a radical design – a building within a building – where two lightweight volumes could be delicately inserted within the masonry walls in order to preserve and celebrate the ancient structure.

Will Gamble Architects' proposal for a building within a building has saved the ruins of a listed 17th century parchment works, connecting it to a restored Victorian house with an ancient cowshed so that they could be used as a whole.

Francis admits that he and Louise were apprehensive at first but were inspired by Will’s energy and enthusiasm for the project. The semi-retired couple also felt they would have time to oversee the work while living on site.

“We’d already done a quick makeover on the house to make it habitable, with a temporary kitchen, and we moved in,” Francis recalls. “The planning process was long and protracted because of the listing, and we needed various archaeological surveys.”

Two years and two design schemes later, the couple were growing weary of the process. Their desire to extend the existing traditional layout – which consisted of a separate sitting room, dining room and kitchen – involved increasing the size of the kitchen and adding further bedroom space.

“There were no communal areas – everything was carved up into small rooms,” Francis continues. “The front of the house faced away from the views, so we wanted to increase the glazing to the rear. Will convinced us that there was scope to make something special out of the ruin by building within it and making it part of the house, but getting a builder to quote a fixed price for such a complex project proved difficult.”

Structural surveys were conducted on the old parchment works, which has extremely thick stone walls, and these demonstrated that it should be possible to retain the stonework without the need to significantly rebuild.

“It only required tidying up and repointing, which convinced us to go ahead, but then we went out to tender and hit another barrier,” says Francis. “Two builders refused to even quote and then we had an outrageous price. It probably took nine months after gaining planning permission to find our builder, and the project then lasted another two years after that.”