Proposals for Village Hall

Notes from the investigating architect

I have spent a day looking over the hall and comparing various strategies for the project, and set out below my thoughts at this stage.

As the attached sketch ‘P’ shows the hall provides 64m² of space (for comparison, an ordinary three-bedroom house, with 50m² downstairs and 50m² upstairs, has 100m²). According to the brief you have given me there is, apart from the hall itself, a need for about 40 to 45 m² of ancillary space, broken down as follows .

Note 1 - if both sexes have access to the Unisex WC then males might have urinals only and females 2 WCs rather than 3.

Note 2 - the present kitchen (8m²) looks too small for 3 workers.

The present entrance and kitchen area provides 17.5m². Elsewhere on the site you have some space, say 4m², within the double-hipped store ‘A’ and 14m² within the outbuilding ‘B’. Total ancillary space available is therefore 35.5m².

Strategy 1 . Use existing buildings with a small extension of 4.5 to 9.5m².

If you were prepared to continue to have outside access to the store and to some of the lavatories the strategy might be worth pursuing. However, the result might not meet the standards required by grant-giving bodies, let alone your own wish for improvements. The arrangement would be inconvenient both for organisers of events and for those attending.

In addition, it might be said that outbuilding ‘B’, which is not part of the original design, does not merit restoration. I have not pursued this strategy.

Strategy 2 - Insert a floor in the main hall.

This is a tempting proposition. More than half of the hall’s volume lies above the present ceiling. There would be savings in cost if the existing enclosing walls and roof could be made to yield the extra floor-space. The fine roof timbers could be exposed as originally intended. All the necessary extra area and more could be found at ground level, where all the ancillary accommodation could be placed beneath the new floor, while a hall of the present area could be created at the upper level.

There are, however, objections. For disabled access a lift would be necessary, introducing a large cost. Kitchen service from the ground floor to the hall on the first floor would be less direct. Above all, the existing roof trusses, which I inspected, though very fine, are not of suitable form. There would be little headroom, if any, under the main tie-beams. For these reasons I have not pursued this strategy.

Strategy 3 - Add an extension of individual form having minimal contact with the existing buildings.

This strategy has been successfully applied at St Margaret’s, Walmgate in York (now the Early Music Centre).

If outbuilding ‘A’ could be used, and preferably connected to the main buildings, the balance of extra space to be provided in an extension would be 22.5 to 27.5m². Sketch ‘Q’ shows a possible site for such an extension, which might be detached from the main building by a glazed link and given a flat roof so as not to obscure completely the original relationship between the main hall and the pyramidal outbuilding.

If this strategy is to be pursued agreement would be necessary with the neighbours about diverting the present access to their property.

Strategy 4 - Add an extension compatible in form and materials with the original design of the school.

One way of doing so would be to extend the entrance area as shown in Sketch ‘R’ and to give it a roof of form subsidiary to the main roof which it adjoins. The new entrance front might be a reproduction of that existing. Within the new roof there might be usable space for part of the storage requirement - the lighter or more seldom used articles perhaps. The possibility of a small balcony with extra seating, and a projection booth, might be explored.

Comparative costs - I have not attempted estimates and am not qualified to prepare detailed costings with the accuracy of a quantity surveyor. However, we might invite builders interested in tendering for the work in due course to rank the strategies in order of likely cost, without giving figures. Other things being equal my own preference would be for strategy 4.

Please put these thoughts to your committee so that we can then discuss the next steps.

Sketch 'P', existing spaces

Sketch 'Q' Strategy 3

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