On January 7th the works began: …. derelict garage, now wood workshop to become yoga, wellbeing and art studio!
Designed by Geoffrey and I with architect Julian Marsh, and Mike Askey
Built by Paul Fitzpatrick, Geoffrey Fielding, Nige Clark, Derek Grant, Chris Jones, Phil Burlington, John, and project managed by me!
Couldn’t have been done without the wonderful work of Structural Engineer: Steve Wickham
The Crafty bits go on:
Oak & Glass roof: Geoffrey
Lime: Paul & Chris
Lead work & Bricks: Nige & Geoffrey
Round Window and oak staircase: John
Steels: Phil
Painting and Lime Wash: Derek
Now this project, is not just a case of actualising a set of drawings, keeping to a schedule of works, or a ‘get the builders out of ones hair’ type of job. It’s a labor of love. It’s as much about homemade bread and the sharing of it, music and the playing of it, how the walls are going to breathe with nature.
We talk non stop about condensation, the problems of new insulation, thermal mass and the question of sustainability; the workforce, the building, teaching yoga and the creative process.
Take Paul; our dear friend whose worked with Geoffrey on projects here over 13 years on our house, Paul’s a musician who can’t help singing on the job, and is staying with us from his home in Cornwall where he is an expert eco builder working in lime, cobb, and straw bail, he’s a rockbed of support and experience: How does one support a 6 ton wall of bricks to slot in a new 30foot steel?: Go very gently. Then there is Nige: a drummer, who never leaves his book on the art of working in lead far from his side, and sure we need his skills here as at the moment a lead parapet gutter, lead upstand and lead facing are crucial to our new roof. The gap between the buildings is where this project really lands, without it we don’t have a staircase, and without that no studio; and this is where Geoffrey begins. He’s been working every day since mid December, and it turns out that the project rests on his maths and an uncanny ability to spot a technical problem no-one else has seen and put it right. I’d seen his leanings towards working with wood when he built our kitchen work surface from some teak reclaimed panelling, but now we have an oak and glass roof he has built to fill this illusive and crucial gap between the buildings, a work of art and something we will all be looking up at every day.
Today the Round Window is going in and the reflections of the trees are beautiful!