CRAYMANOR LIMITED HAND OVER TO BELLWAY HOMES THE COMPLETED £320,000.00 REFURBISHED HISTORIC CLOCK TOWER, WHICH FORMS THE FOCAL POINT OF THIS £100MILLION HOUSING PROJECT.

Craymanor Ltd worked closely with Mike Ellis MCIOB, Bellway Homes Project Director to completely refurbish both the exterior and interior of this historic Clock Tower, which formally served Hither Green Hospital at Hither Green Lane, South East London.

The Clock Tower prior to its refurbishment was in a sorry state, had not been touched for many years, had severe structural movement and was infested with pigeons.

The project was undertaken by Craymanor Ltd directly for Bellway Homes. Every aspect of the building was refurbished including the external elevations with brick cleaning and re-pointing throughout. The clock dials themselves were removed, refurbished, painted and gold gilded and the clock mechanism was bought up to modern day standards and linked to the automated clock service at Rugby.

It was important to the client, local authority planning office and local conservation groups that the Tower retained its historic appeal and all of the original features including the original water tanks have been retained. The upper floors have been kept in their original form with the lower floors now operating as management and security offices and a possible museum. The Tower itself now forms the focal point for Meridian South, a £100 million project being undertaken by Bellway Homes and once completed will be the centrepiece with a main piazza area, offering a fantastic amenity to the residents at Meridian South, Hither Green, South London.

It is a testament to the hard work and the full understanding of the client’s requirements that Craymanor Ltd completed this project in several months and to an exceptional standard. Indeed, the defects liability period has just expired and snagging items have consisted of shrinkages in decorations and took less than half a day for one man to complete.

This project was a fantastic opportunity for Craymanor Ltd to demonstrate their expertise in this type of refurbishment in which we were invited to tender because we held Chartered status with the Chartered Institute of Building.

This Victorian water tower which was refurbished at a cost of in excess of £320,000.00 is now one of a long list of specialist projects undertaken by Craymanor Ltd in its eighteen year history, indeed at present, Craymanor Ltd are also undertaking the refurbishment of the MENCAP building in Dartford, Kent directly for the client offering fantastic facilities for the disabled, including dance studios, hairdressing, aromatherapy and computer training with a value in excess of £400,000.00 together with many other commercial projects and domestic extensions varying in cost of between £30,000.00 and £150,000.00.

This impressive listed building was a former home of Napoleon III and is steeped in history.

As often is the case with these type of buildings they suffer from years of neglect leading to massive refurbishment and maintenance problems which are further exacerbated by its listed status and in this case this building is currently undergoing a programme of maintenance which, when finished, is likely to represent a significant expenditure.

The work will include for the complete refurbishment of historic components and for internal refurbishment and alike.

Craymanor Limited have commenced work on this project currently undertaking the repair and refurbishment of the historic components, such as decorative gargoyles, bottle walling, exterior chimneys and roofing which are the essential items at this part of the programme.

As with all historic projects, costs need to be controlled and in this regard Craymanor Limited have won this contract on competitive tendering and we were also able at that time to liase with the listed building officer at the local authority and give expert advice on the correct method of remedial works so as to compliment the building and its historic features.

Craymanor Limited have just handed over this fantastic refurbishment to their client, Dartford and Swanley MENCAP Services.

The completed project now offers excellent facilities not only for disabled persons but also for the general public and will assist those users in integrating with normal everyday activities.

The facilities on offer include a fully equipped dance studio at first floor level together with dedicated rooms for hairdressing and aromatherapy together with a computer suite complete with modern and up to date IT facilities.

For running the centre, management offices were included together with a warm and welcoming reception area. To facilitate access to the building, wider doors were installed together with a lift between two floors and access ramps to facilitate the differences in floor levels.

We were awarded the project on competitive tendering and the form of contract is a JCT Intermediate. We worked closely with the client’s consultant, Mr Mark Jarrett FRICS to adapt and overcome design issues to ensure the client’s requirements were met in full.

The completed contract value is approximately £450,000.00 and represents not only a fantastic and solid investment, but also brings to Dartford a modern up to date facility which would otherwise not have existed for the whole community.