Transformation of St. Elisabeth’s Church into a Phonics Business Office
Client: Jolly Learning - Chris Jolly OBE
Type: Change of Use/Commercial project
Size: 440 Square Feet
Location: Buckhurst Hill, Essex
District Council: Epping Forest
Service: Full Architectural Service
Project Team Architects: Kate Murray
Completion Date: July 2020
Project Brief
Jolly Learning writes and publishes children’s books and associated materials teaching children to read using a unique and impressive phonics method for primary schools worldwide.
In response to rapid growth, thriving local business, Jolly Learning searched for several years for a new property to expand into.
They purchased St Elisabeth’s in 2018, a redundant early 20th century church and then approached our team at MP Chartered Architects in November 2018 to support the project.
St. Elisabeth’s church and its adjacent community hall presented an excellent opportunity due to the spacious interiors, abundance of natural light, and unique architectural features.
The brief was to remodel this building and become the new headquarters, creating a larger workspace to accommodate their expanding operation. There was also scope for sufficient off-street parking for staff, visitors plus transport access however alterations for this to work efficiently needed to be applied.
Challenges
The optimisation of available space and maintenance of the building’s architectural integrity posed significant challenges. Firstly, conversion of this heritage building needed planning permission to agree to the architectural design.
This locally listed building required comprehensive and in-depth work with the conservation officers at Epping Forest planning department to obtain approval. The ‘change of use’ project status deemed that it was compulsory to reinsulate both walls and roof to meet higher insulation standards required than previously as a church.
The architectural modifications and interior design had to be executed with sensitivity and respect for its heritage value. Departmental zoning and sound treatments were essential to creating a productive and harmonious workspace. Furthermore, the presence of asbestos necessitated a safe removal process to ensure the well-being of all involved and to allow the building works to proceed. The discovery what we believe to be a war-time bomb shelter under the stage of the church posed an exciting yet challenging aspect, requiring careful evaluation and appropriate safety measures to remove the heavily reinforced concrete lid to the cellar area which was accessed by a flight of external steps.
The adjacent community hall also required a small renovation to facilitate subletting. A further challenging aspect was the road access for large transportation vehicles. Turning access needed to be factored into the architectural design for delivery to expedite worldwide shipping.
Kate, I want to give you an enormous thanks for all the work you did in the conversion of St Elisabeth’s church into our offices. It was a huge task and one that made an unbelievable transformation to the building and the site. It is a job that was very well done by all concerned and has given an outstanding venue for our continuing business.
Jolly Learning - Chris Jolly OBE
Solutions
Through careful planning and creative architectural design led by Kate Murray, the church was transformed into a stunning office space, incorporating various perspectives and dedicated areas for warehousing, distribution, accounts, desktop publishing, communal spaces, and administration workspaces. MP Chartered Architects managed the project from concept to ompletion, ensuring a consistent process. This project embraced sustainability by employing selective demolition, reusing existing materials, and minimizing unnecessary development.
The start in July 2020 was at the end of the first lockdown in the pandemic, asbestos was found, the unexpected discovery of a wartime bomb shelter, structural design changes, and hundreds of both minor and major hurdles had to be overcome. Stelwood Ltd. Building Contractors provided an exceptional client service, based on-site.
Our Architectural proposal included works mainly in the church interior which was to be divided into two parts. The larger section was allocated for the business offices and the smaller area was assigned to the Jolly Learning packing and distribution team. Meticulous planning was employed to create a functional open-plan office with multiple perspectives and effective acoustic control.
Long-term energy-saving measures were prioritised, including the installation of underfloor heating under the main office floor of the nave and an advanced, energy-efficient boiler room. Cavity wall insulation was retrospectively blown into the cavity walls of the church and community hall. All windows and external doors were replaced and were double-glazed. A stunning mezzanine floor was built on the first-floor level, reaching across half the length of the church nave to incorporate a second level, making extra space for the growing team of administrative and office-based staff. This was supported with large steel columns, that needed excavations for concrete pad foundations within the old timber floor of the nave. The mezzanine floor was built, incorporating structural glass balustrading to its perimeter providing a spacious perspective. A joinery workshop was commissioned to create bespoke wood panelling to ensure a consistent appearance with existing church features.
Externally, a loading bay was built to allow one metre cube pallets of books could be loaded onto lorries reversing up to theloading bay. Two 300mm diameter cylindrical posts were drilled down into the ground recesses of the loading bay, in the casethat should a lorry accidentally reversed too fast and knocked the posts it would not in turn damage the loading bay and historic brick walls of the church behind.
The community hall underwent a necessary renovation with replacement double-glazed aluminium windows, new timber purpose-made external secure doors, new gutters and downpipes, redecoration and reinsulating of walls and the roof to bring it up to current standard. This now successfully houses a busy food bank operation that serves local residents and has other community uses. Balancing the need for structural modifications with the preservation of the church’s locally listed heritage status posed a significant challenge. There were over 60 new aluminium windows set within old stone frames. The design was sensitive to the steel new double glazed heritage style windows replaced single glazed draughty critt all windows within the multiple existing stone surrounds.
Jolly Learning, Stelwood, and MP Chartered Architects collaborated closely as a team to develop a comprehensive design that honoured the church’s historic features while incorporating contemporary office elements. Chris Jolly OBE, from Jolly Learning, expressed immense gratitude to Kate Murray and the entire team for their outstanding work in converting St. Elisabeth’s church into their offices. The project was a remarkable transformation that provided an exceptional venue for their ongoing business activities.
