External repair and redecoration of an historic boarding school of various construction types
West Sussex
Christ‘s Hospital dates to 1552 and is home to buildings of various ages and construction types. The hospital was mainly built in the late 1800s and is set within substantial grounds. These works are an important part of the cyclical repairs carried out to help with the preservation of the buildings.
This co-educational independent boarding school was set up in London to take in and educate disadvantaged children. The charitable mission of the school has been continued at the Horsham site since 1902.
Valley Builders were appointed to carry out external repair and redecoration to Peele Boarding House and the attached House Parents’ properties.
The project involved:
- full scaffolding
- cleaning of all brick, stone and masonry
- repointing
- brick replacement and stone indent repairs or replacement
- stone cill repairs
- replacement lead flashings and roofs to dormers
- cupola repairs
- full re-decoration
The selection of materials required significant thought, especially the stone and brick replacements, to ensure the aesthetics and essence of the building were retained.
Working on a school campus during term-time requires careful planning, particularly when there is an extensive amount of scaffolding involved.
Due to the nature of the remedial works, a close working relationship was required with the surveyors so that, for each building being worked on, we were able to assess the condition of the various elements at the earliest opportunity. This relationship also facilitated regular reviews and updates to the sequencing of works, ensuring that the programme schedule was kept to as best as possible.
