We were asked to advise and assist in delivering sensitive conservation and repair works to this Grade II Listed building, with impressive ornate, terracotta faience façade, following the end of long-term retail lease.

The building had been badly neglected leading to deterioration of upper floors in addition to roof structure and terracotta façade.

We began by undertaking a carefully considered set of investigative and survey works to determine the extents and nature of necessary repairs. These focused particularly on rotten timber, poorly advised cementitious plasterwork (internally) and damage caused to terracotta façade by historical chemical based cleaning.

By committing to investigating and understanding the existing condition of the building we were able to sensitively tailor our proposed scope of works and methods of repair to retain as much of the historic fabric as possible and to ensure replacement materials, such as lime plasterwork and Welsh slate were in keeping with existing.

Particular care was taken to understand the historic cleaning treatments ill-advisedly undertaken to the decorative terracotta façade, which features impressive narrative frieze in memory of Thomas Cook, and had left open mortar joints, bleaching and run marks all of which had led to continued dilapidation of façade and detracted from special character of the building.

Initially, sensitive repair works were undertaken to scarf existing members of timber forming roof structure and to repair Welsh slate roof including yoking of gable end chimney to ridge line (re-build would have led to loss of friable terracotta cladding) as well as to repoint open mortar joints across façade and remove vegetation growth.

Once the building had been made watertight through works above, further internal works were undertaken to remove ill-advised cementitious plasterwork and replace with Lime plaster, re-site existing floorboards and splice repair window frames where rotten. Decorative internal features such as existing balustrade to stairwell and historic fireplaces where also repaired and refinished, helping revive the historic character internally as well as externally.