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<\/p>\nDeeping St James lies in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, adjoining Market Deeping. The linear village runs along the picturesque River Welland, whose standout architectural feature is the Grade II*-listed Deeping Gate Bridge.<\/p>\n
The 1651 bridge, along with an 18th-century village lock-up and the Grade I-listed Anglican church of St James on the site of a now-lost 12th-century Benedictine priory comprise the few quirky landmarks of note. It\u2019s a quintessentially English village with an abundance of places of worship. In addition to St James, there is a Catholic church plus a Methodist and two Baptist chapels.<\/p>\n
To the south of The Priory Church of St James, with its looming stone structure in a mixture of Norman, Early English and Perpendicular styles with a tower and 18th-century spire, is The Cross School, a stone-built former schoolhouse currently leased to contemporary dance school Ministry of Dance and used by other organisations including the Deepings Youth Group.<\/p>\n
With finishing touches completed just two weeks prior to my visit, in phase one rural Lincolnshire-based practice Jonathan Hendry Architects has created a new entrance lobby to the schoolhouse and added four studios for rent in an outbuilding to the side.<\/p>\n
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Commissioned by charitable trust Deeping St James United Charities, which owns numerous buildings in the village, the project\u2019s aim was to consolidate the property to make it more useable. The trust also owns a former Working Men\u2019s Club \u2013 The Institute \u2013 which is currently home to both the trust\u2019s and the Parish Council\u2019s offices; another former schoolhouse; five houses and a few small plots of donated land.<\/p>\n
The wider site of The Cross School had lain underused for a long time. It consisted of \u2018agricultural-looking\u2019 tin sheds lining the party wall of the plot, running perpendicular to the edge of the former school building. \u2018They had rusty tin roofs, a timber front and contained an old car,\u2019 recalls practice director Jonathan Hendry.<\/p>\n
The trust had initially wanted a brand-new building to the front of their conservation area-located site and had tendered to a list of local practices drawn up by Deeping St James Parish Council. Hendry\u2019s practice won the tender in 2017 and commenced by drawing up a masterplan for the site with various phased options involving both retrofit and new build, including a retrofit of the former schoolhouse-now-dance hall to make it work more efficiently in layout. The dance hall had been used by the council as offices for some years before being returned to the trust and had suffered from ad hoc additions.<\/p>\n
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Just as planning was about to go in for approval, the trustees got cold feet. It was decided that, as a compromise, they would only submit proposals for the new studios and the schoolhouse entrance, retaining as much of the rear car parking as possible. \u2018It was like herding cats,\u2019 laughs Graham Thompson, chair of the trust.<\/p>\n
Initially planned to be let to the local community and its businesses at affordable flexi-rent with leases as short as one day a week, as the project developed it \u2018became apparent that it would take much more managing\u2019 as Thompson puts it. Going forward, each of the studios will be let out as whole spaces on longer leases, ranging from six months to one year.<\/p>\n
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We enter the single-storey studios, which are arranged in a line in a long, low-rise building reminiscent of a stable block. The simple structure has brick to three sides and a timber front. \u2018We wanted to retain the aesthetic of the existing,\u2019 says Hendry, pointing to the timber fa\u00e7ades. Its massing backs straight onto the site\u2019s boundary, which cranks, and in turn has created a splayed-out roof.<\/p>\n
The rest of the structure is timber frame, the roof formed out of JJI joists to maximise its sheep\u2019s wool insulation infill. The roof also slopes from its highest point at the rear down to the front to maximise studio space within their footprints. The thick, Douglas fir-lined walls make this a noticeably warm space on a crisp autumn day.<\/p>\n
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An oak overhanging roof creates a walk-through colonnade in the space between the schoolhouse and the studios. \u2018We wanted to create a loggia-like space,\u2019 says Hendry, pointing to the line of the overhang, which is mirrored beneath by an external clay quarry tile floor. It\u2019s a subtle move that signals its designer\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
The studios\u2019 fa\u00e7ade is clad in layers of vertical oak picket fencing in \u2018off-the-shelf\u2019 lengths. It\u2019s a playful nod to the garden shed typology in an otherwise pure and strait-laced scheme. \u2018This idea came from bunting,\u2019 says Hendry, mentioning that this familiar feature of English village life came up multiple times when researching local architecture. The repetitive triangular form of bunting comes through in the neatly lined-up points of the inverted picket staves.<\/p>\n
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The studios are all fully serviced, with integrated strip lighting. Trunking with extra data points is provided, so that tenants won\u2019t need to cut into the well-insulated timber walls. The Douglas fir ply is extra-fire-rated, with discreet escape lighting in the timber fa\u00e7ade. They\u2019re all well-lit by rooflights and the end-studio, which is oriented towards a front garden, is dual-aspect. An air source heat pump in the car park provides underfloor heating, while a shared lobby with two WCs and a shared kitchen provides tenants with amenities. Both toilets are unisex and large enough for disabled access.<\/p>\n
The studios are small but robustly detailed. In another nod to agricultural outbuilding types, each studio features a \u2018stable door\u2019, whose top half can be opened separately to create a natural threshold and ventilation on a hot summer\u2019s day.<\/p>\n
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In the former schoolhouse, a new entrance has been created in the same oaky vein as the studios. The long-term plan for the schoolhouse is that, when visitors enter this threshold space, they will gain direct admittance to three large halls, rather than having to negotiate the convoluted arrangements that currently exist.<\/p>\n
Externally, the entrance has created a new gable to the front of the site, with a large, vertical window that \u2018proportionally connects to the existing\u2019. Hendry points to the surrounding village architecture, which is all about gables. It\u2019s a simple, very contextual move that does make it feel as though it belongs to the place. The resulting architecture formed by the revamped entrance and studios is neatly detailed. A local contractor took on the works. \u2018He has a vested interest to make it good,\u2019 says Hendry. \u2018He was very patient.\u2019<\/p>\n
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The final scope of this part of the scheme was new landscaping to the front and rear of the school. \u2018The existing garden had no purpose,\u2019 says Hendry, showing photos of a bare, unused lawn. The desire was to make a communal garden \u2013 \u2018a spill-out space\u2019 \u2013 which could be used for outdoor gatherings. The result is a hard-surfaced circular area with first-season planting surrounding its edges, and a large, almost ecclesiastical curved timber bench providing seating at its centre. It feels appropriate, considering the proximity to the village\u2019s largest church, and you can imagine the 10-strong team of trustees sitting there to plan the next stage of the project.<\/p>\n
The second phase of the scheme will, it is hoped, see the interiors of the schoolhouse opened into three larger halls, such that each can be in use at any one time, says Hendry. \u2018That\u2019s how the new entrance came about,\u2019 he adds. \u2018It\u2019s a spatial organiser.\u2019 The trustees had re-signed a year\u2019s lease with Ministry of Dance, which didn\u2019t want this part of the renovation to take place until they had relocated, putting it on hold for another year or so, when more fundraising could take place. \u2018We were nervous about there being too much, too soon,\u2019 adds Thompson.<\/p>\n
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Nicely detailed, and with a simple palette of appealing natural materials, there\u2019s not much else to say about this sweet, small and very local project, which can now take its place among the village\u2019s modest collection of varied architecture.<\/p>\n
However, what it does do is demonstrate that working with heritage successfully doesn\u2019t have to be about making large architectural moves, nor come about all in one go. Fine projects are often built up incrementally \u2013 whether due to budgetary or time constraints or lack of decision-making \u2013 and by working closely with the client and community. This project got me thinking about what larger profiteers and developers might learn from slow projects that are more about long-term, sometimes hesitant but careful thinking, rather than quick wins.<\/p>\n
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Start on site<\/strong> August 2023 Deeping St James lies in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, adjoining Market Deeping. The linear village runs along the picturesque River Welland, whose standout architectural feature is the Grade II*-listed Deeping Gate Bridge. The 1651 bridge, along with an 18th-century village lock-up and the Grade I-listed Anglican church of St James on the site …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59337,"featured_media":767605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[706],"tags":[100628,2690,2691,3122],"yoast_head":"\n
\nCompletion<\/strong> June 2024
\nGross internal and external floor area<\/strong> 222m\u00b2
\nConstruction cost<\/strong> \u00a3839,000 (including landscape, external works and National Grid site upgrade)
\nConstruction cost per m\u00b2<\/strong> \u00a33,780
\nArchitect<\/strong> Jonathan Hendry Architects
\nClient<\/strong> Deeping St James Charitable Trust
\nStructural engineer<\/strong> Paramount Structural Engineers
\nQuantity surveyor<\/strong> Ford Estimating
\nPrincipal designer<\/strong> Jonathan Hendry Architects
\nCDM co\u2011ordinator<\/strong> CQMS
\nApproved building inspector<\/strong> Lincolnshire County Council
\nMain contractor<\/strong> JD Carter
\nCAD software used<\/strong> AutoCAD
\nPredicted design life<\/strong> 40 years (building fabric)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"