As described in an earlier post, we are now about to rebuild the end of the house that rotted and fell down 40 or more years ago. The first step, which took up much of the summer and autumn, has been to complete the main repairs to the old building, especially the gable end where the new structure will join.
The new one and a half storey building is not a copy or pastiche of what was there before, but it is roughly the same size and shape. That means the overall bulk will be as it used to be before one end collapsed. It adds 55 square metres of floor space to an existing house of just over 100 square metres. The architects and planning consultants are Hollins of Framlingham, who also oversaw the conversion of the Grade II listed building.
There used to be doors at ground and first floor level between the two parts of the building, and they were joined completely. We plan to connect the old and new only at ground floor level with a narrow, relatively lightweight, single storey entrance hall. By avoiding elaborate joins, the two structures will be able to move separately, which makes sense because the old building has shallow foundations and the new will have reinforced concrete piles as much as 8 metres deep. Piling is necessary because the site is perched on the edge of the pond.
The piles were initially planned to support reinforced concrete ground beams, but this was changed to a reinforced concrete raft supported by piles. This avoids filling in part of the pond, because it needs a smaller working area for the machinery.
The quotes are in for the piling. Time to make a decision!
saving The Old Brewhouse 