TALATON STABLE BLOCK
Small village in the heart of East Devon
The project involved converting a disused stable block into four independent holiday cottages. WC were successful in a two-part tender & were appointed as Principal Contractor to undertake all internal & landscaping works.
KEY WORKS
Conversion of a Grade II listed stable block into four beautiful individual holiday cottages
Supply & installation of hardwood kingpost A frames
High performance insulation to increase U Values
New roofing including upgrading insulation & aluminium rainwater goods
High specification internal fit out
Hard & soft landscaping
The Stable block sat within the curtilage of a Grade II Listed Building & the Client’s design brief was to preserve & retain as much of the original character as possible. Unfortunately, shortly after the project started the existing roof structure was found to be beyond economical repair, so when the decision came to replace it, instead of opting for a modern method of roof construction the roof was replaced with a series of bespoke traditional Kingpost A frames with matching purlins.
The replacement Kingpost A frames created a beautiful exposed vaulted ceiling internally which also allowed the interior designers to create a modern twist off what is a traditional feature. The holiday cottages were finished to an extremely high standard & due to the unusual room dimension & floor layouts all staircases, doors, windows, windowsills & kitchens all had to be hand made.
The external layout involved overcoming a series of level changes in order to maintain level access to each of the holiday cottages. This was undertaken using low impact hard landscaping concepts including oak sleepers, dwarf masonry retaining walls & grading of levels.
The project also involved a series of structural improvement works to the existing building. This included underpinning the existing foundations & then pouring a reinforced structural ground bearing slab to all ground floor rooms.
Rather than add additional loading to the existing stone structure, the Structural Engineer designed a timber frame building that was constructed off the new load bearing floors & within the existing Stable Block.
This particular method of construction also meant that the new timber frame panels could be insulated with high performance insulation which in turn increased the thermal properties of the whole building.
SKILLED | SENSITIVE | SUSTAINABLE
