Methodist Chapel, Old Town
Ecclesiastical buildings are amongst the finest architecture to be found in the Calder Valley. The Methodist Chapel in Old Town sits at the head of Nutclough, above Hebden Bridge – a monument to the history and architectural heritage of the upper valley. Our long standing client, a property developer who sees the potential in local, historic buildings, asked us to collaborate with him to convert the chapel into a dream family home for his own family.
This project follows on from a previous collaboration with the same client: the conversion of the former Co-operative building in Pecket Well into apartments and we are currently working together on the conversion of the former Cragg Vale Junior and Infants School into houses. We were chosen for this project for our creativity in space planning, our knowledge and track record in restoration and our expertise in sustainability. We recognise that getting the best results requires a sincere commitment to collaborative working.
We wanted to maximise the inherent quality of the historic structure whilst giving it a new, long and sustainable future.
The brief was to convert the chapel into two dwellings and the Sunday school into a third. A highly innovative project, we wanted to maximise the inherent quality of the historic structure whilst giving it a new, long and sustainable future. Many of the original features remain and are celebrated in the interior, such as incredible stained glass windows and epic roof trusses.
The living spaces are at roof level, and feature a substantial inset balcony with jaw-dropping views of the sunset over historic Heptonstall. We managed the planning process on behalf of the client for the inset balcony and the full roof covering of in-line solar photovoltaic panels and roof windows.
The adjacent Sunday School has also been converted into domestic accommodation, with complementary and distinctive metal cladding employed for the extensions and balcony – the curves echoing the beautiful sweep of the original external stair to the front door of the chapel.
Occupants can enjoy a combination of breath-taking as well as intimate, cosy spaces.
We talked through a number of design options, and were impressed with the imaginative, creative ideas which maximised use of natural light and optimised the space available. Hawdon Russell Architects came up with ideas which were beyond what we had imagined was possible, but were in fact do-able, without blowing the budget and were often actually elegantly quite simple. Using Hawdon Russell Architects proved to us that it is worth using a 'proper architect' because the final design will likely be so much better to live in, and make your property ultimately more valuable. Eddy & Sarah
