Phase 2 behind the scenes: When the builders go home ....

Work on Phase 2 is now into its second half. Despite the inevitable disruption, the meeting house continues to provide facilities for a wide range of community groups throughout the building works.

The renovation and extension work is challenging for all concerned. Our builders continue to deal with an awkward site, not helped by extensive work on a neighbouring building in Friargate, restricting access from the already narrow street.

Users of the meeting house are accepting the temporary changes and inconveniences well, thanks in no small part to the efforts of our meeting house staff.

The building work itself is making good progress and first improvements are now taking shape. The ground floor toilets have now been remodelled, for example, as this collage of the work shows:

However, most of the ongoing progress remains hidden, of course. Users of the building see nothing of what is going on behind the blocked-off section of the foyer where formerly the library was located ....

But now, thanks to photos by Tasha Heny, our meeting house manager, we have the opportunity to see something of  what is going on behind the scenes. 

Much construction work is carried out in a vast scaffolding tent, located over the garden terrace.

Here, as of mid-October are some of the parts of the building seen after the builders have gone home at the end of the working day:

The link corridor on the new upper floor, alongside the main meeting room complete with temporary guttering.

View down into the main meeting room from the new link corridor.

Room 1

 The rooms for small groups, consultations and interviews are also taking shape on the new upper floor:

Room 2

Room 3, towards the corridor

Room 4

Phase II about to start now

Next week work is going to start on Phase II. This week our staff have been kept really busy. This phase of the work is on the ground floor and impinges on many of the public areas, whilst for many people Phase 1 was out of site on the garden level of the building.

So many areas of the meeting house need to be cleared out ready for building action over the summer. A huge task for those involved, whilst maintaining lettings as far as possible. The library and all its books are also being moved, which in itself is no small task.

An added unforeseen complication has been caused by the start of major renovation and building works directly opposite to us in Friargate, of which we had been unaware – until last Sunday morning the scaffolders moved in and blocked off access to Friargate.

This means added difficulties for access in that narrow little street which is Friargate, as well as the removal of all the public bike racks there.  And these were part of the arrangements for visitors to the meeting house while our own bike parking facilities are out of action during the building works ...

Great to see how Tasha, Phyllis and Helen are coping with everything cropping up each day with such calm and competence.

And good to see how the final part of the Friargate Project takes off.

A sneak preview of Phase II

Our architects have prepared some 3-D impressions of the exterior of the meeting house after the completion of Phase II.

Here's the view from the garden, with the Garden Room / Quiet Room tower on the left (already built as part of Phase I). The connecting section to the new rooms and the new rooms themselves are on the new upper floor.

And here's the view from the end of the terrace on the ground floor:

The new rooms are on the new upper floor on the right of the picture. Access from the terrace is also possible to the Quiet Room, the main meeting room, the new lift and stairs.

And finally, here's a bird's eye view, looking down onto the whole project:

Friargate Phase 2: Ready for the Off!

Now that the financing arrangements of the remaining works are in place, York Area Meeting Trustees have given the green light for the second phase to start.

Work is due to start later this month:

• Underpinning part of the building;
• Moving the library, ready for the creation of the new seating area;
• The addition of new rooms on an upper floor;
• Refurbishment of the present cloakrooms;
• Various improvements to the ground floor area.

OFFERS NEEDED!

Tasha, our meeting house manager, is looking for offers of practical help from 20th July on, in moving the library contents, and on 25th for clearing rooms and moving furniture. 
She would like you to contact her as soon as possible if you can lend a hand.




SPECIAL MEETING HOUSE ARRANGEMENTS 

The group co-ordinating the works has helpfully given some indications of arrangements and timetable ahead.

Building work starts on Monday 27^th July and is due to finish on Friday 27^th November.

The main entrance to Friargate Meeting House will be available at all times during the contract, as will the disabled WC. 

On Sundays only, the downstairs toilets will be accessible through the Fell Room.

Children’s’ meetings will be all-age, and take place in the Fox Room.

ork on the ground floor toilets will mean that there will be no access to ladies or gents facilities, probably until September

The kitchen will be available on Sundays and usually during the week, but may be closed from time to time when specific building operations are carried out from the scaffolding overhead.

The present library, the Penn Room and the Quiet Room will be out of use for the duration of the contract.

U3A, AA, and users of the rooms on the garden level will access the basement area from Clifford Street only.

The outer lobby at the front of the building will be used by the contractors as an office for the site foreman, and the patio and side passageway as a materials store. 

The white gates will only be used to access the Assistant Manager’s house and the Fox Room. The passageway will be fenced off, similar to the arrangements in Phase one.

Bikes should be locked to the racks on Friargate.

NB

During August the Meeting House will normally be closed.  Staff can only guarantee to be open 10-12 Monday to Friday if there are bookings already in the diary.  If Friends need access to the building, for whatever reason, please contact the Meeting House staff in advance and they will be as helpful as they can be.  August will be used for staff holidays, cleaning and ‘catching up’. 

From September Friends will be able to call in to the Meeting House as usual, at the opening times of 10-4, Monday - Friday, but are asked to be aware that building operations are going on and to comply with any requirements or restrictions which are there in the interests of safety.                                            

UPDATE 3 now ready

The next edition of our project newsletter is now finished. It's already online on our website yorkquakers.org.uk.

Hard copies are now also printed, again on our 100% recycled paper of choice. (By using this paper, on one edition of Update we 79 litres of water, 16.3 kWh of electricity and 7.5kg of wood pulp.)

Next week we'll be inserting a copy into each edition of Quakevine, York's monthly Quaker newsletter. Copies will also be distributed around the Area Meeting, and to users of our meeting house. Visitors will be able to pick one up on the round table near the entrance of Friargate.

The newsletter takes stock of what has been achieved so far, and sets the scene for Phase 2 of the development, due to begin this summer. In July, the next edition will set out Phase 2 in more detail.

Update 3 – available at Friargate and online at yorkquakers.org.uk

Behind the scenes

Details of Phase 2 are still being settled. Apart from the four new rooms on a new upper floor (accessible of course via our new lift), the street level foyer will undergo something of a transformation, with the present library room being opened up to make a seating and reading area.

This will also mean that natural light from the terrace will brighten the entrance lobby, and the shortening of the corridor will mean that The Quiet Room will become easier to reach and a more visible part of the overall concept.

And while we're at it …
Quite a few other improvements will enhance the meeting house experience for visitors. Increased soundproofing, a new additional entrance for the main meeting room, some new carpets, and last but not least the upgrading and refurbishing of our main cloakroom areas.

The costing of the works is still being finalised by all involved, but at the moment it looks as if a target of around £390,000 will be likely.

Fundraising has already started. As with Phase 1, this will include realising investments, donations, grant applications, special events, and, it is hoped financial support from within our Area Meeting. For the first time, interest-free loans will be part of the overall package.

At the beginning of March, fundraisers already contacted all members of Friargate meeting regarding donations and loans. In the light of the low interest returns on savings in the wider economy, this seems to be a practical way of underwriting the financial future our Quaker meeting and helping to fund a resource for the local community. Already a number of offers have come in, a very promising start.

 

In March the Fundraising Group sent out an appeal letter to Friargate Friends

Phase 2 on track for 2015

It is almost a year since the completion of Phase 1 of the Friargate Project. The Quiet Room is in use, both for access during the day and for use by groups in the evenings. The U3A groups seem very pleased with the light and airy rooms on the garden level.

And the Woolman Room, so long plagued by damp problems via its historic underground wall, has now become one of our most popular rooms. It's now an inviting venue, with its own separate access.


The Garden Room is proving an excellent choice for smaller groups and committees, both because of its convenient set-up flexibility and on account of its quiet garden setting.

And in the meantime, committees, volunteers, staff and contractors have been taking stock, ready for Phase 2 which we hope will be completed in 2015.

The new Woodman Room set up for a small group presentation

Phase 1 Complete!

The building work was completed around Easter, as hoped. The rooms are now already in use by various groups, including York's University of the Third Age branch.

Following the new corridor on street level from next to the existing library takes you to the Quiet Room, open throughout the day for worship and group or individual reflection.

The new corridor (terrace on the left, main meeting room on the right)

The Quiet Room

Leading up from the garden level the stairs and a new lift provide access to the garden level, but also up to the new level where, in a year's time, the additional rooms are to be constructed (Phase 2 of the building project).

Stairs lead to the upper level, where three additional rooms are to be built.

On the garden level, the Fell Room has been refurbished and separated by a new corridor from the U3A offices. On that corridor, there are three new cloakrooms and a new kitchen. Below the Quiet Room is the Garden Room, an airy room for small meetings and groups,

The Garden Room

Along the corridor the new Woolman Room has been transformed. The historic Friary Wall is now a feature behind glass. This is separately ventilated in order to deal with the damp mustiness coming from the wall, especially in summer, The room now has a larger window and additional access to the garden.

The Woolman Room with the historic wall

The Woolman Room is now lighter, with improved garden access.

Outside, the garden has been given a new look so as to be inviting, peaceful and a place to be enjoyed by young and old. The paving is now in place, with turfing. The garden and the terraces are now ready for planting to begin ....

The new extension with Quiet Room and Garden Room. (Woolman Room doors on the right.)

The garden, looking towards the seating area

One of the benches in the seating area (detail)

Breakthrough!

In mid-March the wall from the present building to the connecting corridor to the extension was broken through on the street-level. The new Quiet Room is now accessible from the main concourse of the meeting house.

Start of the removal of the wall next to the main meeting room

Meanwhile work continued in the new parts of the building. Windows have been fitted to the linking corridor, the Quiet Room and the garden room as these photos from Chris Edwards show:

Inside the new Garden Room

View of the new link corridor from the terrace. The Quiet Room is on the left.

The new Garden Room and the Quiet Room (upper floor)

Inside the Quiet Room, work began on installing the ceiling:

In the meantime, outdoors, Chris Edwards (Meeting House Manager) and David Peryer (Treasurer) continued their hands-on approach to the project by dealing with work in the garden, and with the removal of a tree:

Roof in place

The building work is making good progress. The roof is now on both the link corridor from the main building and on the Quiet Room / Garden Room extension. The lift was delivered in component form and has now been installed.

On the garden level, the work on the new kitchen and lavatory is in progress, and the corridor to the Woolman Room will soon be ready for the plasterboard to be put up. The garden wall of the Woolman Room itself now has the two new entries broken through, one for a large window onto the garden and one for a second door. The cedar cladding for the Quiet Room exterior is currently stored there, waiting to be installed.

Our excellent onsite team of builders continues to liaise closely with both the architects and Chris Edwards, our meeting house manager, who continues to make every effort to minimise the disruption to the many users of the building during the week.

Plumbing and electrical work has already begun, and in the coming week access between the main building and the new corridor will be opened up.

Work is on target for completion by the end of April. An optimistic little bird even tells us we may be able to hope for a work to be over a few days early!


Here are some more photos of the work, as recorded by Chris Edwards in late February.

View along the new corridor roof, looking back towards the main building

The extension for the Garden Room and Quiet Room takes shape

Tiling of the Quiet Room

Garden Room and Quiet Room Tower now recognisable

Woolman Room as per March 2nd 2014. The doorway and window have been broken through to the garden. The historic, if troublesome wall on the left is to be encased in glass and illuminated, with ventilation via ducting still to be installed. The wood stored is the cladding for the Quiet Room.

The lift has now been installed.

View inside the lift shaft

Inside the new stairwell

A peep inside the (Not yet) Quiet Room

Meanwhile, in the Fell Room … The hub for the site works.

Winter 2013: Garden Room and Quiet Room begin to take shape

Chris Edwards, our meeting house manager, had continued to record the progress of the work. Here are a few more of his photos.

In November and December 2013, before the Christmas break, with the footings now in place, the builders began work on the first walls for the two hexagonal rooms.

Scaffolding in place round the garden room

The garden room begins to take shape

The footprint of the garden room and the lift tower take shape

Inside the garden room walls

In December a problem was identified: a wooden support beam at the corner of the main meeting room was judged to be unsound. Its removal and additional building work would be needed. It was decided how to tackle this and the work was carried out.

The wooden beam at the corner of the first floor main meeting room.

The corner of the meeting room after the removal of the beam

 In December, the ground floor walls were completed and work on the first floor hexagonal room – the Quiet Room could begin.

The ground floor room reaches its full height.

View from the library along the site of the new corridor to the Quiet Room

Work on the first floor begins.

View from the Quiet Room area back to the library, where the linking corridor will be built.