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.