Legacy Project Update
Since the last update in the December Good Neighbour, the builders have been very busy despite some atrocious weather during December and January.
Towards the end of November, acoustic panelling was fitted to the ceiling of all spaces in the annexe. These panels reduce the echo and reverberation that can happen when sounds bounce around a large building from hard surfaces. The panels give much improved clarity of sound especially the spoken word in potentially noisy settings. This was a feature recommended by the architect based on their experience elsewhere.
The underfloor heating was installed and just before the builders broke up for the Christmas holiday, they were able to pour the screed. This is a cement type mixture applied as a levelling layer to create a smooth flat surface for the final floor covering. The holiday period gave the screed the necessary time to settle and “cure” so that when they started back at the beginning of January work could continue inside the building.
As those who pass the building regularly will have seen, the roof is now completely in place and on one surface we can see the fixings for solar panels that will be installed to help keep our energy costs as low as possible. The heating inside the annexe itself will be provided by an air source heat pump and we were successful in securing a grant to meet a significant part of that cost. The heat pump and the solar panels all contribute to our aim of making this building as sustainable and as “green” as we possibly can.
More recently the window frames and glass have now been installed and much of the external brickwork completed. We are now beginning to see the external appearance much more clearly.
With the roof and windows now in place attention is turning to the internal specification of the annexe. The architect takes the lead on this and suggests various colours and fittings for our approval. You may remember that in 2024 when we first began to think about what the building would look like inside, we formed a much wider group than the current Legacy Group to look at this on our behalf. That group represented different aspects of Church life and of course different ages and interests to ensure that we ended up with a building that was fit for purpose. More recently the architect has been narrowing down the range of options for us and the following images give an idea of what some of the inside will look like.
This image shows the multipurpose space and you can see clearly the corner window that is now in fact in place giving plenty of light to that part of the building and also, we hope showing to those outside that this is an active building with lots of things happening inside.
This image shows the main hall with its badminton court and again you can see all the windows down the left-hand side that are now in place.
This final image is of the entrance area. To the right is the entrance door that is at the end of the new road from Mansefield Road and just to the left of that you will see the kitchen with its servery and to the left the doors into the sanctuary.
The internal fitting out will now continue over February and March and subject to everything going according to plan, the building should be complete by the end of March, early April.
It has certainly been a long road since the Kirk Session decided all those years ago to address the many issues that faced us with our property at that time. We can now finally begin to see everything taking shape and producing what we believe will create a sustainable worshipping congregation in our community for many, many years to come.
Gordon Dickson
Chair of the Legacy Project Group