John certainly helped us achieve it. Since the building has been completed, it has become one of the favourite locations for students
Patrick Hanlon
The seriously dilapidated townhouses are in a conservation area, on a busy road in the centre of Hastings and had previously been used as offices. We noted an alarming lean in the front elevation, with the top of the second storey being almost half a metre inboard of the ground floor. The cause was settlement of the central supporting wall almost at the point the buildings were first constructed, which meant that the internal floors sloped from the front and rear elevations towards the middle.
Alongside noting the defects, our first site visit illustrated the buildings potential and as a result, we suggested a bold move- to remove the two existing, decrepit and dilapidated staircases and replace them with a single central, top-lit staircase, thereby freeing up additional perimeter for habitable use. This measure, alongside suggesting that all of the floors be removed and replaced with new level floors, helped to increase the value of the finished scheme and assist our client in their regular reporting to financial backers. Replacement of the floors also helped to address concerns about the structural integrity of the building.
We guided our client through the specification of fabric-first measures for increased insulation and improved windows and also helped them in the selection of specialists in low-energy building systems to improve the environmental credentials of the building. We worked closely with a specialist to integrate air source heating and hot water into the remodelled fabric, to deliver vastly more efficient heating from air source heat pumps through an underfloor heating system to the new apartments.
The converted building provides ten apartments, eight of which are two bedroom, three person apartments and two are one bedroom, two person apartments. This density would not have been achievable had the original staircases been retained. Shortly after we obtained permission for the conversion, the client asked us to modify the proposals to provide student accommodation for Brighton University. The flexible interior arrangement achieved by the provision of a single central staircase meant the modification was easily achieved. Our client was thus able to quickly switch from a for-sale offer to a rental offer for an established property client.
‘The proposals for Havelock Road developed from a residential for sale offer and we relied on the creative input from John to help us stay flexible in a changing market. His suggestion to demolish the existing stairs seemed, at first glance, to make little sense. However, the end result has helped us provide more study rooms in the heart of the town and subsequently achieve a very high value for the building.’ Patrick Hanlon, Chief Executive, Roost Group Limited.
