Client: Stallingborough Grange Hotel
Contracts Manager: Simon Taylor
Site Managers: Harvey Smith
The client brief was for a stand-alone building within the grounds of the existing hotel to provide new conferencing and events facilities, particularly catering for their well-established wedding market. The hotels aspirations were for a Georgian style Orangery with large scale glazing which will give their guests a strong connection between internal and external spaces to the wider site.
The function room has been designed with movable partitions to allow for the building to be used by one function, for example a wedding or for smaller conference groups. The repetition of the large-scale window fenestration means that doors can be incorporated with ease along the building so that its use can be as flexible as possible.
We had to work within limited “no dig” areas due to tree protection therefore their construction approach had to be tailored to suit planning condition restrictions. The development site was bounded by mature trees and due to limited site constraints, we had no other option but to locate the building within the root protection zones of the existing trees. To safeguard the trees and comply with planning conditions we could not use traditional strip footings for the building foundations. Structural Engineers therefore designed a concrete raft with mini piles to ensure building load did not damage the tree roots below ground.
For what appears to be a simple stand-alone function building the technical issues and design constraints put on the design team and contractor were numerous. Good working relationships were key in keeping this project on programme and budget whilst still achieving the initial client brief and desired aesthetic. The LA building control and planning departments aided the design team with a pragmatic approach to on site constraints and issues.
The building sits terrifically well in the landscape and the business at Stallingborough Grange has already begun to benefit from the inclusion of the building in the grounds.
