Axis delivered Restoration and Refurbishments at the value of £940,000

Project Details

Axis was employed on behalf of the client by project managers, Davenport Associates Residential Building Consultancy, for External and Internal Restoration and Refurbishment works at a Grade I Listed property in Belgrave Square, London. Our heritage division worked alongside Formation Architects, the Contract Administrators, and Constructure, the Structural Engineers, on this project.

The property, which is located in Belgravia, near Grosvenor Place and Hyde Park corner lies in one of London’s most prestigious postcodes. The Grade listed property was built between 1826 and 1828 and is a large, stucco-fronted Georgian mid-terrace townhouse. Belgrave Square is the principal townscape in the Belgravia Conservation Area within the City of Westminster. It is essential that all historical building fabric to be retained is protected during the works.

Our team began the scope of restoration and refurbishment works with an internal demolition and strip-out. This came alongside other enabling works, with the preparation of the site in readiness for the first stage of development. We moved onto the structural repairs of the building. Our team completed specialist heritage brickwork repairs to the rear parapet walls of the property, to a very high-quality standard. This came alongside timber investigation works and joist repairs. The team also worked on the protection of the original features, such as decorative plaster cornice and ceilings.

Our team installed the steel framework lift shaft and worked alongside sub-contractors and suppliers, who provided manufacturing drawings for sign off to the design team. We lowered the pavement vaults and underpinned the basement vaults, alongside providing Delta waterproofing to the area.

Additional items of work added to the scope by the team included erecting access scaffolding to the rear of the property. We removed the chimney and stack at the 4th-floor level, as well as removing debris from between floor voids, with additional party wall awards required to be put in place.

Project Challenges

Our team faced a number of technical challenges, this included temporarily propping up steelwork to the rear elevation of the property. We underestimated the extent of timber rot found in the building and had to support and protect two cantilever stone staircases. Defective batches of intumescent paint had to be removed from the steelwork by sandblasting and re-applied.

Another challenge in this restoration and refurbishment project was seasonal. Our team used lime mortar for all masonry work, which is difficult to lay in cold temperatures. During the winter, days under 6°C prevented our mortar work.

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