Szerelmey have recently completed a multi faceted stonework package for Tolent (Southern) at the Apex Temple Court Hotel in Serjeants Inn. The project was a reconfiguration of a Grade 1 listed building adjoining an office block in the Inner Temple Conservation Area just off Fleet Street in London. The contract was challenging not only because of the heritage complexities but also due to the surrounding offices being occupied by some of the best lawyers in the UK.
The splendid courtyard that now welcomes vehicles to the rear of the hotel was a tarmac car park and to add a further complication, it was actually a roof over the offices underneath. Szerelmey were asked to design the new stonework so that it matched the existing detail, colour and texture of the original stonework facing the hotel rear entrance. Access for emergency service vehicles could only be gained by raising the left archway. This however would destroy the building stone line so the obvious answer was to lower the courtyard level. Tolent carried out structural work and Mark Walden, Szerelmey's senior design manager, worked with Ivan Hodgson of Tolent and Graham Currie of Ian Springford Architects to work out the most intricate design details. Red brick arches were taken down and a replacement stone arch to replicate the existing band detail was constructed. The original stonework was sympathetically cleaned by Szerelmey's stone restoration team and Portland Roach and Portland Basebed Stone from Albion Stone were recommended by Szerelmey to match. Having access to such experienced design personnel and the Szerelmey supply chain was integral in combining the multi faceted aspect of this project, involving hard landscaping, restoration and new-build stonework. The advantages of one specialist contractor carrying out the work under one project manager (Kyle Wombwell) were apparent throughout the whole process.
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Such is the standard of the work that only a few weeks after completion it is almost impossible to see the join between the new stonework and the existing. Given a few years the new stonework will mellow further and even the stone cladding in the central section will merge into its surroundings. Both the front facade and the rear of the building required cleaning and restoring with brick arches being cut out by the specialist teams and replaced with stonework. Any guests entering the rear entrance of the hotel will have no idea of the complexity of this project or that the hard landscaping in the courtyard, consisting of granite stone setts and Portland Whitbed feature stone paving, is technically a roof terrace. Whist there were plenty of potential problems it is widely acknowledged by the main contractors and architects that Mark Walden and his design team overcame them on the design table, rather than the far costlier option of the building site.
This is not the first project where Tolent Construction, Ian Springford Architects and Szerelmey have worked together for the Apex Group and we are sure there will be many more to come. Obviously having a ready-made team in place for a project of this complexity paid dividends for all concerned. As for the lawyers, not only did they not issue any writs, they congratulated Ivan at Tolent on achieving all of this with an absolute minimum of disruption.
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