New Homes from Vacant Historic Buildings
From vacant historic properties to new homes
A recent article by Rory Milne at Historic England outlined there is an opportunity to provide 560,000 - 670,000 new homes in England by repairing and repurposing existing historic buildings.
The conversion of a Grade II Listed Courthouse to residential use.
The report stated that there is an estimated 11,933,567 -13,058,351sqm of vacant historic non-domestic floorspace in England. Our proposals for the conversion of the Old Shire Hall and Courthouse in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk is a fine example of this insight in action. Through multiple design studies, our final proposals, with the support of Historic England, will provide 6 new residential homes with a combined net area of 1,682 sqm.
Transformation without Decimation
The Old Shire Hall and ex Magistrates Court are large and prominent buildings in the centre of Bury St Edmunds. The buildings were listed in November 2018 due to the architectural interest of the building, the historic interest, and their group value with several nearby listed buildings. The building had been vacant since it ceased operating as a courthouse after the Magistrates’ Court closed in October 2016.
In 2020, we were asked by Bury Development to prepare a brief for the redevelopment of the Old Shire Hall and Magistrates Court site.
The ambition was to create an intelligent and sympathetic restoration of the two listed properties on what is an important site within the grounds of Abbey Gardens.
Surrounded by several important listed buildings within Bury St Edmunds, the aim is to convert and create a new secure future without compromise to the buildings and their setting in the wider context.
The Architectural Solution: Unique spaces that still feel like home
The Key aims for the project:
Create a residential development that is generous and of a scale in keeping with the existing fabric.
Retain and utilise the existing circulation core at the heart of the building, which consolidates the multiple levels of The Old Shire Hall building.
Retain the key internal and external architectural features of the buildings.
Create 4 dwellings within the Old Shire Hall building, with a mix of flats and duplex units.
Within the Old Courthouse, the aim is to convert each Courtroom into separate unique townhouses, retaining the key internal features which include the timber panelling and central roof lanterns.
Provide all units with private outside amenity space.
To transform the previous administration building of the Old Shire Hall and Courthouse building into residential use, our analysis looked at how we could strip back some of the poorly implemented additions in the 1960’s.
In addition, we undertook daylight studies to see how the south side of the Old Shire Hall could be opened up to allow more direct sunlight into the residential units and natural light into the heart of the plan.
We looked at how the central courtyards to the back of the Old Shire Hall building could be maximised to allow more direct natural light to come through between the buildings throughout the day.
The result, now nearing completion, will breathe new life into the buildings and the surrounding area for decades to come.
To read the Historic England article in full, please click on the link below:
To read more about our project, click here:
https://www.souparchitects.com/projects/oldshirehallcourthouse