The non-profit School of Artisan Food, which is the brainchild of Alison Swan Parente and Gareth Kennedy, opened in September and started running courses in bakery, cheese-making, brewing, butchery, pickling and preserving in October. It shares the building with Welbeck Bakehouse, also constructed as part of the main scheme by William Birch. This is a modern commercial bakery that boasts two huge brick ovens and supplies the Estate’s farm shop as well as acting as a teaching resource.
Stripping out the estate’s former fire station stables and putting in all the 21st century technology needed for the school’s purpose built facilities, which include two bespoke training kitchens, a library and resource room, an 80-seat lecture theatre with demonstration and screening facilities, as well as freezers, chillers, cookers, etc, was one of Birch’s biggest challenges.
Steve Bennett, Birch’s contract manager, explained: “This has been a very interesting project, not least because of the unforeseen works naturally associated with refurbishing a Grade II listed building and installing technology and equipment that it was never designed for. We had to strip out almost everything but retain and protect many of the period features, especially within the original stable areas, including the old stone sett floors, taking great care to retain the internal features of the original structure, such as the old lath and lime plaster ceilings, in line with heritage and listed building consent.”
Using William Birch’s specialist knowledge and experience of historical restoration projects, gained since the company was founded in 1875, they were able to work closely with the full design team and put forward proposals and options aimed at making the project work well and keep it on track.
“It has been a real privilege to work on such a beautiful old building and help give it a new lease of life,” said Ian Spedding, site manager at William Birch. “The pressure was on throughout because the School of Artisan Food already had its first courses booked and it was a very tight programme due to a lot of unforeseen issues. But, ultimately, the job was completed to everyone’s satisfaction and it really is a nice place for people to come and learn in.”
Alison Swan Parente said: “William Birch and Sons did everything that they said they were going to do, and they were a pleasure to work with. They listened to what we needed and everybody is very impressed with the final building.”
Main Contractor William Birch & Sons commenced on site March 2009 and, through agreed phased handovers starting in September, completed the project on time in October 2009.
The architect was Susan Amaku, assisted by Jamie Kershaw, at Woodhall Planning and Conservation, Leeds.
