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News Release from: Beard | Subject: RIBA Awards
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 June 2005
Second national award for E W Beard
projects
E W Beard has won a prestigious double award in the Royal Institute of British Architects' 2005 RIBA Awards, given for design excellence and best practice.
A 200 year-old timber granary restored and converted into an office by Swindon-based building contractors E W Beard has won a prestigious double award in the Royal Institute of British Architects' 2005 RIBA Awards, given for design excellence and best practice The project's architects, Spratley and Woodfield of Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, were among this year's 71 national RIBA Award winners
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 4 Oct 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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They also received a special RIBA Conservation Award - one of only seven granted this year.
The awards recognise The Granary's high architectural standards and the substantial contribution it makes to its local environment.
The granary conversion was the final phase of a GBP1.84m project undertaken by Spratley and Woodfield and Beard at Crowmarsh Battle Farm, Crowmarsh Preston, near Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
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Earlier phases converted a traditional oak-framed barn and a stable block into offices.
Allan Woodfield, who designed The Granary - now a study and office - praised the craftsmanship of Beard's carpenters.
"They did a fantastic job".
"Their traditional skills contributed greatly to the project's success in retaining the granary building's structural integrity and original character".
Spratley and Woodfield's double RIBA Award is the second national industry award this year for a project completed by Beard.
The construction company is also celebrating a national Civic Trust Sustainability Award for The Kindersley Centre - an eco-friendly, purpose-built conference centre at Sheepdrove Organic Farm, Berkshire, built by Beard and designed by Alec French Architects of Bristol.
Spratley and Woodfield also worked with Beard to create the GBP1.35m Cane End Stud livery stable complex, Oxfordshire, which was highly commended in the Chiltern Design Awards and won a commendation in last year's RIBA South Conservation Awards.
For the award-winning project at Crowmarsh Battle Farm, the Beard team constructed a steel cradle around the fragile granary barn and lifted it by crane onto temporary block-work supports, where it stayed while they carried out repairs and created new footings for the barn's saddle stones.
Beard's carpenters re-used much of the original fabric of the barn, including internal timber lining boards and clay roof tiles.
The team then spray-treated the timbers against insect and weather damage and installed a hidden 'envelope' of thermal insulation, before crane-lifting the barn back to its original position.
The conversion of the barn's interior involved the installation of stand-alone toilet 'pods' and a staircase.
A glass panel in the floor of the upper storey shows where there used to be an opening for carrying grain up by ladder.
E W Beard operates throughout central southern England and undertakes construction projects worth up to GBP6m.
Established in 1892, the company has offices in Swindon and Oxford and employs more than 160 people.
E W Beard's Managing Director, Mark Beard, is the Oxfordshire Businessman of the Year 2004.
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