Architecture Portfolio

St Stephen’s Church comprises of two building within a large churchyard; the church and a single storey church hall which is used to house a nursery school during the week. This intensive use means that it is unavailable for church use during the week, and that nursery staff have to clear away all their equipment every evening and for the weekend. This is not an ideal solution, and the age and condition of the building mean that redevelopment is required in the near future.

The project will be the demolition of the existing church hall, and the construction of a new, two-storey hall, nursery and café centre linked to the church via a larger glazed foyer. This will allow the two buildings to be used jointly, with enough facilities to allow the nursery to run alongside church groups, instead of at the expense of.

Clare was instrumental in winning the project, spending time talking to the clients about their needs, submitting the initial information, developing an initial scheme and presenting this at the interview. She was able to use her experience in putting together fee proposals for other jobs to complete this work quickly and efficiently.

The project is now in the preliminary design stage, with initial concepts being prepared and discussed. Clare was recently able to develop three plan options for the scheme showing the café in different locations. She thoroughly enjoyed doing this and was pleased to be given the responsibility to undertake some design work on her own.

Key Tasks:

• Engaging with the client at a marketing event, submitting the required documentation, attending and presenting at the interview and winning the job. ]
• Setting up the feasibility study documentation, including the appointment document
• Preparing for and attending meetings
• Answering client queries
• Documenting changes to the brief and reflecting these in the ongoing design proposals
• Assisting the client in negotiations with a VAT consultant to lower the VAS implications of the proposed scheme.