Walk through scan | as Existing
Thanks to Simon Horton of Faro Technologies UK Ltd. who came along with us on the private tour at St. Giles, we now have an amazing video of parts of the basement floor.
Cheeky Visit to the Estate
Whilst walking around this historic village, I am caught in awe yet once again about this time filled country.
A group of us who chose to pursue this project took the liberty to take a drive out to the Shaftsbury Estate and explore the quaint surrounding scenery. Although we were not able to walk onto the home property, the neighboring homes, church, and river we just as alluringly stunning!
During this visit, I encountered homes getting their roofs re-thatched! Watching the process before my eyes was quite intriguing as thatched roofs do not exist in California. We get enough wildfires as is!
School House
Trails between homes
Shaftsbury Estate | St. Giles House | Basement Renovation
For my FMP (final major project) I have decided to take on a live project which will be taking place locally in Wimbourne, St. Giles of Dorset County.
The historic St. Giles House has become a spectacle for visitor and locals alike. In 2005 Wimborne, St. Giles attained a new Earl, a young man, by the name of Nicholas Edmund Anthony Ashley-Cooper. Lord Shaftsbury attained his title after the fatal tragedies of his father (10th Earl of Shaftsbury) and brother. Shaftsbury then took on the project of restoring his abandon family home of sixty years, since 2011. Within time, he and his newly married wife moved in, then shortly after had two children to complete the true meaning of a ‘family’ home.
Basement Project
During the restoration, Lord Shaftsbury and his Countess both decided they wanted to repurpose the basement space to generate revenue to continue funding the maintenance and the cost of this multi-million pound project. With his background in music promotion and working as a disk jockey around the world, Lord Shaftsbury is looking to convert the basement floor into an event venue for wedding receptions, corporate events and other types of social affairs that would last into the late evenings, in addition to the other spaces of the home for hire.
Considering that the whole house is a grade one listed building, bringing in a modern space in a historic setting will be all the hype in itself as a sought after attraction. Ultimately Lord Shaftsbury is hoping to achieve community back in St. Giles and bringing life back within the walls of what was once the heartbeat of Wimborne, St. Giles.
Conservation
What makes this renovation project a rarity is that the house was built in 1651 which makes it a grade 1 listed building and in 2001 it made the list of buildings at risk by the English National Trust, due to decay and neglect for more than half a century.
For those who aren't familiar to the UK planning laws, if a building is "Listed" it holds exceptional interest and or deemed to be of significant national importance. There are three grades of listed buildings I, *II, and II - I holding the most importance. What this means in architectural planning is that there are strict limits you can preform on the existing building itself. You will need to apply for a building permission if you intend on demolishing, extending, or altering the existing fabric in any way that will affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. This can include new windows, exterior cladding, roofing, and adding services.
What this does is conserve the history that has once taken place in the country and reassures the authenticity of these landmarks.