For potential buyers, hearts can easily sink when looking at local property listings. Filmmaker Tim Brown couldn’t face any more cheap “boring” new builds, so he scoured online auction listings and found a chapel near Bristol’s city center to his delight. “The city has great energy and the property looked interesting,” he recalls. “When I saw it, it felt like something special.”
This was his first though renovationTim grew up around his parents’ building projects. “They gave me a taste of it,” he says. “Working in film is not a million miles away from innovation – it’s all about ideas and teamwork.”
Yet this Chapel conversion Would be a challenge for anyone, which probably explains why it was abandoned for at least two decades. The chapel was unadorned, yet Grade II-listed, and “I couldn’t have chosen anything more complex,” says Tim. “It was definitely a leap of faith.”
Project details
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Removes decay
Although modernized in the late 20th century, the building was in a very poor condition. There was no plumbing, electricity or heating and a lack of basic maintenance meant that drains clogged and water entered the structure.
The hall’s original Victorian floor tiles were stacked against the walls and the entire building was on the verge of collapse. Although the team bought the chapel with planning permission, they didn’t like the plans and went to the original architect to redraw them.
Tim also commissioned a series of specialist surveys for lead paint, Dampness And so on, like “many were unknown”. Unfortunately, one of those strangers soon became a concern when Tim and his brother-in-law began removing the ornate wood wall paneling.
“We found a mess Dry rot And the pigeon guano,” he says. “It went right through the A-frame and ate away at the structural support. I had to spend an extra £100,000, which was the worst part of the whole project.”
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Unreliable contractors
Tim selected a building firm through a tender process but after six months of little progress on the chapel, the builders abandoned the project.
“It was a real low point. I was sitting in a freezing building with no windows, no plans and £100k.”
Undeterred, Tim saw this as an opportunity to advance the project. Taking seven months off work, he toiled with a small team of hand-picked experts and subcontractors to make the building “livable.”
Tim’s first task – and biggest challenge – was to treat or remove the decay and makes the building structurally sound. Some of the replaced timbers had unusually curved hips and the stonework was also affected where it joined the individual timber buttresses. The struts that Tim hired to support the building during this process cost £10,000.
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Get on hand
While this important structural work was being done by the experts, Tim got his hands in the dirty scrubbing, Point again Stripping layers of stonework and lead paint from this unique 170-year-old building.
He also sanded and restored the original Wall panelingWhich became very dark with time. “I just wanted to take it back to the original colors,” he says.
The most striking original feature of the chapel is, of course, the stained glass windows. Tim carefully removed these and re-leaded each pane of glass, a process he thought would be slow, but which turned out to be one of the first parts of the building to be completed. “The original glass is beautiful, with mostly geometric patterns,” he says.
Once the building is structurally sound and ready for the first fix, Tim hires a new building contractor; whom he had spoken to during the original tender process – this time with success.
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A new beginning
“South West Contractors were angels,” says Tim. Under his direction, electrics, plumbing and heating were installed, the building was insulated and a new subfloor laid. Underfloor heating Pipes included.
With a reliable building firm finally in charge, Tim turned his attention to the interiors, which have been finished to the highest standards.
“For me, this was the most exciting part of the whole project,” explains Tim, who created a 200-page document of ideas, plans and references for the job. “I didn’t want it to look like a church. I wanted to respect the beauty and features of the building, but add things like MezzanineThe kitchen and stairs, all of which are modern and a bridge between the two, connecting the different elements.”
Tim designed the contemporary, yet sympathetic kitchen, as well as the bathroom layout and the striking metal, oak and glass staircase, with extraordinary detail where the glass is cut to follow the tread pattern.
The mezzanine, which is in the main hall, is a distinctive feature of the modern building. By “swimming” the center of this space, converting the chapel—that is, installing a floor over the original windows—not only solves the general problem—”it breaks up the space and makes it feel more comfortable downstairs,” says Tim.
This level houses one of the property’s three bedrooms and its home office. “It’s fun calling in for my work here,” says Tim. “People ask if it’s a fake background.”
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material difference
Tim’s choice of materials is central to his design decisions. Although he was initially concerned about incorporating different woods into one space, the pale maple of the kitchen cabinetry highlights the contemporary elements in that zone.
here, Granite and Quartz Also works well as a natural material used in a modern way, helping to bring old and new together.
“There’s a lot of stone and woodwork in the building, including oak, maple and pitch pine ceilings,” he says. “But it comes together well—especially the light kitchen and the darkness of the ceiling.”
Surprisingly, given his business, Tim loves his new LED lighting system. “It can change colors and the effect is amazing at night,” he explains. “It can be moody with low lights and I can use it to highlight features.”
Has this extreme introduction to renovation dampened Tim’s interest in enhancing properties? Not a bit of it.
“I’m looking forward to doing another one,” says Tim. “I chose the most complicated thing possible, but it’s such a good way to learn – I feel like I’ve done a second degree! I love working in film, but it doesn’t feel as tangible as working on a project like this, where I can see the results and feel the physicality of it. I love being here every day.”
Need more inspiration? See how Two timber-clad extensions transformed this family home in South Yorkshire. Or, visit this A modern eco-home in Berkshire Which produces more energy than it uses.
