Mansfield Place Church
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Restoration of historic Church and provision of offices for Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Mansfield Place Church in Edinburgh was a redundant church which contained coloured Arts and Crafts murals painted by Phoebe Traquair (1852-1936).
Because the site slopes from north to south, the undercroft had windows to the south but only windows onto lightwells to the north. The church had deep foundations which allowed the lowering of the undercroft floor by a metre to create two tight levels of office space for 40-50 people.
Externally, the focus of work was ensuring a watertight envelope, with new felt and slating, plus repair and replacement of stonework and railings.
Access to the offices is via a spiral stair starting from the existing circular baptistry. This involved removing its foundations and completely propping it while a two-storey drum of masonry was built below.
The offices fill the lower floor with mezzanine balcony above, created with a new steel structure. Columns are concrete-filled for fire performance. Artificial lighting is a permanent feature of the deep office space.
Data
- Completed: 2002
- Sectors: Religious, Office
- Total cost: £4.4M
- Address: Mansfield Place Church, Edinburgh, EH7 4BL, United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: Simpson & Brown
- Project architects: Adrian Roberts, Arthur Parkinson, Ian Walker, Rachel Mayhew, Stewart Brown
- Client: Mansfield Traquair Trust
- Project manager: Bovis Lend Lease
- Quantity surveyor: Thomas & Adamson
- Services engineer: Mitchell Dey Norton
- Lighting design: Kevan Shaw Lighting
- Landscape design : John Richards
- Planning supervisor: Faber Maunsell
- Main contractor: Morrison Construction
Suppliers
- Ironwork Banks Blacksmiths: Marshall & Son
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