Chapter House
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The design for Chapter House draws inspiration from the characteristic historic morphology of Lichfield’s walled gardens
Tim Crocker Download Original
Chapter House in Lichfield, for the retirement home specialist PegasusLife, recalls the cloisters of the friary that once stood on the plot.
Chapter House provides 38 one and two-bedroom units for the over-55s. It includes a communal kitchen and reception space with a central fireplace, a guest room for visiting family or friends and a central courtyard overlooked by two shared balconies.
The building has accommodation around three sides of a cloister-like courtyard, all of which gets direct sunlight at some part of the day. The interior south-west wall of the courtyard is faced with light-coloured brick, which reflects light into this space
he architect has created a roofline which is both varied and ‘busy’, with numerous gables, each treated slightly differently. Although this is a modern, high-spec building, it is reminiscent of a structure that has grown organically over time.
Set within the simple and robust red brickwork frame of the colonnade, a series of corduroy brickwork panels give rhythm and texture to the façade. The panels consist of vertically laid bricks in two different colours with dark-red 65mm bricks forming the backdrop to projecting light-red 50mm brickwork bands. On the upper levels of the building the colour tones of the corduroy brick panels change, with the dark-red brick coming to the foreground, contrasting with a Staffordshire Blue brick in the background.
Above the main entrance a pre-cast canopy welcomes residents and visitors with large individually cast GRC letters, which are secured to the projecting entrance lintel.
Powder-coated perforated aluminium panels have been used across the project as balcony balustrades. Their scallop-shell pattern refers to the coat of arms of Erasmus Darwin, a famous Lichfield resident (and grandfather of Charles Darwin) and to the shape of madeleines, Proust’s trigger for involuntary memories. The panels are laser-cut and sit within a slender aluminium frame fixed back to Velfac window frames behind.
Data
- Begun: Jun 2015
- Completed: Apr 2017
- Sector: Residential
- Total cost: £6.3M
- Procurement: Design and Build
- Address: Monks Close, Lichfield, WS13 6QR, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Proctor & Matthews Architects
- Client: PegasusLife
- Structural engineer: Peter Brett Associates
- M&E consultant: Max Fordham
- QS: White Young Green
- Landscape architect: Camlins
- Planning consultant: Barton Willmore
- Fire consultant: WSP
- Heritage consultant: Joe Holyoak
- Project manager and CDM co-ordinator: White Young Green
- Approved building inspector : Approved Design Consultancy Ltd
- Main contractor: Gr8 Space
- CAD software used: MicroStation
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