sAs my old Mum* used to say “It’s been cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey” * this past week on the building site! Before you think I’ve sullied the blog with unbecoming language please take a gander at the translation foot note below!!
Yes it has been a mite chilly but happily we are now at the stage where there’s enough work on the inside of the buildings to keep the site busy and as we know where there’s an opportunity the Scott Crumley driven construction engine will keep rolling down the tracks. Outside, before the Siberian weather arrived in Hampton Roads, the roofers "went-a-roofing" and now the Great Hall and Narthex are blessed with their shingles. Underneath the roof is a testament to the skills of architects, designers, structural engineers, manufacturers, and the team that erected the trusses. Having been into the Salisbury Cathedral’s roof space and tower more than a couple of times I like to think I know enough about trusses to recognize good truss work when I see it. It is almost a shame that this intricate web of over 500, interlocking, prefabricated trusses will be hidden behind the finished ceiling. Perhaps an opportunity for a Historic Traditions guided tour of the future? The back wing has also had its share of glory in this past week. The dry, heated and illuminated building is obviously a much more pleasant working environment for the contractors lucky enough to be out of the cold and so it was this week when a team from Secure Network Solutions (SNS) took advantage of the peace and quiet to start the installation of our new data network. When finished this new, integrated system will span the Great Hall, Narthex, rear wing, the Historic Church, day school offices and the office corridor and provide good Wi-Fi connectivity throughout our buildings. Staying with the “technology theme,” ONYX, our audio/visual (a/v) contractor, has visited the site and met with Father Bob and I to finalize the scope of the a/v system for the Great Hall. The first part of this system has already been installed in the Historic Church, and is regularly used to record and stream services and the Great Hall’s system will greatly expand that capability. We will be able to stream content from both the Historic Church and the Great Hall to the web for home viewing as well as from the Church to the Great Hall where it will be possible to project the audio and visual to a wider audience via a quality projector and sound system. The Great Hall itself will have three fixed cameras covering wide angles, telescopic, and close-up shots and the dais area will be equipped with two connection points where the band can plug in and fill the Hall with sounds. Next week part of the old library and the corridor that used to run to the back door leading to Alfriend House will be demolished as the first step in constructing the new, much wider corridor connecting the rear wing to the rest of the building. Less there be any undue excitement, or even confusion, there is still a way to go before the new wing is ready for occupation. That new corridor must be built, there is painting yet to be done, the data network and new fire alarm systems need to be cabled and installed and once that cabling is completed the ceiling tiles installed, carpet and tiles laid, and the restrooms finished. Once the fire alarm is fully operational and the building has passed numerous inspections, including the Fire Marshall, then and only then, will it be ready for occupation. On that cautionary note I will “blog-off!” Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach. “Mum”: Brit for Mom. "It is cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey": The comes from the days of sail powered warships where iron cannon balls stored on the deck were stacked on a dimpled brass plate called a "monkey." When is very cold the brass contracted sufficiently to cause the iron balls to roll off the brass plate.
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I seem to start every blog with the phrase “it has been a busy week!” or similar words so why change a tried and trusted format? Once again, it has been a busy week both on and off the construction site! This week I want to focus on the rear wing but before that lets review what has been happening out and about on the site.
The great hall and narthex are starting to look quite impressive. Inside all the metal framework for the internal walls is in place, the roof and ceiling wooden frames arch over the spaces and high up in the rafters Atlantic Heating and Air are spinning their spider’s web of heating and air-conditioning ducting and pipe work. In the corner of the narthex, where Father Bob used to look out of his windows, the new restrooms are marked out by metal skeletons that will, one day, be the walls and plastic drainpipes protrude expectantly from the concrete floor. Above the new restrooms, in what will be the ceiling space, two heavy duty, flexible, metal pipes shield the power cables that are already delivering electricity to the narthex and great hall. Outside the bricklayers are cladding the walls in Flemish bond pattern* brickwork (there I go again throwing construction words around like a natural, but you know that not to be true!), this is a style where the normal brick pattern is broken up by interspersing a brick laid end-on between each transvers brick! If your confused, you are not alone so above I’ve included a picture of Flemish bond pattern brickwork! Anyway, enough of this building jargon, the important thing is the brickwork looks beautiful and really does harmonize with the Old Church. Looking down on the roof, from Scott Crumley’s lift, you cannot fail but to be struck by three things: 1) it is a very big roof 2) it’s a very complicated roof 3) there’s a lot of HVAV and fresh air equipment installed on the flat part. There is much more to be said about the roof but I will leave that as a subject for a future blog, I expect you cannot contain your anticipation! Now turning to the rear wing where the roof and brickwork were finished long ago, windows installed, doors in place and a rather fine concrete pad laid to connect the wing’s side door to the back of the kitchen. At the back of the wing the main door looks out onto a new path snaking down the slope to seamlessly join with the existing concrete pad in front of Alfriend House. This path provides an Americans with Disabilities Act compliant access to the building and once landscaped it will be embedded in a grass lawn and will not require railings. It’s a tranquil space inside the rear wing. Entering through the main door, from the Alfriend House end of the corridor, to the left and right are doors to the two largest meeting rooms, the larger to the left. Moving down the corridor on the left is another meeting room and, on the right, the new nursery with its on-suite bathroom and separate space for babies’ cots. Further along, the corridor makes a 90 degree turn to the right and a few more paces takes you to a door on the left to the new accounting office. On the right another door to a small restroom then just before the corridor makes another 90 degree turn, this time to the left, there is the side door exiting onto the concrete pad connecting the wing to the kitchen. Making that left turn and you facing a plastic sheet covering what will eventually be the internal corridor joining the rear wing to the rest of our building. For now the plastic screens off brick work and metal framing that, before all of this started, was the back of the building. Now the hurly-burly of electricians, plumbers, trimmers, painters and tilers has moved on one can stand in the main corridor without getting in anyone’s way and take in the tiled floor, painted walls and skirting boards*. The lights are on and the heating system burbles away in the background, the restrooms are tiled, toilets flush and sinks work and the new accounting office even has its carpet (and skirting boards). The rear wing isn’t finished but we are at the “beginning of the end.” Carpets need to be laid in all of the rooms apart from the accounting office, the new data network has to be installed as do the ceiling tiles and both bathrooms have to be completed. There are also two major works to be done; the corridor joining the wing to the rest of the building must be built and, before any occupation is even possible, a new building wide (covering the old and the new) fire alarm system is to be fitted and, of course, everything subjected to City inspection for their approval. Aside from the rear wing, great hall and narthex there is much more I could “blog” about. Next week the old library will be cleared prior to demolishing the end of the room where the bookcase stands to make way for the new corridor to the rear wing (have no fear the shelves will be salvaged and re-used). Offices in the administration corridor (those belonging to Gretchen, Father Bob, the Angel, Mother Ashley and the room I shared with Summer Johnson) have been mostly cleared and once the account office is able to move into our new, temporary, open plan space (a.k.a. the Parish Hall) the corridor and offices will be completely emptied so the floor can be refurbished, and new carpets laid. Stepping away from the construction activities; the installation plan for the great hall audio/video system is being refined, the data network installation is due to start this week and the Building and Facilities Planning Commission is busily discussing furniture and fittings and meeting with the Historic Traditions Commission to define our needs for shelving and display cases. I think that’s more than enough of my waffle for this week’s blog. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach Flemish bond pattern brickwork: Formed by laying headers and stretchers alternately in each course. The headers of each course are centered on the stretchers of the course below. This bond is strong and often used for walls which are two-bricks thick (I hope that has cleared it up!). “Skirting boards”: Brits' name for “base boards” Here we are, the first blog of the New Year so my belated wishes for a peaceful, healthy, and blessed 2021! As always there is much to report so let us dive right in.
The Scott Crumley driven “construction machine” continued to “arc and spark” through the festive season with staggering results. Standing in the Great Hall to take in the progress I was once again struck by the “logic of a building project.” At the beginning there are one or two major sub-contractors on the site preparing the foundation for the new building. Then as the building starts to grow those original “subs” are replaced by an ever-growing army of different contractors and trades each adding their own ingredient to the construction. Then one day you turn around and realize there are framers, roofers, trimmers, windows installers, HVAC engineers, electricians, bricklayers, ceiling installers, painters, drywallers, plumbers and tilers to name but a few all plying their skills so let us take a “blogging” walk around the site to see what’s going on. Before we start, what do you have on your feet? One day we will have fully landscaped grounds with exposed agate concrete pavements*, I chuck in “exposed agate” like a construction professional which is far from the truth, but for the present we have a serious shortage of “terra firma” and what looks like firm standing suddenly metamorphoses under foot into a sea of clinging mud. I don’t expect I’ll ever see that old right shoe again, entombed forever in the mud between the great hall and carpark so, having learned a lesson I have once again become a “wellie*” devotee when wandering, unsupervised around the site!! The rear wing is starting to have that “finished look” about it. From the outside the only clue the building is still under construction is the labels attached to the doors and window glass. Inside the walls are painted, including an accent wall in each classroom in a color picked out from the soon to be laid carpets, the ceiling insulation is installed as are the light fixtures, switches, and power points. The hanging ceiling is being installed and the two, small restrooms (one for the new nursery) are getting tiled. Soon it will be time to demolish the narrow passage between the old library and the sexton’s office, which we used to use to get to AFH, so we can build a new corridor that will connect the new rear wing the rest of the building. That new corridor will have a significant impact on the old library because about a third of the existing space will be lost to create space to widen the existing passage. As you may know the library will eventually be installed in its new location just off the narthex, which will allow the remaining space in the old to be re-purposed at a future date. Staying inside the existing building the time has come to completely vacate the wing where Father Bob, Mother Ashley, accounts, et al have their offices so the old carpet and tiles can be ripped out, new carpets laid, and a lick of paint applied. So, for a while accounts and parish administration will operate from the ODEC’s open plan facility a.k.a Tucker Hall! Continuing our “jog” around the building site so, being careful to avoid quagmires masquerading as tera firma, let’s turn to the blogging spotlight on the great hall and narthex where it’s a veritable hive of activity. Most of the windows are installed, the roof is ready for shingles and the flat roof area for sealing. Heavy duty electrical cables have been laid between the main electrical room, located behind the sexton’s office, and the great hall and Atlantic Heating and Air is in the great hall’s rafters installing HVAC conduit accompanied in this high wire act by Its Electric installing the electrical systems. Outside the building a myriad of materials have arrived including the bricks that are already being laid on the outside of the great hall. That brings us to the end of our descriptive building tour by the day school entrance where a new, albeit temporary, exposed agate (there I go again with these building terms) access ramp has been laid and the columns for the new porch are being set in place. Behind the construction the relentless detailed planning process keeps two, and at times three, steps ahead of construction needs and has recently included visits to the site by our audio/visual and data contractors as they tune their installation plans against the real building. I cannot end without mentioning our own in-house planning team that takes care of everything from office moves, finalizing requirements for furnishing and fittings, interior design to display case allocation and last, but by no means least, our financial team who continue to find the funds to pay for it all. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach “Pavements”: Brit term for sidewalks. “Wellie”: Brit slang for a rubber boot, the term “wellie” refers to the Duke of Wellington, Battle of Waterloo fame, who commissioned his cobbler to make a high boot out of leather thereby creating the “Wellington Boot.” “Sandwich”: I haven’t used the term “sandwich” above but whilst I’m in the mood I thought I throw in the derivation of the word sandwich as a bonus. The sandwich as we know it was popularized in England in 1762 by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Legend has it, and most food historians agree, that Montagu had a substantial gambling problem that led him to spend hours on end at the card table, hence the handy snack that could be eaten without leaving the game. |
AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
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