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”
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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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