As our ambitious restoration project at 2-4 Market Place in Caistor continues to move forward, key milestones are definitely being achieved while additional important updates are on the horizon.
While some unexpected challenges have arisen – which the team covered at the Spring Update event last night – the project team has made excellent progress in restoring these historic buildings to their former glory and moving them away from their former ‘rabbit warren’ guise.
Uncovering the unexpected
During the early stages of the project, strip-out and demolition works revealed the poor condition of several areas within the buildings. While this led to unforeseen complications, nearly all parts of the site have now been investigated, significantly reducing the risk of future surprises.
Structural advancements
Scaffolding is now largely complete across the site, including safe access to The Granary. The removal of the shopfronts exposed additional structural issues that required urgent steelwork to maintain their stability. This additional work has now been completed, ensuring the integrity of the building’s frontage. As Jenny, from AnotherKind Architects, touched upon in the Spring Update, steel has deliberately been chosen to separate the historic ‘story’ of the buildings from the new ‘chapters’ – the restorations, and structural repairs.
Meanwhile, joiners are hard at work off-site, constructing new shopfronts that will be installed in the coming months.
Managing delays and staying on track
Drainage works at the front of the building have been rescheduled to later in the project to allow continued access for scaffolding and other essential work. Despite this adjustment, external works such as floor removal have been completed ahead of schedule. As with all heritage projects, we’re learning that this juggle and balance is something of a fine art!
Notably, window repairs and installations have also progressed ahead of plan, with new lintels added where the original materials could not be salvaged. This progress is helping to maintain the building’s distinctive character while ensuring long-term stability.
Roofing repairs
Unfortunately, initial hopes of reusing a significant number of roof tiles proved too optimistic. Messenger, the project contractor, reported that fewer tiles than initially anticipated could be salvaged. Additionally, some of the chimneys require more repairs than expected, and several gutters will need replacing. Despite these challenges, roofing work continues steadily, with timber repairs, new coverings, tiles, and lead flashing being installed to ensure a durable and weatherproof finish.
What’s next?
In the coming weeks, several crucial steps will take place, including:
- Timber repairs and installation of new timbers to The Granary roof
- Installation of new roof coverings (felt and batten)
- Fabrication and installation of steelwork to support the structure
- Construction of new walls and consolidation of masonry
- Manufacturing and installation of floor structures
- Continued progress on shopfronts, as well as additional windows and doors
The renovation at 2-4 Market Place is steady. But transforming these historic buildings into a thriving space that will soon serve the Caistor community was never going to be a quick job, and everyone went into the project fully aware of that. This is something we are invested in, in many ways. This is a project being approached with longevity in mind, with restorations and repairs being completed so they will not have to be touched again for a very long long time.
Stay tuned for further updates as this exciting project continues to take shape.