Conway Hall
Client: University of Notre Dame
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
Services Engineer: Butler & Young
Fire Consultant: Trenton Fire
Approved Inspector: Butler & Young
Contractor: HA Marks
Stage: Complete
WGP’s work on Conway Hall was something of a rescue mission. The University of Notre Dame, a Catholic university in the United States, bought the grade II-listed former Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women in central London to repurpose as accommodation for its students doing a semester in the UK.
The building was non-compliant in a number of ways and WGP were asked to make all 42 flats (c. 500 beds) and common spaces safe, scheduling the expansive reconfiguration in phases to make sure only a few students needed to be moved out at a time. So far, straightforward.
The more unusual aspect of the project was the repair of the ornate late-19th century façades and front entrance, which – as is common for a building of this age – look like they are made of stone but actually comprise pieces of terracotta that either hang from or encase an iron sub-frame. The facade had started to suffer from “Regent Street disease”: when moisture causes the metal within to corrode, expand, and the terracotta around it to crack. WGP worked with a specialist contractor to take off, repair, hand-glaze and replace each of the individual elements, remaking those that were beyond saving. Each of the 1,118 pieces was given a number, and hundreds of samples were made to perfect the colour of the glazing to match the original as far as possible.
Beyond overseeing the restoration of this elegant exterior, WGP added value in a more discreet and quantifiable way, pointing out the opportunity to extend at roof level to create a new flat and thus an additional revenue source for the university – a suggestion seized upon by the client.