Following nearly a year of being unable to touch Cheltenham Civic Society’s building at 26 Cambray Place, the Society’s contractor has regained access to the building – called Parmoor.
The contractor – Leckhampton Builders – was in the middle of work in early autumn 2024 to convert the building into flats and a new HQ space for the Society when a neighbouring building (No. 27 Cambray Place) began to show signs of imminent structural collapse.
No. 27’s structural failure was caused by an unrelated issue. At one point, its own scaffolding leaned over to rest against Parmoor. So Leckhampton Builders’ team had to down tools immediately and no one has been allowed to touch Parmoor for more than 11 months while its neighbour was made safe.
At the time, vital repair work to Parmoor’s roof and front parapet wall was underway. While the builders managed to protect their work with tarpaulins, those could not withstand the onslaught by named storms and heavy rains during the year that followed.
On finally regaining access to Parmoor in October this year, the Society’s builders found that the rain had been pouring down the inside of the front wall right down to the basement – soaking the wall and timbers and ruining perfectly good tanking in the basement. This in turn caused the existing dry rot – which had originally been triggered by a hidden leak from the gully behind the parapet wall – to spread dramatically across and down the whole wall. (The dry rot had previously been in remission and had been ready for chemical treatment to kill it.)
Civic Society chair, Andrew Booton, said: “The whole episode has set us back more than a year, as our builders are now working hard to get the building back to its condition in autumn 2024. The setback has had a huge impact on the Society’s plans as it has severely delayed the opening of the Society’s HQ and has deprived the Society of at least one year’s income from the four flats.
Since regaining access, Leckhampton Builders have sealed Parmoor’s roof and finished the work on the parapet, so the building is now dry again. They have stripped back the areas affected by the damp and have cut away all of the timbers ready for chemical treatment of the whole area. In addition, they have also removed the building’s central steel staircase.
“Perhaps by Christmas, we hope to be back to where we were. So the work to create the new flats and the Society’s HQ can really get going in the new year,” added Andrew Booton.
“Once we finally finish the project – now likely to be in 2027 – we expect Parmoor will significantly enhance Cambray Place and set a fine example for restorations of other Regency buildings. Its 99-seat space will also provide us with a terrific new home and a very attractive town centre venue for other voluntary or other organisations to hire for their meetings and events.”