This years AGM – 5th of July
The Annual General Meeting will take place at 10.30 am on 5th July in the hall at Bishop Challoner School, Institute Road, Kings Heath, B14 7EG – we hope to see you there!
Following the AGM, our members have the opportunity to experience first-hand the rich diversity of activities going on at grassroots level and to explore with us how we build on the individual and collective contribution going forward.
Ahead of this here is access to our Annual Report and Financial information
Refurbishment of Stable Block Storage Building
Adrian Wakelin – Director & Refurbishment Project Manager
1. The oldest part of YS is a former stable block, which dates back well over 100 years or so.
2. The building was in very poor condition and has been used for many years as a workshop and storage on the ground floor, and storage on first floor.
3. Although some planning work had been done by members of the Action Group prior to my involvement, it was difficult to see full extent of its condition and no actual refurbishment work had been started.
4. I am a retired project manager and I was approached in January ‘24 by the then Secretary Donald Steel, to see if I could help manage this refurbishment as a volunteer.
5. My role is to represent the interests of clients by bringing together and managing teams of professionals, contractors and suppliers in order to complete building and restoration projects.
6. Following a brief inspection, several things became obvious.
a. The building needed completely clearing of all stock, shelving, machines and tools.
b. Partitions, plaster and ceilings needed removing to examine the condition of the building.
c. Professional advice would be needed, including architectural, structural and building control.
7. Jon Jaffa had kindly agreed to let the Action Group make a start on preparing for the building work ahead of completing the purchase. He also arranged for clearing of the space.
8. It was decided to ask volunteers from the membership to help strip out the building to a bare shell, supported by Oz and myself. I wrote a schedule of work to be done, which included risk assessments and we provided appropriate PPE for the volunteers.
9. Once cleared and stripped back, it became obvious that the building was in extremely bad structural condition, particularly above the first floor level and the roof. It was literally slowly collapsing. There was also evidence of many years of ad-hoc repairs and additions, none of which would have met building regulations at the time, let alone the more rigorous regulations we have today.
10. Reporting to the board both at, and in between, meetings, I led a thorough process of identifying and appointing the necessary professionals, contractors and other suppliers that we would need.
11. One issue that presented itself early on was that we identified some material hidden behind plasterboard that we thought could possibly be asbestos. We engaged a specialist consultancy to conduct a survey and to quote for its removal, if necessary. It was asbestos which was professionally removed and, upon completion, we were provided with a clean air certificate.
12. Over the past 18 months, a tremendous amount of planning and preparation work needed to be done due to the terribly poor condition of the building and also because the actual brief of what we finally decided to do was being developed. We eventually considered four options:
a. Refurbishing the building as it was originally. This was difficult because it was a stable, not a commercial building, and never met any building regulations, which we now have to meet.
b. As originally built, but with a mono-pitch roof, falling towards our building. This would create an easier to maintain roof by removing our gutter along the party wall with York Fireplaces.
c. As a single story with a mono-pitch roof, because feedback from the shop staff was that it’s not ideal to carry stock upstairs, just to have to bring it down again.
d. Finally, as a single story building, but with a flat, terraced roof, upon which a greenhouse could be placed in order to grow plants from seeds, rather than buying in plugs. I will let others speak to the business case for this option. This idea was brought forward by Scott and Stuart and is an innovative and creative solution which we are now implementing.
13. I would like to acknowledge and thank a number of people whose help and support has been essential.
a. Our neighbour, Debbie on Waterloo Road, whose garden abuts our far wall, very kindly allowed scaffolding in her garden. She also agreed to allow the contractors access by way of lifting out a fence panel at the end of her garden, removing the need to bring tools, machinery and materials through the shop. By way of a consideration, we will ensure the contractors clear her garden of all mess, and will arrange some light landscaping of her garden when finished.
b. Our other neighbour, Usman of York Fireplaces, kindly agreed to allow access to Debbie’s garden through his driveway and into the rear of the stable block though a passageway behind his shop. In turn, we agreed to refurbish his single story wall which also abuts Debbie’s garden.
c. Our architect, Ben Mabbett and Andy Jones, the Construction Manager for Jericho, who are also a community Co-operative. Their professionalism and support has been excellent.
d. Lastly, but by no means least, we would particularly like to thank all of you here, our members. Without your support, your confidence and your investment, none of this would be possible. You are investing in your business for the whole community. Together, we are creating a building which I am confident will last well over another 100 years or so. Thank you.
The following pictures provide key points of work done to date.
1. The gable end, from Debbie’s garden.
Notice bricks missing at the top edge of the roof, and missing and blown bricks elsewhere on the wall.
2. First floor internal wall, between two windows.
Note that the mortar line is cracked and the bricks appear to be moving upwards. This is due to the walls spreading away from each other at the top under load from the roof. Both of the two side walls and the entire roof have failed structurally.
3. The opposite wall, alongside York Fireplaces.
This is showing similar cracking due to spreading, as above. You will also see the timber wall plate, which should be attached to the top of the wall and to which the roof rafters are attached, is showing daylight between the wall and the timber. The entire roof is not attached to the walls at all and is simply being held down by gravity and good luck!
4. The inside of the end wall we looked at in the first picture.
Bricks are missing; ivy roots have penetrated and destroyed all of the mortar lines to the point where you can simply lift bricks out by hand; rotten timber roof structures, which have also been severely eaten away by rodents; ad-hoc timber repairs with absolutely no structural integrity whatsoever; and a corrugated steel roof covering, which you could see daylight through at many points. Very little of this was evident before the building was cleared and stripped of its plaster and ceiling.
5. The opposite gable end wall, above the counter area of the shop.
This is the wall where asbestos was identified. You can see that it is entirely covered in clear polythene, ahead of the removal by specialist contractors.
6. The same wall after asbestos removal.
Following professional removal of the asbestos boards and a thorough cleaning of the area, you can see a testing machine which samples the air for several hours. We receive a clean air certificate, which was sent to the architect and construction manager to meet our legal and health and safety obligations.
7. One of several trial pits.
The contractor dug a number of trial pits so the structural engineer could examine the condition of the buildings foundations. Fortunately, the foundations were found to be in excellent condition, considering their age, and no remedial work was considered necessary.
8. The demolition begins
Two of Jericho’s staff removing the old roof.
9. Saving old bricks for re-use.
Bricks removed from the first floor were cleaned up and saved for use in the refurbishment.
10. View from above, looking toward York Fireplaces.
The walls were stabilised and capped. The party wall to York Fireplaces is only a single skin, with two piers. The engineer designed a structural timber stud frame to strengthen this wall, not yet shown. The new internal wall for the stairs supports the roof as a cantilever, removing the load from the old wall.
11. View from above, opposite side, facing the rest of York Supplies building.
To remove the load from the other wall, a pier was built supporting two steel beams, which are supported at either end by existing gable end walls, which are both in good condition.
12. The terraced roof / ceiling joists going in.
This shows the steel beams form below, showing how we have taken the loads off the old wall.
13. The terraced roof floor being laid.
The structure on the left is the pop-up for the staircase.
14. The terraced roof floor being covered.
We opted for a polyester resin roof covering for durability and economy.
15. The terraced roof floor second coat.
A view after the second coat of the floor covering, also showing the door at the top of the new stairs.
16. Pointing along our wall in Debbie’s garden.
A finished section of wall from Debbie’s garden. Traditional lime based mortar is used where we are refurbishing old brickwork. This ensures that the building breaths and moves in a sympathetic way with the old structures. Cement based mortar and concrete has only been used on new structures.
A final point, which sits very comfortably with the ethos of York Supplies, is Debbie’s beloved Acer tree. Debbie has been very supportive and liked the lower roof, as it is south west facing from her garden.
However, she was very concerned that her Acer tree may be damaged being so close to the wall. We wrote into an agreement with her, and into the terms of reference for the contractor, that we would ensure it is protected and, I am delighted to say, Jericho have done a wonderful job of doing so.