PROJECT Gateway blog - MARCH 2024
Refining the design
Here is the March edition of our Gateway Blog to keep you updated on the progress of the Gateway building project. I’m Steve Roberts (PCC Secretary and Project Lead), and I’ll be sharing more about the work going on ‘behind the scenes’.
I’ve been involved with the project since about 2016, leading the technical work that our team of professional consultants have been undertaking. As Rachael explained in the January blog, we gained planning permission in January 2020, just prior to the pandemic. It expires at the end of January 2025, so we are aiming to start construction by then. In the February blog, Adrian explained the Vision behind the project, so if you would like to understand more about that you can find it here.
The Scheme
Post pandemic, the scheme was modified to meet our current needs and priorities. At the end of 2023, we obtained approval from Woking Council to phase the project, giving us the flexibility to do as much as our finances will allow. We are praying that our fundraising will be successful, enabling us to complete all of Phase 1.
The technical team of Architects, Structural, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, plus Fire, Building Control and Planning Consultants were re-tendered last year and are working on the next level of spatially coordinated designs (Stage 3 of the 7-stage Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) framework). We expect this work to be completed by the end of April 2024. The next step (Stage 4) will be to develop the technical detail of those designs, prior to tendering to select and appoint a construction contractor.
There have been three Design Team meetings with all the consultants involved since the beginning of the year, and several with the staff teams plus many other meetings between the various consultants. We have also met recently with specialist lighting consultants to design appropriate ways to light the nave, café, Youth and Community Centre plus other areas of our building. Several options for the internal layouts of the café, bookshop, toilets and the youth and community centre have been reviewed, much helped by visualisations that the architects have provided from their detailed 3D-modelling work. Below, you can see some examples from the Bookshop and the Youth and Community Centre. The exact furnishings, colour schemes and flooring won’t be decided for a while, but you can see how the areas might look.
Planning
In the meantime, our Planning Consultant has been working with Woking Council to determine the best way of discharging the various conditions attached to our Planning Permission that need to be met before we can start construction. For example, how best to provide the construction management plan and sign off on final materials etc.
Also, in parallel, the Faculty application (the equivalent of listed building consent for Church of England buildings) is progressing and we understand that it has got to the top of the Chancellor’s in-box. He has started reading the proposal, along with digesting the 50 or so supporting documents. We are anticipating that he will be able to approve the scheme soon.
Fundraising
Our various grant applications are progressing well. The Laing Trust are planning to visit the church in early May; a good sign that they are considering granting us an award. Then, earlier this month we received the news that our application to Your Fund Surrey has been approved to move to the next stage. Praise the Lord.
There is a great deal of work to do on Fundraising and Grant Applications and so we are looking for some more volunteers to help Walter and the fundraising team. If you are interested in helping in this way, please contact one of the team.
Find out more
If you want more information about the project, or to find out how you can support it financially, take a look at our Gateway pages on ChristChurch’s website, or you can chat to any of the members of the team: Adrian Beavis (Vicar), Steve Roberts (Project Leader), Walter Coxon (Finance), Mike Pearce (Technical), Peter Wichmann (CCW building knowledge and expertise), Rachael Purvis (Project Coordinator). If you’d like to email us with a specific query you can do so at this email address: gateway@ccwoking.org.