The building would have been taken down had it not been an integral part of the Clopton Bridge itself. Shortly after the Toll House was closed, James Cox moved his timber yard next door and made the building his office space. Since the closure as a timber yard in 1991, the toll house has stood empty and fell into disrepair. It was included in the top ten West Midland’s Historic England’s Register of Buildings at Risk.
The toll house was rescued by Stratford Historic Buildings Trust which had raised funds to renovate it into a visitor centre and office space. The project has been awarded substantial grants from Historic England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as other trusts and charities.
Historic building contractors Stone-Edge took on the project to refurbish the Grade I Listed Toll House. The project will include a public display area in the basement and a range of activities to explore both the history of the Toll House and also the industrial heritage of Stratford, much of which was originally located along the River Avon and around the canal basin.
As part of the refurbishment, the original windows were removed, repaired and reinstalled. Substantial works were carried out to the stone reveals and openings. Damaged stone was replaced with Sandstone from Northumberland and Leeds. Even after thorough refurbishment, the performance of the single glazed timber windows was deemed inadequate.
Stone-Edge, together with Mark Evans Architects approached Selectaglaze, the UK’s leading supplier of secondary glazing. With a plethora of experience within Listed and Historic buildings, Selectaglaze was suitably experienced to deal with the requirements of the Old Toll House.
After a positive meeting with Stone-Edge, Selectaglaze installed 8 units on the ground and first floor of the Old Toll House. The original gothic headed curved casements look fantastic so it was critical that any secondary glazing treatment dealt with the visual impact considerately. Selectaglaze Series 45 double side hung casement with matching gothic curved head was chosen.
The results look amazing, they are barely noticeable from the outside, but the building now has all the benefits of modern glazing. The building is a lot warmer, which will be the optimal environment for the incoming tenants using the ground and first floor as office space.
“Fitting secondary glazing into a Grade I Listed building with lots of different sized windows was a big challenge. We are delighted with the finished product in terms of insulation and sympathetic appearance.” Project organiser Chris Rice
Selectaglaze is the leading specialist in the design, manufacture and installation of secondary glazing; established in 1966 and a Royal Warrant holder since 2004.
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