Construction Updates
Follow our progress with the construction of the building here.
Our first phase is to achieve a watertight building by the end of March 2026.
Each week we will be taking a 'birds-eye view' photograph from a drone to see the construction progress - take a look here:
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Week beginning Monday 17th November 2025:
It's been a busy and exciting week! As soon as we had sorted out the legal formalities, Duraform started on site, with brothers Charl & Christian taking charge of the digger & dumper and accepting deliveries. They are friendly, welcoming and well wrapped-up against the bitter cold!
We are still waiting for final quotes to energise our mains electricity connection, so in the meantime Chris M has got agreement from the Sports Group (huge thanks to them!) that we can use their power and he's recoding meter readings. Chris E has set-up a temporary connection to the site for the contractors and they have a back-up generator in their GroundHog unit if required.
Speaking to the guys on site they have been very complimentary about the site in terms of levels and conditions - that is great because that is all stuff we have done and directly saved costs. Hats off to the digger drivers, dumper drivers, roller drivers, Alan for directing us, Lloyd for providing the material, basically all round. The comment was that the bearing capacity was twice as much as they needed - if you walk off the prepared bit into the unimproved field you'll know that took work!
The application to have all remaining Planning Conditions discharged has been submitted to DNPA. Building control have also been appointed and will do a first visit next week.
In terms of communications with neighbours, we have put letters through all the doors of Brook Lane residents and updated the site notice board with new relevant details.
Val & Simon Tame recently met Gail on-site to look at the Landscape & Ecological Management Plan (LEMP) to discuss planting requirements. They will plan and manage tree and bulb planting and we already have donations of bare root saplings and daffodil bulbs for this purpose. We'll put a shout out on the volunteer WhatsApp group when we need helpers for planting.
Miles has made a start on the new hedgebank separating the site from the swale area. This will be built using turf cut on site, so there will be no charge to the charity - great news as this will have more opportunity for biodiversity, and less maintenance as we had expected to have to put up a fence!
In the background, grant applications for further stages of work are being made. Remember we only have enough in the kitty to get the building to a watertight shell currently, but we would dearly like to continue with works once that stage is reached. Hence a continued effort with grant applications.
All of this work can only go ahead because we have a supportive community who have pulled together to get the funding package over the line, for that we are very grateful. It will be exciting to see the outline of hall emerge over the coming months.
Week beginning Monday 24th November 2025:
Duraform have had a fairly relaxed week on our site getting the final preparation work done before our “build lite” order arrives ready for casting the main floor slab (expected midway through week 3).
Completed work this week has been a small amount of material spread and rolled on the previously levelled material. This got the site completely level. They have then installed the Radon system - Radon is a gas which comes from Granite and is radioactive. It is heavier than air so can collect in places, and therefore there are special rules in Granite areas to avoid this happening. In this case, it is putting a grid of perforated pipes right under where the build lite will be. Think of it like ground drainage, but for heavy gas. Duraform have done this, and that is the network of blue pipes just at the surface area.
Duraform have been happy to let Miles work alongside them on site too and he has built a new turf bank across the site. By stripping turf off the site and using it to create a new bank, this is a cheap way to build and sorts all the functional requirements of keeping the dark, bat-friendly space separate from the car parking area. In due course, between Gail and Simon & Val Tame (& hopefully a group of willing volunteers!), this will get planted up with hedging saplings on top. We shouldn’t need to do much on the swale side of that bank now.
Week beginning Monday 1st December 2025:
The most important item this week to keep the project progressing on-time was the delivery of the “Build Lite” material. This was duly delivered mid-week as expected and so Duraform are making good on their efforts to get the project moving swiftly.
The Build Lite is a system of interlocking insulation which goes under our floor slab. It has higher edges and so allows the concrete floor slab to poured within it. It means that the slab is entirely underlaid by extremely well insulated material. Obviously, since the whole building is sat on it, it needs to be accurately laid on totally level ground. To this end, the final levelling task is to lay a thin blinding layer of sand. This is laid totally level – it looks like a billiard table to me – very impressive. The Build Lite is then laid down, up against string lines to make sure it is totally true and temporarily weighted down. This is partially completed now, and the rest of the material is on site, along with lots of steel reinforcement ready for installation.
It is pleasing to see that the contractors are using all of our prepared carpark area and there is enough space for stockpiling, parking and containers.
Off site, details of the external windows and doors have been finalised. This is a balancing act; the best solution are high quality triple glazed windows which are designed to meet PassivHaus standards, but would not be appropriate for high traffic situations like the front doors. We therefore have decided on a mostly Rationel Auraplus, but using a more commercial door solution for the front door – as there are inner and outer front doors we can compensate for the slightly lower thermal efficiency.
Week beginning Monday 8th December 2025:
This week the Duraform team have been making great progress in preparation for the floor slab. The insulation system has been installed, with the team on site even in the teeth of Storm Bram, and it did not slow them down much! The insulation is shallow under the structural walls, but 300mm thick under the main floors. On top of this another Radon barrier is laid – the yellow material – and then comes the task of doing the steel-fixing. This is assembling and installing the cages which form the reinforcement under the walls, wiring it all together so it stays in the right place, in preparation for pouring of the concrete floor.
Thoughts are now turning to the floor pour, which is likely to happen toward the end of next week. This will be somewhat weather dependant and there is ‘weather’ predicted next week. Before it can be done the steel fixing needs to be completed so that will be the first task next week.
In addition, a site meeting was held between the Community Hall representatives, the contractor, and our professional support of Andrew Kirby Architects and our Quantity Surveyor Oliver del Mar. This was very comprehensive and we noted that all involved were impressed with the floor system being used in terms of how clean and organised it allowed the site to remain.
With Christmas approaching the critical milestone planned is for the floor pour to occur. After this there will be two quiet weeks, before the arrival of wall materials in the new year.
