Converting a Former Wesleyan Chapel

When Sophie Taylor first contemplated converting the redundant chapel standing at the bottom of her garden, she realised just how important it would be to draw light into the dark interiors of the small stone building. Not only did planning permission need to be secured in a notoriously strict Conservation Area, but Sophie was determined to use quality natural materials and large panels of glazing despite her limited budget of £70,000.

“I knew from the start that it would be vital to find a good team of professionals to help me through the stages of designing and building the house,” says Sophie, who had previously renovated her pretty two bedroom cottage and added a conservatory before turning her attention to the chapel.

“When I first moved here back in 2001, it was the tumbledown cottage and its spectacular two-acre setting which I fell in love with, and the old stone chapel came as part of the package. At that point I had no money to spend on the house, so I turned my attention to the overgrown grounds and created a walled garden and an orchard in the paddock.”

In time, renovation work began on the main cottage and Sophie applied for planning permission to add a conservatory — a process that took almost four years of painstaking negotiations and which made her realise the enormity of attempting to restore and extend the chapel.

Originally the stone structure had been built for the village workers and was last used as a place of worship in 1928. Over time the building had deteriorated to such an extent that only four walls and a grand piano remained, with an owl nesting up in the roofless rafters. The previous owner had re-roofed the chapel with slate, inserting a rooflight and patching up the interiors in a fairly rudimentary fashion, so that by the time Sophie came to own it the shell was relatively sound.

“The chapel is in the most beautiful setting, and I wanted to make the most of this fact by opening the interiors to the surroundings — despite having very little money to spend,” Sophie explains. “I can’t bear dark, poky houses, so I needed to find an architect who was comfortable working with glass.”

Juliet Colman from architectural practice JCCH was recommended to Sophie, and the two women hit it off immediately, with Juliet taking on the role of project manager for the build. The decision was taken to extend the chapel with a single-storey glass viewing room overlooking the water — freeing up the remaining ground floor space as a comfortable sitting room, hallway and utility with a spacious bedroom, walk-in dressing room and luxurious en suite bathroom upstairs.

“Despite my tiny budget I was determined to have a high-quality kitchen, and Rob Gelling of Bulthaup Oxford worked with us to come up with a very minimalist arrangement for a tight space, using taupe and grey cabinets, which somehow manages to contain everything I need — including an insulated boiling water tap,” says Sophie. “The three of us worked together, thrashing out ideas until we came up with a final, workable plan.”

Predictably, gaining planning permission for the glazed extension proved a struggle, despite the fact that the new addition is tucked unobtrusively behind the chapel. Additionally, it was specified that the exterior of the main stone building could not be altered in any way, so that only existing window and door openings could be used.

“Our biggest challenge was getting light into the building, so out came the old staircase and the partition walls and in went masses of glass,” says Sophie. “The builders literally started out with a bare box and breathed life back into the interiors, lavishing real care and attention on the finishes.”

Sophie feels extremely lucky to have found such a dedicated team of builders — particularly considering that finding anyone at all to take on the project had proved so difficult. Keen to make a start as soon as possible, she had contacted a number of local companies only to discover that nobody could begin work for at least six months.

By coincidence, Bucknell builders Bybridge Construction were working for Juliet’s in-laws and, when their next job in London fell through at the last minute, the company was happy to quote for converting Sophie’s chapel. Two weeks later and they were able to start on site, going on to win a Federation of Master Builders’ award for their outstanding work.

Access proved to be a huge challenge, due to the sloping nature of the land, and because the chapel stands so close to a stream, wet weather created a bog underfoot. Not only was it hard getting materials onto the site but storing them was also difficult, and it took six men to manoeuvre each of the huge panels of glass which make up walls in the bedroom and bathroom.

“The most surprising thing was that no matter how tough it got everyone still thoroughly enjoyed the whole process,” says Sophie. “So many people moan about their builders but we had great fun. It was encouraging to find a group of people who were as keen as I was to make the best of the chapel, and the end result is a real credit to them.”

The builders carefully restored the building’s exterior, using flexible lime mortar to re-point the stonework. They built the aluminium-framed glass extension on new foundations and reconstructed the chapel interiors in glass and brushed stainless steel — all specifically designed to reflect and enhance the light.

“With such thick, uneven stone walls, the carpenter Adrian had to make up panelling and bookcases on site to curve around the shapes,” Sophie recalls. Light white oak has been used for the flooring, staircase, wall panelling and bespoke furniture, whilst floor lighting in the glass extension continues outside onto the terrace, down steps and then underwater in the pond, linking the inside and outside spaces.

The highly insulated Stream House Chapel now incorporates underfloor heating in the new extension and thermostatically controlled radiators elsewhere, with low-voltage lighting, an energy-efficient boiler and a contemporary woodburning stove from Norway in one corner of the sitting room.

“People wonder how I cope with so much glass, particularly as the bathroom has a fully glazed wall onto the landing and is open plan to the bedroom,” says Sophie, “but the house was always only ever intended for a single person or a couple rather than a family, so there’s really no issue with privacy.”

Spurred on by the success of the project, Sophie has now sold her cottage, purchasing the property next door with the intention of giving it a complete makeover, using the same team of people and similar finishes as before. “I’m passionate about the chapel because you just walk inside and feel really uplifted, so I’ve retained ownership of it, along with the surrounding two acres of land, and will be living there during the build,” she explains. “Converting it has made me realise just how fulfilling such a project can be, and gave me the confidence to take on an even bigger challenge. Now I can’t wait to do it all over again.”