29th March 2017

Surrey Heritage Award nomination for Thomasons’ project Undershaw

Following extensive restoration by a team that included Thomasons’ engineers, the former house of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Hindhead, Surrey, has been nominated for a prestigious Surrey Heritage Award, a competition launched by the Surrey Historic Buildings Trust. The awards recognise and highlight best practice in the care of old buildings and adherence to the principles of building conservation advocated by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).

Undershaw, a Grade II listed building built in 1896, is where Conan Doyle wrote many of his famous works and has been carefully redeveloped into the new home for Stepping Stones, a specialist school for young people with disabilities.

Thomasons’ engineers were responsible for the structural and civil design on this project. Many of the young people at Stepping Stones are severely disabled and the school has been carefully designed to make their surroundings comfortable. At the same time, the house has been painstakingly restored. Partition walls have been removed, fireplaces reinstated and walls, ceilings and floors repaired using traditional techniques. Unique features such as stained glass windows have been restored and Conan Doyle’s old study has been re-created.

Working on preserving, altering and maintaining historic buildings around the UK is a core area of Thomasons’ expertise. The team of structural engineers take a meticulous approach, remaining faithful to original designs but balancing this with modern-day practicalities.

The winners will be announced on Wednesday 29 March 2017 at Loseley Park near Guildford in Surrey.