The scheme seeks to refurbish, modernise and extend the Hollis building, which lies at the heart of the Upper Chapel complex in Sheffield’s city centre.
At the RIBA Yorkshire Awards in 2019, CE+CA’s project won the Regional Award, Regional Small Project of the Year and Regional Project Architect of the Year (Jen Langfield).
The Hollis building physically connects Upper Chapel and Channing Hall, both significant Grade II* listed buildings in the city centre. It houses a range of supporting functions and activities vital to the function of the church community, including meeting spaces, offices and toilets. Previous internal alterations have been implemented to a mixed standard, often lacking sensitivity to the historical context. Many period features such as sash windows, stone tablets and timber panelling remained intact yet damaged, and the interior of the building was in need of general refurbishment.
The client body wished to preserve the character and history of the Hollis building whilst making material alterations to improve its function and repair. Key objectives include improving circulation, forming additional meeting space, and modernising services. Achieving an excellent quality of materials and finish was also be paramount.
The works comprised the full strip out and renovation of the existing building, as well as as providing a small single storey extension to the rear of the chapel. This provided chance to improve the poor circulation by rationalising the routes, and reconfiguring shared toilets to be easily accessible by all users.
Conceptually, the new extension to the rear courtyard touches the existing buildings as lightly as possible. Inspired by the typology of a cathedral cloister, the zinc roofed extension infills the external space, connecting the Chapel, Vestry, and Hollis Building. As well as rationalising the circulation, this adds modest yet vital space for the chapel community’s meeting space, providing a calm, informal place for conversation or reflection. Large new rooflights rise out of the existing brickwork, allowing views of the sky and flooding the spaces with North light.
The client body wished to preserve the character and history of the Hollis Building whilst making material alterations to improve its function and repair.
Where possible, historical features are retained and celebrated, whilst allowing contemporary additions to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings. The material palette is chosen to build on the existing quality of materials found across the complex of buildings. Timber wall panelling has been restored, with contemporary new panelling to the main meeting rooms echoing this language. Sash windows have been repaired, and internalised brick and stonework cleaned. Stone flags lifted from the courtyard are relaid in the new cloister, enhancing the visual connection with the courtyard beyond.
An exhaustive assessment of the existing building, along with close collaboration between CE+CA and the contractor, ensured that historic features and valuable materials were retained, or sensitively renovated and reinstalled. Likewise, significant structural interventions creating new openings and connections, and reinforcing existing structure, were made through “keyhole surgery” to keep as much of the existing as intact as possible.
Project constraints were complex and wide ranging. Limited access, fragile artefacts in-situ and wedding bookings all had to be factored into design and execution of the building works. Ongoing collaboration between client, design team and main contractor ensured that adjacent buildings could remain in use with minimal disruption.
