PROJECT Gateway blog - JULY & AUGUST 2024
Getting ready
Hello,
Over the summer the Gateway team have been working away on RIBA Stage 4 design work - that’s specifying lots of the technical details for all aspects of the build and refurbishment work. In addition, we’re getting ready to to go out to tender to find our building contractor. Plus we have some great news - The Laing Trust has granted us £30k!
So here's some of the latest images from the architect and an update on what's been happening… (these are representative images of the finished build and NOT exactly what it will look like as floor finishes, furniture details, light fittings etc are yet to be decided)
Building design: The Gateway team have been poring over all the VERY detailed drawings from architect (Fathom), structural engineer (Fairhurst), mechanical, electrical and lighting (Qoda) contractors, deciding everything from ventilation, lighting, door entry/security systems to the flooring throughout the building. There have been literally hundreds of documents to review, some with lots of technical detail - we are blessed to have people in the team with relevant experience to help us - for others it has been a real learning experience! We are now nearing completion on this stage.
Planning permissions: We now need to update our planning permission from Woking Borough Council and the Diocese (the Faculty) with all these decisions, and discharge our pre-commencement conditions in the planning. We need to do this before late January 2025 otherwise we'll lose our planning permission and have to start the whole process again!! Thankfully we are ably assisted by our planning consultant (Litchfields) who will ensure everything is done in time.
Finances: The finance team led by Walter Coxon continues to work hard on securing grant funding for the project. Whilst we are still awaiting the outcome of our biggest potential grant of £495k from Your Fund Surrey, we have had some GOOD news. The Laing Trust has granted us £30k; which when added to the £75k from Benefact, makes a total £105k in grant awards so far. The total project is estimated to cost around £5m and so far we have secured around £3m and we have the option to raise a further £500k from a mortgage on 4 Orchard Drive. That's approximately £2m given or pledged by you, the church family; just over £100k already awarded from grants; £800k in the bank (from past giving and interest earned).
Contract placement: Our project management and cost consultants (Ridge), have drawn up a list of five contractors we hope will tender for the project. We go out to tender before the end of September and aim to select our contractor in early November. Our legal advisors are also working with us to make sure everything is good to go, before we sign!
Project Commencement: The CCW team is closely watching the project schedule to manage any risks, the biggest of which is not starting by January 2025. So to mitigate this we have decided that we will do a very small 'enabling' piece of work that will technically be the start of the project. Essentially that means we will do a small bit of non-intrusive demolition and foundation work at the rear of the church. We hope to do this small piece of work in mid-December / early January.
See more and get involved…
Whole Church Vision & Gateway Evening
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Tuesday 17th Sept @ 7:30 pm
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Whole Church Vision & Gateway Evening
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Whole Church Vision & Gateway Evening ~ Tuesday 17th Sept @ 7:30 pm ~ Whole Church Vision & Gateway Evening ~
A Whole Church Vision & Gateway Evening for EVERYONE, so join us on Tuesday 17th September at 7:30pm for a chance to see the latest architect’s CGI images and hear about what’s happening next.
Find out more
If you want more information about the project, or to find out how you can support it financially, take a look at our Gateway pages on ChristChurch’s website, or you can chat to any of the members of the team: Adrian Beavis (Vicar), Steve Roberts (Project Leader), Walter Coxon (Finance), Mike Pearce (Technical), Peter Wichmann (CCW building knowledge and expertise), Rachael Purvis (Project Coordinator). If you’d like to email us with a specific query you can do so at this email address: gateway@ccwoking.org.