Elliott Pardington
We had been looking at the Old School in Goodrich near to Ross-On-Wye for almost a year, the paperwork as always seemed to be taking for ever. As usual this was down to making certain that we had a clean title. We finally completed the October 2018.
The school had been closed in 2000 and remained shut till a group of local builders purchased the school in 2008. They had plans passed by Herefordshire Council and work got underway. For whatever reasons work stopped in 2013 and the school was put on the market for sale in 2014.
The prospect of converting the near two hundred-year-old school into four houses was something we were really excited about, so whilst the solicitors were getting the paperwork all set up, we wanted to find an architect with the skills needed to maintain the character and history of the building. The original builders had not used an architect to draw up the original plans but had used a structural engineer, quite frankly we had we were not given any working plans so it was a case of starting again.
Looking back now we think ourselves as being very lucky to have been given the recommendation of Elliott Pardington. First impressions are very important, we knew from when we had our first site meeting with Elliott that we had been recommended to a first-class architect.
What impressed us was how easy Elliott was to communicate with, he understood everything about current building method, what new materials were available to be used on our 200-year-old school. A building of this age had many issues that were needed to be overcome to make it into homes that were fit for the 21st century.
As you would expect from any good architect the plans and detailing on the plans were perfect.
Armed with a full set of plans our build got underway, our team of tradesmen and builders had detailed drawings on site, but if there was anything that they were unsure of or unclear about Elliott was always available at the end of a phone. It was nice to see him on site as well, as he popped in on occasions to see what progress we were making.
The project was completed in November 2019. We have sold two of the four homes with another sale pending. We have all heard the expression “Planning and Preparation Prevent Poor Performance” and it is in no small part that Elliott Pardington provided us with a set of plans that made our project an outstanding success.
Terry Smith
Director
Albert Dyer Properties Limited
