North Northants Council-funded new video of the Cornerstone roof project to replace the crumbling Collyweston slate tiles on the roof of Kettering Library part of the Alfred East Art Gallery complex, as well as new leaking 'Cornerstone' extension. The Manor House Museum is yet to re-open due to safety concerns.
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00:00Cornerstone is a unique collection of buildings that encompasses the Alfred E. Stark Gallery,
00:22the Kettering Library, the Manor House Museum and the Manor House Gardens.
00:33We're undertaking an extensive project to replace the roof on this fantastic Carnegie
00:39building that's over 100 years old.
00:43But unfortunately, due to lack of funding and things previously, the actual roof of the
00:48library has not really had any major works other than general repairs.
00:54And it's come to a state now where we can't do general repairs anymore.
00:58We have to do a full replacement of that roof.
01:13We are in the centre of Kettering, which is a conservation area.
01:17Both the library and the art gallery are listed buildings and the monuments out the front
01:22are also listed.
01:23We have the Manor House, which is another listed building, so it's a very historically
01:27sensitive location.
01:29My job is to make sure that any works that are carried out and approved respect the special
01:34character of the listed buildings and the conservation area.
01:38Local people love this building.
01:40It's been in the community for many years and it's really an outstanding building of
01:45beauty.
01:47It's absolutely essential that as custodians of this fantastic building that we do everything
01:52we can to secure it for future generations.
01:58This is a really interesting set of buildings.
02:01The library, which is 1903-4, and then the art gallery is later, 1913.
02:07Plans for the library that we're proposing are a complete re-roofing of all of the pitched
02:12roofs and then there are some parapet gutters to be addressed.
02:17There's a wonderful cupola.
02:19There is a chimney over there which needs repointing, for example.
02:22All the rainwater goods are very distorted and need to be repaired and repainted.
02:26There are glazing repairs to some of the windows required and there is a flat roof behind here
02:31which is in poor condition as well.
02:33And then there's a whole programme of masonry repairs and other repairs to be done from
02:37the scaffolding.
02:38We are working around bats on this building.
02:40The bats do use the large roof space that is above the main library.
02:45That has implications in terms of timing, but it also has implications on the methodology
02:50of how we do the re-roofing.
02:52So the difficulties that we are going to encounter with the bats are to do with the way that
02:57they use the roof space, either as a maternity roost or a hibernating roost, but we will
03:02have to time our project so that it avoids that difficulty.
03:08A project like this does take a long time.
03:10We've tried to push forward with the drawings, but we do need listed building consent and
03:14planning permission for the work, so that has its own programme.
03:17We've also got to source the materials to do the re-roofing.
03:31With any building of this age, Historic England need to be involved and they are particular
03:35about what we do and how we preserve the natural features of this building.
03:40Now we are installing a Colley Western slate roof, which is renowned for its longevity.
03:47Colley Western is a local building material from the village of Colley Western, which
03:51is a million miles from here, and Colley Western is on a lot of local buildings in the North
03:57North Ants area, and it's part of the area's special character.
04:01It's been evidence it's been used since Roman times.
04:04It's also a very environmentally friendly thing to do because of the lower transport
04:09costs, but also we're supporting a local business.
04:13It's a very traditional technique, so it's quite low carbon if you compare it to other
04:18ways of producing materials.
04:21So for a small scale craft industry like the production of Colley Western stone slates,
04:26it does take a very long time.
04:34This is half of the slates ready for Kettering Library.
04:48All of these are for us?
04:49Yeah, all of those are for you.
04:50And that's only half?
04:51And that's only half.
04:52I'm here today so that we can have a look at the supplier who's going to supply the
04:59Colley Western slate that we're going to have to use to put on the Kettering Library
05:05roof.
05:06This is the entrance to the mine.
05:08We enter the mine with the machinery, but historically this was all filled in in 2015.
05:15It was all a flat piece of land, but we found on an old map, an old drawing, that historically
05:21this was the original entrance to the mine.
05:24When we dug this tunnel out, we found the old entrance into the mine still open and
05:29you're able to walk down there.
05:32It's been a very, very wet winter this year, so we've had a lot of water to pump out.
05:42So here we are in the heart of our mine, everything pretty much from that sheet backwards we've
05:46took out and exhausted and this is all our working area.
05:51You can see this seam, it's going all the way through, all the way round.
05:55This is like an oxidised stone, so the oxygen has got between the cracks.
06:01Some of the slates then become this colour, like the blue colour, but once they're on
06:05the roof for a couple of years, they then become oxygenated and then become the stone,
06:11buff stone colour again.
06:13Basically going through there, basically straight down there into the field.
06:17You can actually see the slate running through.
06:22The collywestern slate layer just stands out so beautifully.
06:27It's got a fantastic array of different colours in it.
06:31The blue stood out for me, it was just beautiful.
06:43When we bring the stone up from the mine, the chunks of stone gets then put into these
06:47IBC containers filled with water because we do not want this stone to dry out.
06:53Once this stone dries out, it's useless, so it has to stay wet.
06:57These are just extra ones at the moment that will eventually go into the freezing process.
07:03Over this side, Julian's now loading the freezers, he's swapping over the process so we've got
07:08one freezer which is thawing and one freezer that is freezing.
07:34These IBC containers here have been in the freezer for 24 hours.
07:38We swap them every 24 hours, every three or four frost thaw processes, these will get
07:44assessed ready for whether they're ready for cliving, whether the fissiles are showing
07:48into the stone and they go down to the workshops ready for cliving.
07:59Once it's been frosted and thawed, the crate is brought down into the workshop, the fissiles
08:04in the stone have all opened up and the guys here then chop with their cliving hammers
08:10and chisels and then produce collywestern slates.
08:18The next process is it goes into the saw room where Mark cuts three square edges onto each
08:26slate.
08:27He tries to maximise whatever bit of stone he's got, he maximises the biggest slate he
08:32can get out of the slate that was produced earlier from cliving.
08:37Then the crate of cut slates come out and then go over to these guys over here who then
08:43will be chipping the edge of the slates, otherwise it leaves this horrible, nasty cut edge we
08:50don't like to see.
08:51We want to see a nice, traditional, dressed edge on the slate and also then drilling the
08:57hole into the top.
08:58Every slate has a different size and they're all measured with the parting stick, 28 different
09:04sizes and overrules.
09:06Once we've got a good armful on the bench here, it then can be transported into the
09:12crates.
09:15So once a crate has been filled from the workshop, they're all counted and put in this compound.
09:21The crates will be taken to site, they'll be hoisted up onto the roof level ready for
09:25the slaters to use.
09:32I had the pleasure of climbing up the scaffolding and going onto the roof of another beautiful
09:42heritage building where the team are replacing the roof there and it looks amazing.
09:49It's a mixture of reclaimed and a new collywestern slate.
09:53On the roof here is diminishing courses from the larger slates at the bottom right the
09:58way up to the small slates at the top.
10:01All the slates are laid on lime mortar and have the shale underneath to give support
10:06and extra waterproofing.
10:09With collywesterns they don't have a lead gutter in between, the slates are swept round
10:14and each of the diamond slates are cut in to form that lace valley going all the way
10:18round and that's a traditional detail and also a very, very skilled part of collywestern
10:24slating.
10:25It's not like typical tiling, it does take time because obviously we've got to mortar
10:33every one, we've got to nail every one and then we've got to scrape them all out as well
10:37afterwards, brush them all off, so it does take time.
10:45Now we've got stainless steel nails, tanalised timber, you know it could last 200 years.
10:57Earlier this year we developed a new business plan for the whole of our cultural and heritage
11:02service.
11:03That means that we can share all of those expertise across all of our sites.
11:09So we have one financial team, we have a catering team, we have site officers and everything
11:15that we can share across all of the sites and that allows us to be more financially
11:19sustainable, something that we did not have prior to the business plan being brought into
11:25play.
11:32It's been so important being a library and being a statutory service at the council that
11:36we've kept this open to the public but of course once that roof has been replaced we
11:41can move into a space that's probably about five times the size of where it currently
11:44is and we can put on a full service for the people of Kettering.
11:51Where the temporary library is currently taking place, that is home to our commercial elements
11:55for the Cornerstone moving forwards.
11:57So we need to look at ways how we can generate income in that building.
12:00The Cornerstone project that was funded by SemLab has enabled us to produce areas such
12:05as our cafe, food and beverage space, we're looking at retail options, we've got a beautiful
12:09garden room overlooking the gardens where we can put on conferences, ceremonies and
12:14even weddings as well and that's all being developed in our comprehensive business plan.
12:28So whilst we work incredibly hard to get the library roof finished and that building back
12:32open, our attention has turned to the Manor House Museum.
12:36The museum as well is another project that we've got to look at and that will require
12:40some serious funding to bring that back into play.
12:45This building is currently closed to the public due to the structural safety of that space.
12:49So we're really trying to explore how we use this collection, who's using the Manor House
12:54Museum and also look at is this the right facility, is it the right building, how do
12:59we ensure that it's fully accessible.
13:02Working with the likes of the National Lottery Heritage Fund who we've already heavily engaged
13:05with to start to develop a major project for the Manor House Museum and all those things
13:10are currently being explored in that master plan.
13:15We've been on a very long journey with the Cornerstone over the last few years.
13:19We were successful in a grant just before the Covid outbreak from Semlep who awarded
13:24us just under ÂŁ4m to refurbish the Alfred East Art Gallery.
13:29The Alfred East Gallery hasn't reopened since Covid but it was through Covid that the funding
13:35came about for the renovation project and the extension.
13:38Prior to this in the old building as it was before, the store wasn't fit for purpose.
13:44Being in from the beginning meant that we could make sure that all of the paintings
13:48had enough space around them, that the environment was correct and we could be there at the beginning
13:52of the design process for that.
13:54We're four years down the line.
13:55We've got a key team that are working really hard to deliver public engagement and outreach
14:00around our collections using both the art collection and the museum collection.
14:05While we're closed to the public, the team and myself are based in the gallery spaces.
14:10We are using them as workspace and for other projects that we're doing.
14:20Working in partnership with our friends group, with Kettering Library and the Civic Society
14:25on different projects so that people know that we are still here, what they can look
14:28forward to when we reopen and remind them what amazing artworks we have in the collection.
14:36I'm so proud of the team over the last few years.
14:38They've been attending festivals, events, they've been working with artworks in the
14:41centre of Kettering to really get the collection out there, to keep the Alfred East brand alive.
14:49An art gallery is a key thing for us to have in our community really, important for so
14:53many things.
14:54It does so many things for a lot of people.
14:56The main thing we want to do is make sure that this collection is here and remains for
15:01future generations of the town to see.
15:06The art gallery has changed externally a little bit over time.
15:10There are two main galleries, each one had a large area of glazed roof, all covered over
15:15now because of the difficulties of getting sunlight into a building that you're trying
15:20to environmentally control.
15:22But the way that they covered them up, I don't know how many years ago, was to put some plywood
15:26over the glass and then put roofing felt over that.
15:29So this is a very short life material and it's reached the end of its life.
15:33So we've got to re-roof the whole of the art gallery and that means removing this felt
15:38and plywood and we can then put insulation down and ventilation and then add a new layer
15:43of boarding which will have a turn-coated stainless steel finish to it.
15:47Between the two art galleries there's a lower section of roof over the entrance corridor.
15:52We're going to raise the height of that roof still well below the parapet level in order
15:56to change the way the roof drains so that it avoids a small area of internal guttering.
16:03Because it's an internal gutter it leaks internally which is no good for anyone.
16:07So we're moving that rainwater pipe to the outside of the building and that will be a
16:13sort of fail-safe for future blockages.
16:22We're incredibly blessed that we have a beautiful garden next to the Cornerstone Complex.
16:32It's a free, open-to-use space.
16:34There is such a value for green, open space for people to be able to come and relax with
16:38their families and that heritage link between the gardens and the Cornerstone is so invaluable
16:43to try and encourage people to go through our doors once they're open.
16:46We want to do lots of events and activities in that space.
16:49We can do marquee events and even possibly start looking at weddings and things to draw
16:53an income to the Cornerstone moving forwards.
16:58What will happen at the end of this is a building that is absolutely outstanding for future
17:02generations and I'm proud to have been part of that journey.
17:06This is a long process but we've got to do it right and this is the way we do it.