Case Study | Eltham Orangery

Caroe& Partners Architects

Eltham Orangery, London The Eltham Orangery is an early 18th century structure and was originally part of Eltham House, which stood on what is now Eltham High Street in the London Borough of Greenwich. The Orangery was built against the rear garden wall facing South. Parts of this wall, the earliest structure on site still remain. The Orangery may be the work of the architect John James but other names have been suggested. The Orangery is a handsome baroque building with impressive architectural features. The main South elevation is faced with fine red gauged brickwork. The centre piece of the elevation is a niche with a scallop shell carved in gauged brickwork. The rear elevation and the flank walls, are constructed with 18th and 19th century stock brickwork, although the gauged red brickwork pilasters also appear on either side of the East and West elevations. The building had lain derelict since Eltham House was demolished in the 1930s. In the 1970s it was taken over by the local authority, and there have been several unsuccessful attempts to find a use for it. The building is listed grade II*. It had suffered from vandalism and neglect with increasingly dire consequences. A fire in 1978 burned the roof down. Despite security measures taken and a supporting scaffold and temporary roof being erected, vandalism damage continued, to the point where the West wall suffered a collapse in 2000. In the same year, the building was acquired by Freeman Historic Properties, who appointed Caroe & Partners to assist with its repair and restoration. Work started on site in January 2002 and was completed in March 2003 with an English Heritage grant of 93.75%. The main contractor was Fullers Builders Ltd.

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Case Study | Eltham Orangery

Design, materials and repair techniques in relation to the brickwork The West elevation was rebuilt, using original bricks salvaged from the collapse and new handmade bricks to match.

Caroe& Partners Architects

The repair of the scallop shell in the niche was an equally carefully considered process. The correct edge detail was discussed at length and settled when Nimbus used clay to model the scallop edge in situ. The new bricks were inserted and carved in situ to follow the clay prototype. The renewal of decayed bricks on any part of the building was considered and discussed at length by the architect, masons and conservators on site, with every brick being individually examined to assess its condition and decide its renewal or otherwise. This was a gradual process with decayed bricks being marked for renewal in stages, starting from the worst. Apart from ensuring the longevity of the remaining material, the aim was to achieve the correct balance between new and retained bricks so that the building retained its weathered but carefully repaired appearance when the scaffold was taken down.

The gauged brickwork of the front elevation was repaired with careful insertions of new bricks and brick slips and the cornices were rebuilt and repaired using existing sound bricks and new moulded bricks made by the Bulmer Brick & Tile Co. Ltd to match original profiles. The repair of all brickwork (with the exception of the niche) and the construction of the dyes on the new parapets was carried out by Fullers Builders.

Awards The Georgian Group Commendation 2004

The brickwork of the central niche, was repaired by Nimbus Conservation with guidance and advice from Mr Gerard Lynch. The radius of the existing niche was carefully measured and mapped out, allowing the new bricks to be cut to the correct curve for fitting seamlessly into the existing.

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