Full refurbishment at Mervyn Smith

It was last autumn that the roof gave way at Mervyn Smith forcing them to move quickly into an empty unit two doors away. Refurbishment on the original site while slow to start has picked up in recent weeks and it looks as though it will soon be ready for occupation.

Smaller window

I have been watching progress at 33 Ham Farm Road for months and while most of it has been hidden behind plastic sheeting some of it is visible, such as this section of the front of the house. This part is one of the few that has been retained from the original house and even this is changing as the window becomes smaller. 

It is still a little to early to tell but I think the new brick to glass ratio is wrong and the wall looks a bit forbidding.

New gate in Hazel Lane

I walk along Hazel Lane regularly, mostly to avoid traffic-heavy Petersham Road, and while it changes little it does change from time to time and this neat gate is one of those changes.

Clarendon SEND School

I was quite happy to wait for the new building/s on the former Strathmore site on Meadlands Drive to be build before discovering what they were only to have that surprise taken away from an information board on the site hoardings.

The diagram in the middle of the top row gives the new site layout and it seems it will be much like the previous school in form and function (though, of course, different specialist schools serve children with different needs and ages).

Wood over steel

I am intrigued by the construction of the new Little Cottage (on the south-east corner of Sudbrook Lane and Bute Avenue) and have been since it started with a bright yellow metal frame. The wooden roof is another surprise to me. Of course that is not the end of the story and I look forward to seeing what is placed over the wood.

Sudbrook House outbuildings

While Sudbrook House is the main building of the estate there are other interesting buildings worth noting and I like the look of these, made even lovelier by their setting.

Cube Room at Sudbrook House

The Cube Room at Sudbrook House is as grand as the main room in a Palladian should be. Sadly it has lost most of its original colour but the plasterwork is too delicate to even determine what those colours were.

Another angle shows more of the detail in this remarkable room. And what I also find remarkable is that the room is in regular use, it is the club's dining room.

The front of Sudbrook House

It is a shame that the front of the house, facing in to Richmond Park, is partially obscured by a marquee (the gold club is a business after all) but there is more than enough showing to be impressive.

The middle section in white is original, unlike at the back of the house, and is one of the walls to the Cube Room, the literal centrepiece of the house.

Sudbrook House

I have wanted to post pictures of Sudbrook House for years but despite it being semi-public I have not had a good excuse to visit it before so I am very grateful to Ham United Group for organising an architecture tour there. 

Sudbrook House, home of The Richmond Golf Club, is one of the areas more fabulous buildings (in a tough competition) built in the early 1700s with later additions. This is the view of the back of the house, as approached from Sudbrook Lane, and the colonnaded section in the middle is one of those extensions, as is the rather out of keeping block on the left.