Have less, do more
A simple concept can require solving a series of complex problems. I wanted to create different spaces and levels through the addition of a mezzanine floor.
Sounds straightforward. You add some columns and run a floor across the top, spanning from wall to wall. Easy peasy, just 100% not what I wanted to do!
Add extra to the ordinary
This project was never just about refurbishing a building. That would be a bit mundane. It was about trying to resolve the challenges of changing a simple question from ‘why’ to ‘why not?’
Making the simple complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple, awesomely simple,
that’s creativity – Charles Mingus
Visually and practically, I didn’t want to go down the obvious structural route of using support columns on the ground floor. It would be both ugly and consume valuable floor space. Plus, where is the creative challenge in doing that?
Delivery day
Today was a really exciting moment in the project. The steelwork that was in production now arrives on site for installation.
This is the moment when things really begin to change. The existing single-volume interior space of the Small Mission Hall will be subdivided, and a new first-floor level will be introduced. All with no walls or visible support columns underneath.
Total transformation
The installation of the structural steelwork will be done in phases. First up, the main structural A-frame support gets installed. The first two main uprights are carefully set out and positioned.
These are key components; everything relies on these, and all future dimensions are determined from these. They are the datum for the steelwork installation.
Once the correct positions are established, they are securely fixed to the concrete floor via heavy-duty threaded rod, resin-bonded in place and bolted down. These bad boys won’t be going anywhere soon!
All of this part of the structure will ultimately be hidden in the internal framing and insulation that is to be built and installed later on.
Problem phase
OK, so that was the relatively straightforward phase done. Next up is getting the two large and very heavy steel rafters fixed high up in place in the roof.
These are not lightweight pieces of metal, the guys were dealing with! Getting them into position was going to be a challenge. The first of many that lay ahead.
Adjust, adapt
If at first you don’t succeed… You have to think on your feet and adjust to the situation. The building and location presented lots of different obstacles to getting the steel rafters in place.
One of the issues with adapting an existing building structure is working around what was already in place. The guys were used to dealing with such challenges and soon came up with a workable solution to the problem.
Cutting and welding some temporary support components in place, the rafters were then hoisted into the roof space and secured in place to the support columns.
Raise, remove
Once in place and securely bolted up to the support columns, the temporary supports can be removed. The first key component of the structural jigsaw was now in place. That was supposed to be the easy part of the job!
Great to get to see the final A-frame structure in place. On a lunch break, I noticed that the platform tower was at a similar height to that of my potential mezzanine.
I couldn’t help myself. A quick adjustment to the platform position, lay out my cardboard staircase template idea on the floor, and it sort of looks like the vision I have in my head for the mezzanine floor… well, in my mind it does anyway.
Suspension support
The purpose of the structural steel A-frame structure is two-fold. First up, it will help support the suspended mezzanine floor. That’s the next job to get done.
Again, like before, positioning is critical; lots of checking, adjusting, and finessing were required. This is especially true when fitting new, square and accurate metal components into an old and not-so-square and true building like mine.
Complete change
The structural steel A-frame will also act as a midpoint support for a new steel ridge beam that is to be installed. Getting it fitted will be critical, complicated and physically demanding. They are big, heavy bits of steel to try to secure in place
However, once done, all the horizontal timber cross ties you see in the roof structure at the moment can be removed. That will completely change the look and feel of the internal space.
This will eventually give clear roof space for the mezzanine and double-height space for the kitchen and dining area. This will be the final phase of the installation. Got a way to go before we get to that point, though.
Positive progress
A life of conformity and safety brings little joy. It serves to pacify and dull the senses. It changes living and feeling alive to merely existing.
I may be sleeping in an old camper right now, there may be a hole in the wall of my building where a door should be, but progress is happening, and hopefully I’ll be back inside in the not-too-distant future…
For me, change is scary. It would be far easier not to be doing any of this, to stand on the sidelines with regret in my heart and the nagging thoughts of ‘what if…’
Sometimes you never really know unless you give things a go. Better to try and fail than live with regret.
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Rest assured, there’s absolutely no AI-generated churn here; it’s all just my own quirky outworking of ideas and dreams, as I look to renovate an old derelict Small Mission Hall in the Outer Hebrides.
