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SCAFFOLDING DOWN (18 August 2010) With the scaffolding down the outside of the building is now starting to make more of an impact. Meanwhile the plasterers, plumbers, glaziers and other experts have been making their impression on the inside. It looks like the builders may hit the October deadline. More pictures available here. |
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WINDOWS GO IN (28 July 2010) Progress continues as walls and ceilings are plastered, and windows are now being installed. It is starting to look habitable. The new windows are also in place across at the ADC end and rendering of the walls in underway - following a good wash down from all the soot on the brickwork. |
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RAPID PROGRESS (7 July 2010) After a 5 week break from the office I am astonished at how much progress has been made. The giant Meccano set now has exterior and interior walls. Wiring, plumbing and ducting are moving ahead at full pace and the site is swarming with workmen. The outside of Phase 1 (The ADC) is also having a face-lift. New windows and doors will help it match Phase 2. The brick work will then be rendered providing better insulation and a 21st century look. |
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ROOF & FLOOR (13 May 2010) While some of the brick work is going up on the lower level, and builders are at work all over the building, it is principally the roof and the floors where the progress is clearly seen. On the left you see the roof with the first sky-light in place. This is on the lower level. Behind that you see the higher roof over the atrium. On the right you can see the different levels of roofing providing good insulation and weather-proofing. |
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Meanwhile, inside the building metal work has been laid across the flooring and concrete poured on top. In the picture on the right you can see the white polystyrene insulation on the floor - awaiting a skimming of concrete on the top.New pictures of this phase are now available in the April picture gallery. |
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STAIRS LIFTED IN (26 April 2010) A three story building will get you nowhere without a set of stairs - and their installation on Monday, 26 April was a major stepping stone in the construction of the building. The staff car-park was blocked for the day by a large crane as it lifted the pre-moulded concrete stairs into place. |
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ROOF AND WALLS (20 April 2010) A visitor to the site will now be greeted with a hive of activity, metal being sawn and shaped to fit the walls and the roof part, bricklayers at work - a lot of noise and bustle. This is likely to continue for the next couple of weeks then it will be time to lay the floors for the first and second floors. |
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SCAFFOLDING GOES UP (31 March 2010) With the screed going down on the ground floor the scaffolding is going up. The number of builders on site will now increase as the walls start to go up and the various trades are needed. It is a bit noisy for staff working in the main building. The banging of steel against steel, the noise of lorries and diggers, but staff are fascinated to see the building going up. There are a selection of updated pictures in the gallery. |
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STARTING ON THE FLOOR AND LIFT SHAFT (22 March 2010) The 'brickies' have now joined the work force with blocks and concrete struts going into place for the ground floor. The base of the lift shaft is now also in place (pictured on right) and drainage at ground level is being connected. |
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FIRE PROOFING AND ADDING ROOF SUPPORTS (15 March 2010) A white, fire proof coating is being sprayed onto the steel girders. This provides up to one hour of fire protection - stopping the spread of heat via the girders - in the eventuality of a fire. More girders were delivered today providing the roof structure above the atrium and more of the curved sections on the west face of the building. The bolts are not yet sprayed white as there will need to be a final tightening of the frame once all girders are in place. For more pictures visit the picture gallery. |
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FRAME PROGRESS (3 March 2010) This phase of construction sees progress by the hour. The left hand picture was how the frame looked on Monday, 1 March. The right hand picture shows the almost completed outside frame, including the overhang, two days later. |
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FRAME WORK GOING UP (25 February 2010) The foundations are now in and on Wednesday, 24 February a giant mobile crane arrived along with two 'cherry pickers' so that a skillful team of workman can start putting together the giant meccano set that will be the frame for the third stage of the building. |
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Every piece of metal is numbered and it is a skilled job to ensure that the crane is heading for exactly the right piece for the job. There is a high level of cooperation between the crane operator, the foreman on the ground and the two men in the cherry pickers that bolt each section into place. It is expected that this phase of the construction will take three weeks. More photos of Phase III construction can be seen in our photo gallery. |
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SNOW DELAYS STAGE 3 (13 January 2010) The severe wintry weather since just before Christmas has delayed the building programme. With snow on the ground builders have to wait until the temperature rises above 5C before they can continue laying the foundations. In the meantime staff are settling in to their offices, initial problems with the heating system have been overcome, and with the New Year underway they are busy with the plans and initiatives of the 2010 calendar. Click on the pictures either side to view a picture gallery of the new office along with the wintry beauty of Stanborough Park in the January snow. |
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MOVING BACK (18 December 2009) British Union Conference headquarters staff felt very Christmassy gathering in the snow outside their newly refurbished home on Wednesday, 16 December. After a year of planning, building and crowding together in temporary offices they were back home on Stanborough Park. It had been a very busy week. On Sunday the Communication team carefully took the entire IT and phone system out of the temporary office in Frogmore and moved it to Stanborough Park. Then, while engineers worked to get all the IT infrastructure optimised, other staff directed removal men, unpacked boxes and sorted out all the minor teething troubles that come with a new premises. |
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By Wednesday staff faces expressed a mixture of exhaustion and happiness - but principally delight to be 'home' after a break of 13 months. Work has already started on phase three of the building programme with concrete being poured for the foundations. Over the next forty weeks the foyer area, training rooms, board room and additional offices will be built over the site of the original board room and foyer expanding out into the car park area. Then the staff will be even more delighted to serve the church in fully equipped facilities. |
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STAGE II ALMOST COMPLETE (24 November 2009) It is only a few weeks now until staff will be moving back in. The scaffolding is all down and most of the interior is now decorated and carpeted. On the right you can see the open plan second floor which will become home to the treasury department. The office will be closed for business the week starting 14 December to allow staff to transfer back from their temporary premises in Frogmore. |
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SHRINK WRAP IS OFF (11 November 2009) In the final stages of completion for phase II, the roof is now finished, the 'shrink wrap' and corrugated iron roof that has been cocooning the building has been removed and over the next few days the remainder of the scaffolding will be down. Insulated cladding has also been added to the outside walls - and new windows are giving the building a very fresh look. Completion is expected for the end of November with the office staff moving back in before Christmas. |
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FINAL PLANNING APPROVAL (16 October 2009) Final planning approval for the boardroom end of the British Union Conference office was granted by Watford Borough Council on Thursday, 8 October. With builders working towards completion of the middle section by the end of November this is good news for staff at Church Headquarters who are looking forward towards moving back to their Stanborough Park office. "There is a very evident boost to staff spirits," notes Victor Hulbert, BUC Communication director, who witnessed the broad smiles on faces when the announcement was made in Monday morning worship. |
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More importantly, work starting on the final section of the building will significantly help the church to move forward in providing better resources and training for our members across the UK and Ireland. BUC President, Don McFarlane is excited about the new facility: "Every crisis presents an opportunity, we will have a better facility than previously. So out of the ashes will come beauty, and as a result we will have a better building that will serve the mission of the Church more effectively." It is anticipated that this third phase of the programme will be completed by early summer, 2010. |
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Roof Building (9 September 2009). While electrical and plumbing work is going on below the builders' main focus is on the roof section. The frames for the dormer windows are going in place and it will not be long before it is time for the tilers to start work. This area which was formerly storage space in the old building will become open plan office space for the Treasury department. |
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Further Progress (21 August 2009). Focus is now on the central section of the building containing the main offices. A steel frame supporting the second floor is now in place. The floor has been laid which means that builders have a platform from which to build the roof and install dormer windows while work can continue safely below. Electrical and plumbing work has passed the first fitting stage and re-plastering of walls is now due within days. Environmental considerations include increased insulation on exterior walls, wooden window frames with low heat transfer and heat filtering glass. |
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Plans for phase 3, a total rebuild and expansion of the administrative/board room end of the building, have now been submitted to the Watford planning authority and permission is expected within eight weeks. It is hoped that work on this section can begin in October. Among the main emphasis at the moment are discussions about reintegrating the building into the surrounding parkland. |
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Building Progress (8 July 2009). With planning permission now granted, builders are hard at work on the ground floor of the middle section. Extra steel girders are going in to allow for a concrete floor on the first floor and extra strength to add office space on the second floor. Toilet facilities are being expanded to comply with current building standards. There has been a lot of clearing and stripping of old debris. Electricians and plumbers are hard at work before plasterers can move in and start on the next level. Expected completion of this section is 26 November. Meanwhile plans are progressing for the administrative end of the building where there is a total rebuild from the ground up. The pictures show current projections for the front and rear elevations of the building. Click on the pictures to see them in a higher resolution. |
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Interview with Victor Pilmoor. (2 June 2009) As phase 2 of the rebuilding project starts this month this short interview with BUC Treasurer, Victor Pilmoor, gives a vision for progress during the remainder of this year. Right click on link and 'save target as' to download. |
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Building Plans. (28 April 2009) With the Adventist Discovery Centre and the ABC book shop reopened in April church members and visitors are happy to see life returning to the bottom section of Stanborough Park.
Attention is now focusing on phase two of the restoration. Plans have been submitted to Watford Council for the rebuilding of the middle section of the BUC office where most of the offices were housed. In addition to restoring the former offices, plans include providing better toilet and kitchen facilities and adding dormer windows to provide additional office space on the second floor. It is anticipated that this section will be completed by December 2009. |
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Phase three will focus on the most severely damaged area of the building. The foyer, board room and administrative offices have had to be totally demolished. Plans are still being developed for this section with the idea that the rebuild will "move away from little boxes and sharp edges" to provide a "more rounded view to the world with the architecture raising the eyes upwards" – this according to Victor Pilmoor, BUC Treasurer. Looking at the vision for the way the BUC will work in coming years he quotes Winston Churchill, "We shape our buildings and afterwards, our buildings shape us." The concept drawings pictured here are a guide towards the way the final building will look. The modest expansion into the car park area will provide more meeting space and better mobility access as well as presenting an uplifting profile for those approaching the office from the Watford direction.
See building plans in a fully rotational 3d model viewable in Google SketchUp. (You must have Google SketchUp installed on your computer first.) Comments and views on these plans are welcomed and should be sent to BUC (at) adventist.org.uk. |
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First section almost complete (20 March 2009). The new wing of the building, least affected by the fire, is now ready to for the Book Shop and the Adventist Discovery Centre to move back in. The phone service should be restored on Monday, 23 March and it is planned for staff to resume working from the building the first week in April. A date for the re-opening of the Adventist Book Centre will be announced shortly. News update on progress . |
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Immediate Plans: (January 2009) The immediate objective was to get the office working again as soon as possible. This has been achieved by relocating to temporary premises. A small, light industrial unit is currently home to the whole HQ staff and can be described as 'cosy' due to the limitations of space and lack of meeting rooms. However, staff are able to continue their work, equipment has been replaced and a new, state-of-the-art phone system installed. All of this was up and running by 8 January 2009. Get contact details for the office or visit the Departments pages for specific information. |
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Work is now in progress to restore the new wing at the far end of the building least affected by the fire (pictured to the left of the red line). This includes the ground floor ABC Bookshop, the Adventist Discovery Centre and the studio . This area was principally affected by smoke and water damage. It is anticipated that this will be completed by April. It is then planned to rebuild and restore the middle section of the building while the board room and foyer, the section most damaged by the fire (pictured right), will be totally rebuilt. |
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Long Term Plans: The whole building has been covered in scaffolding and secured from the elements to allow it to dry out and to protect it from frost damage. Reconstruction is being worked on in conjunction with developers, Cosmur. Architects are currently working on plans for the building. These will then be considered by the Charity Trustees, Watford Planning with the aim to start the main rebuild later in the year. Once we have plans we will publish them on this website so please return here frequently for updates. |
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History: The first Headquarters office for the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was located at 72 Heneage Road, Grimsby. This was in 1883. With a growing church this then moved to Holloway Road, London and eventually to Stanborough Park, Watford where the original office was a smaller building part way up the park. The current office was built near the entrance of Stanborough Park in 1961 (pictured left and right). A new extension incorporating a bookshop, studio and the Adventist Discovery Centre was added in 1990. Read a short history of the church. A photo gallery celebrating 100 years of Stanborough Park can be seen. |
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Thanks: We would sincerely like to thank the local Watford community, the fire service, and those many, many individuals both locally and world-wide who have expressed their support for us at this time, many also providing practical help. Your support and your prayers are appreciated and welcomed.We are thankful that our work can continue, even if in a more limited way at present, but recognise that the support and resource function that we provide at head office is multiplied many times over by faithful church members across the UK and Ireland. |
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Speaking just after the fire BUC President, Pastor Don McFarlane stated: "While the fire at our church headquarters has surely affected operations, it is a comfort to know that the work of the church is not primarily done in an office building but by our many thousands of members throughout the UK and Ireland in towns, villages and cities where they live. We will salvage what we can from the ruins of the building and seek to have a replacement as soon as the attendant factors allow. The sorry state of this building, which for nearly 50 years has stood proudly on Stanborough Park reminds us that there is no real security in anything that is fashioned by the hand of men. Our security is in God and His plans for the human family." |
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The Fire. On Sunday, 16 November 2008 the Fire Service was called to the Headquarters office of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was a major fire that started in the roof space above the board room and quickly spread across 75 percent of the building. The staff are now temporarily relocated to a light industrial unit in Frogmore, near St Albans while the site is redeveloped. For pictures of the fire visit our picture gallery or read news reports from the fire. |
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