18th century Chad Varah House restored, renovated and extended as homes
RIBA East Midlands Award winner 2021
Conservation Award
Jonathan Hendry Architects for Bailgate Court
Contract value: undisclosed
GIA: 2,620m2
In 2015 JHA was appointed to restore, renovate and extend Chad Varah House in Lincoln’s Cathedral Quarter. Originally built in 1776 as Lincoln County Hospital, the grade II listed building was Lincoln’s theological college until the mid-1990s.
The project sensitively converts and restores Chad Varah House, Warden’s House and Chapel into apartments and residences by restoring the external fabric of the building, retaining existing walls and inserting new to carefully subdivide the building.
This project also offered an opportunity to redevelop the north facade in a language more akin to the original Georgian proportions, improving the street scene viewed from the adjacent Cathedral Quarter and Castle Wall. Alterations to the facade over the years had resulted in a patchwork of styles that had unfortunately become more back of house than street facing in character. The new facade ties together the eastern and western bookends of the building using a material pallete rich in detail.
Ornate banding and herringbone brickwork influenced by original details used on the facade of the Warden’s House produce a crafted feel, reminiscent of many buildings in the Cathedral Quarter. Inhabitants occupying the light filled rooms also bring life back to this side of the building.