South Cambridgeshire District Council has recently granted planning permission for the historic The Officers’ Mess at IWM Duxford to be used as serviced office accommodation.
The conversion of this important Grade II listed building will be undertaken by Mantle, a regional commercial property developer and investor operating in Greater London, the South East and East of England. Mantle has an excellent reputation for changing the use of significant buildings in a manner which is sympathetic to, and retains, their extraordinary history. Work started on site in January, with the business centre due to launch in September 2015.
They will be converting the Officers’ Mess into a high quality business centre, offering space to small and medium-sized companies. The architect for the scheme, Cowper Griffith, has proven experience with historic and listed buildings, having previously worked with Elizabethan Hall, Madingley Hall and other historic houses.
The original layout of the Officers’ Mess is well suited to the role of serviced offices, which requires a variety of office sizes to attract a range of users. The occupants will be serviced by means of communal facilities, very much in accordance with the original function of the building. These will be created in a new enclosed courtyard, which will house a reception area, meeting space and coffee shop for office users.
The remarkable character of the building will be retained throughout, both internally and externally. The renovation scheme has been designed to preserve historical features and to minimise intervention within each room. The large dining and ante rooms will be retained as open plan high-ceilinged office space. The original sash windows will be either renovated or replaced with hand-made replacements where they are beyond repair. Cast iron radiators will be retained or replaced with exact replicas. Evocative detailing, which holds powerful evidence of the original use of the building, such as the original labeling over the doors and cupboards, will be retained so that the serviced offices embody the character of the Officers’ Mess.
The enclosed courtyard will also contain a visual history of the Officers’ Mess and the people who have called it home over the past 80 years.
Guy Baker, Director, Mantle, said “We are relishing the task of revitalising the Officer’s Mess, using our experience of regenerating historic buildings and creating desirable work spaces within them. It is a beautiful and historic building, and we will be respecting the human stories associated with the space as an integral part of the conversion. We look forward to launching the new business centre in Autumn 2015.”
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