YMCA – George Williams House

Take the old, make it new, give it purpose

At its heart and soul this is the remit of the YMCA charity when it comes to building facilities for the homeless. The brief was clear – create more accommodation units not only to provide critical additional housing for Cardiff’s homeless, but also as a stepping stone for those who had already been supported by the YMCA in their existing facilities, enabling them to experience less dependency as part of their journey back to fully independent living.

The new flats were prioritised for those that were already on the road to getting back to independent life, including being back in employment. A real high point for the ASR team was receiving the many positive comments from the residents who were already focused on striving toward being given the opportunity to reside in one of the new flats and progressing life from there.

By taking spaces that were no longer being used and to turning them into something that would be of benefit was adopted and reimagined by architect Jeff Murray from CFW Architects. ASR worked closely with Jeff, and Engineers Matt Jones and Nicole Freegard from Vale Consultancy to realise the vision of taking the old building, deconstructing it, reconstructing it, and repurposing it with real purpose – creating spaces to be called ‘home’.

Rip out, remodel, renovate, renew

Like many demolition phases of a project there are the unknowns and the challenges, and this project was no exception. There were some engineering struggles due to the age and make-up of the existing walls and floors. The entire interior was ripped out revealing the thickest internal walls giving the ASR team on site a challenge when it came to creating new knock-throughs on each level of the new accommodation onto the existing YMCA main building. A good example of this was the need to amend the precise position of 2 of the 3 knock throughs into the existing building due to planned positions not being viable, while crucially maintaining the structural integrity of the existing building being paramount.

The large main stairwell was demolished and remodelled to incorporate an additional flat on each floor. From the renewable energy and insulation solutions to the sprinkler and alarms systems there were inevitable modifications and redesigns as the demolition, remodelling and renovation works took place to ensure the build was fit for purpose all round.

Working through Covid was a huge new challenge on this project. The site was tight and compact, and social distancing proved difficult. ASR kept the team as small as feasible and practical throughout the project. The pandemic brought many other challenges not least the lack of availability of materials, components, and equipment. Project management and site management adopted new working approaches and positive fulfilment strategies at each stage – simply just navigational phases, not setbacks.

Energy efficiency and some self-sufficiency M&E -

ASR were involved with finalising the M&E design and overseeing the implementation and installation according to important aspects of the brief with a crucial requirement for the new build to adopt and underpin some key green credentials. Over and above the high spec insulation of the building, the M&E design included the installation of 22 PV solar panels and an Air Source Heat pump system for both hot water and heating – future-proofing a place and space for future generations.

The design detail - Simple, practical, durable, safe spaces

The architect, Jeff Murray worked closely with the client to create a design that sympathetically transformed what was a traditional Victorian build and historical wing of the YMCA site, into a modern and functional new semi-independent housing wing.

The extension was of traditional blockwork construction, and the internal refurbishment included blockwork walling, stud partitioning and an element of Metsec framing systems. On the outside the façade and main entrance elevation treatment presents a rhythmical slatted design of cedar cladding with a simple Parex render for contrast. Clean lines and durable practical interior finishes are presented throughout the main communal areas and individual flats – for seamless aesthetics with a timeless design scheme.