Moving house is said to be among the most stressful events anyone can experience.

But try moving offices for the first time in half a century whilst combining that with sensitively converting a listed industrial building and upgrading the site-wide infrastructure across the working yard in which it sits - and all without a break in the smooth running of the business?

That’s what has just been achieved at the heart of Englefield Village by way of Phase One of the Estate Yard project. The Estate Office has moved to the beautiful re-purposed former sawmill alongside improvements to the site-wide access, parking and underground services in readiness for future phases of this important regeneration project. 

Working with ADAM Architecture, builders Stonewood, landscape architects Nicholsons and interior designers Kitesgrove, the Estate team has brought the project to fruition. It has also prepared the ground – literally – for the next phase of operations to rejuvenate this important area under the Village Plan for Englefield.

The Estate Yard has gone through many changes over more than two centuries. In the 1830s around 100 people worked here, involved in all aspects of running the Estate.  That number had more than halved by the 1950s and as the Estate has adapted in more recent years, those numbers fell still further.

Estates Director, Edward Crookes said the plans were submitted in 2020 to create a new Estate Office in the former sawmill building but the intention to convert the building and move the Estate staff had been conceived more than a decade ago. 

“In our first discussion with our local planning authority it’s fair to say we found them to be somewhat resistant to our proposals,” he said.  As talks went on, however, the situation improved. “I think we successfully conveyed our vision of breathing new life into the sawmill in particular,” Edward added.  “This site has been the hub of work on the Estate for centuries – it’s just that the nature of work has changed.”

The old Estate office was in the house formerly occupied by one of Edward’s predecessors as Estates Director, with staff scattered among different rooms. One of the most positive aspects of the move has been gathering the team members under one roof to work together.

Staff will now work in an open plan office in the former sawmill, but with access to quiet spaces as required.  Edward said: “Being more open plan is going to be helpful…it’s also going to help us on our journey to work more sustainably. It’s a one team philosophy and being in the village, not remote from it, is important.”

Every effort has been made to reflect the building’s former use with the chimney from the old steam boiler restored and retained and equipment, including some of the old saws, used to decorate the walls. The flywheel adjoining the engine room, along with the gantry and pulley system, have also been retained and incorporated into the design.

A new boardroom has been created on the ground floor with a boardroom table made from oak selected from the Estate by Forestry Manager, Richard Edwards, sawn by Vastern Timber and crafted by Forest to Home specialist furniture maker, both of whom are based in Wiltshire.

The sawmill itself has a fascinating history, converting felled trees into timber for use on the Estate and, during the First World War, making trench boards and coffins.

Duncan Rands, Building Manager, said some of the equipment had been donated to the Hollycombe Trust steam museum in Surrey and would be put on display while other pieces had been retained and form part of the decoration of the building.

Duncan stressed that while it was important to retain and celebrate the history of the Estate Yard, the priority was to create a building sympathetic to the past but fit for the future. “The sawmill was not looked at in isolation,” he said

“This is part one of a project to make the Estate Yard into a rural business hub where we can have some skilled light industrial occupiers, offices and commercial practices, all within this one area, generating income and making this a thriving yard again.”

Edward Crookes added: “Estate wide, it’s part of our mission, in addition to running a financially sustainable business, to try to get to net zero and do our best around nature recovery.  We could have built a new Estate Office, but by repurposing this building - there is embedded carbon in this building - it is the right thing to re-use it.”

Environmental initiatives include sheep’s wool insulation, double glazing, insulation of the roof spaces and the floors, a heating and ventilation system driven by air source heat pumps and ground mounted solar panels, along with mechanical ventilation and heat recovery.  Six electric car charging points have also been installed with another 14 planned in subsequent phases.

Swift boxes, bee bricks, bat refuges, planting to attract pollinators and other measures to benefit wildlife have also been incorporated into the Estate Yard site.

For Site Manager Angelo Moretti of Stonewood Builders, the project has been a challenge  - but the building is one he has grown to love.

“Modernising such an old industrial building to a modern building is quite challenging,” he said.  “We’ve had to introduce modern building techniques into an old building and make sure that they gel together in a proper way. I’m very proud of the project…it’s become part of me.”