Beaumont House Windsor
Set in 40 acres of landscaped grounds which date back to the 14th Century, Beaumont Estate was originally a private residence, then a school and latterly a training centre. Our brief required the development of a master plan to optimize public spaces and hotel bedrooms within the historic envelope to create an upscale hotel & conference venue for Principal Hayley.
The master plan was executed over four phases, re-organising the estate layout to maximise the efficiency of under-utilised existing listed buildings. It started with the conversion of annex buildings such as the old dairy into meeting and conference space followed by the creation of bedrooms in older wings of the complex.
At the heart of the Estate was a very narrow suite of first floor meeting rooms with unlit storage spaces below that had been converted by earlier owner ICL to computer rooms. On lifting one of the meeting room ceiling tiles, a beautiful hand painted vaulted ceiling was revealed that was quickly ascertained to have been the original school chapel. Further exploration revealed a boxed over reredos & stained glass oriel window, all still in reasonable condition, though the chapel had been horizontally bisected by the installation of a floor. DMA persuaded Principal Hayley to embark on the re-instatement & restoration of the Chapel which has proved a highly successful conference and wedding venue.
The reinstated Chapel was brought back to its former glory, providing a unique space for bespoke conferences & weddings as the grand feature of the new hotel. Adjoining the Chapel, redundant offices have been converted into unique maisonette bedrooms.
Subsequent phases sought to rationalise hotel & conference facilities leading to the addition of 72 bespoke bedrooms within previously under-utilised space, along with the refurbishment of public spaces. Working within the listed buildings created some interesting opportunities including freestanding bathrooms that we inserted into listed spaces without engaging the walls.
