Snappy restoration on Crocodile Works
MIDLANDS based restoration firm Bonsers has completed specialist building work on a former machete factory in Birmingham as part of a new residential scheme.
The company has given a new lease of life to the Crocodile Works, a 19th Century building dating back to the 1860s.
Bonsers had skilled restorative craftsmen on the site for six weeks, carrying out sympathetic cleaning and restoration of the Victorian stone work, including work on decorative roses on the column capitals.
Based in the Aston area, the Crocodile Works was famous for the production of swords and sheep shearing equipment to ground breaking mechanical engineering.
Jo Bonser, of Bonsers Restoration, said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed our work on this project. It has been particularly interesting working on the capital columns and it is great restoring buildings to their former glory.
“We carried out several phases of work, restoring two facades and carefully cleaning decorative parts of the building.”
Crocodile Works is being transformed by the region’s largest housing and regeneration organisation, RSL Midland Heart, with developers William Davis into 126 one, two and three bedroom apartments and 42 three, four and five bedroom houses. An impression of the completed development is pictured below.
The houses have been set around a central meeting place with secure parking, seating and open areas for the residents to enjoy.
The Crocodile Works scheme started life in an architectural design competition won by Glenn Howells Architects in December 2006.
It forms part of a master plan to regenerate the Newtown area of Birmingham by creating affordable housing to support sustainable communities. Work is expected to complete at the end of February.
Nottingham based Bonsers is one of the UK’s leading providers of building restoration, conservation and consolidation services. Established in 1963, the firm currently employs 25 people.
The Crocodile Works is not the firm’s first venture into Birmingham. It has also worked on the restoration of Margaret Street on behalf of client Thomas Vale.
This project is part of a £15m refurbishment scheme for Birmingham City Council. The sandstone and granite masonry was chemically cleaned using Intachem products and conserved using traditional lime mortars.
