The building project at WRBC involves linking the church and manse with a new entrance and kitchen; an additional meeting room; reconstructed toilet area; a new store room and massively improved heating and lighting. Planning permission was granted in April 2012 and these drawings can be viewed here or by searching the Oxford Planning Portal and entering 198 Woodstock Road.
13th April 2014
All done and we are back at the church. Today was the first service back and regular activities commence during the week or after the Easter break as appropriate. For those interested more in the history of the church, the history of the first 100 years of the church is available to dowload.
14th March 2014
Today the builders handed over the keys for the church to the building committee. There is still some work to do on the grounds (such as lay grass and finish the parking areas) and inside a few snagging items to fix and finish off, but the building committee and the deacons have the church to arrange the return. Things like AV and sound desk plugged back in and the seats returned as well as the kitchen fit out are still needed. We expect therefore to be running our first service back at the church on Sunday 13th April at 10:30am.
2nd March 2014
Ground work started in February and was progressing well until an issue with a tree that we had planning permission to build next to caused some issues. These were resolved and for this we thank God (as with everything of course) as they could have had large financial implications.
The image to the left shows the new inside of the church with the new strip lighting, circular window and all the extra space to the left (the back) of the church. Second fix electrical and heating continues and final finishes are expected in the coming weeks. We will start planning our return to the building once we have a date for final handover, though we know there will be both building work and our own setup to do before we return. Currently we are increasing the electrical supply for the church to allow us to change the cookers from the original specification of commercial gas to domestic dual fuel and this upgrade is maybe six weeks away.
2nd February 2014
In the last few weeks the building project has seen the starting of the internal painting and the beginning of discussions with the company doing the groundworks outside. The plan involves artifical grass in the enclosed courtyard, which will provide all weather outdoor space for the childrens and youth activities and a reinforced grass extra car parking with crushed stone spaces for regular use. This work begins within the next month.
Inside the building planning continues for carpets and other decor, along with discussions on AV and other stuff we use weekly. Kitchen planning continues apace.
13th January 2014
The new year starts with a rush at the WRBC building project. Preceeding the two week Christmas break the roofing was finshed and the internal concrete flooring was poured and left to dry. Upon the return the scaffolding was taken down and the windows fitted. The picture to the left shows the new kitchen and toilet block with the reused windows from the south wall of the church that were fitted five or so years ago and still good to use.
Doors and other external windows will be fitted this week and then plastering and second fix electrical work - the jobs for the next four weeks can begin.
16th December 2013
Just a few photo's this time around. These are all from various places around the site that are not visible from the webcam's:
3rd December
Work is moving towards the Christmas shutdown with the plan to have the site closed up to the elements before then so that the internal concrete screed flooring can be laid and left to dry over that time.
From the outside you can see the hole cut for the new window. As one side of the building now has a foyer located over it, the long strip window on the right would have looked lop sided, so its being replaced by a brick lined circular window which will go in the hole you can see in the photograph.
In recent days the woodwork for the roof to the new part of the build has been completed and the single ply and tiling should start this week.
15th November
Recently rain has delayed the work of the bricklayers outside, but first fix electrical work and heating work is happening inside the church. Work on the back hall (heating) is mostly complete, ready for the delivery of the new church chairs.
3rd November 2013
Building work progresses with the initial brick work on the toilet block, corridor and foyer now complete. Scaffolding has been errected around the site to allow the upper level of the ground floor to be finished and the roof fitted. First fix electrical on the main hall will commence shortly.
16th October 2013
The concrete pouring equipment was on site today and the base layer below the floor insulation in the store room, kitchen and concourse have now been poured.
The boundary wall has been repaired at the points where the church will be built up against it.
Steels for the opening into the church should arrive later this week and the foyer foundations should be prepared shortly.
11th October 2013
Site clearance is complete and the groundworks for the kitchen and toilet block are done. The foyer groundworks will commence shortly as the original plan might have had a negative impact on the Manse basement!
4th October 2013
The site has been cleared, and the church building surveyed for its structural condition now that the wooden cladding has been removed. Though the original wooden framed building is not brilliantly constructed, its par the course for buildings of its time and only needs a little bit of structural work. 
Outside in the back yard there is no sign of the old kitchen and toilets, but today the foundatations have been poured. The wall ajoining both neighbouring properties remained standing during the digging of the trenches for the foundations as you can see in the picture to the right. The pads for the steel pillars between the church and concourse have been poured as well. In the far back of the picture you can see the foundations for the new store room - it looks smaller here than it probably is in reality!
26th September 2013
With one week of the building project complete the site has been established, demolition of the old kitchen and toilets is all done and the rubble removed from the site. Temporary works to support the church roof in advance of wall removal have started. Inside the church the wooden cladding has been removed and the building structure has been revealed.
In the next four weeks drainage and service entry routes as well as foundations will be dug. The columns to support the roof will have their floor pads poured and the substructure blockwork will begin. The ground floor concrete slab for the new area of the build will be poured.
18th September 2013
The church building project enters it's last and biggest phase - actual construction. Demolition of the old toilet and kitchen block happens on Wednesday 18th September and site preparation work began on 12th September. There is now no access to the church buildings nor any parking in the church grounds for the next six months. All access to the Manse is via the front door only.
From the 8th September there are new service times and locations as the church is closed for construction. The front of the Manse is still open, and access to the Manse is only via the front door from the 16th September. Access to the church rear garden and building site is restricted.
The Manse rewiring is complete and now its so well lit that you can see the décor - so rooms will be redecorated soon!
August 2013
Currently the Manse is out of use due to rewiring and fitting of an integrated smoke and fire alarm and Ethernet network throughout the church. Most activities are not running due to the holiday's, but when we restart at the end of August these activities will take place in the church until 1st September. Building work at the church will commence w/c 16th September and the last Sunday at the church will be 1st September.
The Sunday morning church services are moving to St. Edwards School chapel at the later time of 11:30am, which is just up the road and the evening service to Summertown Church Hall at the usual time of 6:30pm. The project duration is expected to be in the region of seven months.
July 2013
An application to vary these plans slightly, as part of a recent cost saving exercise, were submitted and approved in June 2013. The council planning website contains the updated conditions of the build such as landscaping requirements etc., and it is a change to some of these conditions that we are applying for (such as a condition to use given materials in the original plan, as we have changes some of the building materials we intend to use).
Following the tender process Edgar Taylor was chosen as preferred bidder with the aim to start work in September 2013. It is planned that in the week commencing 2nd September we will be able to empty the church ready for the builders.
March 2013
By the deadline date of 24th February 2013 the church had raised £500,000 towards the expected total cost of £550,000. For this and everything else, we give praise to God. Before the deadline, the managing trustees approved the application for a loan of no more than £50,000 to complete the project insuring that pledges to cover the loan repayment over 10 years existed. Conditions on the pledges were set to ensure that other giving to the church would not be affected.
Upon the deadline date, the church had received and pledged almost £500,000 and enough to cover any loan that completely met the conditions of the managing trustees – without any of them knowing the amount needed and the conditions in place. The church found that, including any loan, we were £2000 over the expected amount of the building project and all the conditions of the loan repayment were met. Therefore with God’s providence we are so able to do the project in one phase (unlike earlier attempts at the project, were it had been split into two phases with the plan to complete phase one as soon as possible and phase two later as funds allowed).
New construction companies were selected for the restart of the tendering process and forms of tender sent out to a number of companies with a track record in church building work.
December 2012
The building project due to start in September 2012 was postponed due to issues discovered with the selected building company.
We are planning to submit the building project to a second tender process in early 2013 and the building committee have decided provide an opportunity for final giving to the project before Feb 24th. Currently the project is approximately £130,000 short if all the desired work is to be completed. Come Feb 24th we will decide what we can do with what we have available.
A request for more funding was presented at the church meeting in January and letter was handed out at church outlining both the request for giving or for the ability for people to offer to fund a possible loan. It is the desire of the elders of the church that the project we complete now is a project that prepares the church buildings for the next generation of use and we are not planning on doing the work in multiple stages (as had previously been proposed).
August 2012
The building committee recommended to the trustees of the church a building company to use for the upcoming building project at the church. Subsequent to moving out in September 2013 to alternative premises at St. Edwards School on Sunday mornings at Summertown Church Hall for the Sunday evening services, the church had a clean-up week to clear the church of accumulated “content” in preparation for the builders to occupy the building. Building work is proposed to start September 2012.
Older News Items (before June 2012)
Planning application was refused in Sept 2011 due to too many car parking spaces though approval from the church was granted at the same time in a Special Church Meeting on Sept 28th.
Further details about these plans and responses requested are contained in the Letter to the church which was given to the church by email or by hand in early May 2011.
The wording of the proposal to vote on at the special church meeting is: The church will proceed with the work proposed on the buildings, as shown in the planning application submitted by JBKS.
In January 2011 the building committee gave out a questionnaire requesting people’s opinions on what they thought of the buildings and what they wanted the building project to achieve. Click here for a summary of these questionnaires.
For reference, the original letter sent to the church in September 2010 is available which outlines the original project proposals (note this document is now out of date as some of the dates referred to within have changed.
Page last updated 16 May 2014. Check back for further updates as time goes on.
