External fabric repairs:

Cowane's Hospital

Stirling · 2020

Our role: Main contractor, external fabric repairs
Client: The Patron of Cowane's Hospital Trust
Architect: Benjamin Tindall Architects
Quantity surveyor: Morham & Brotchie
Structural engineer: David Narro Associates
Value: £0.5m to £1m
Programme: April 2019 to September 2020
Scope: Slate roof strip and relay, sarking and insulation, Code 6 leadwork, paint removal by TORC cleaning, harl removal and traditional lime harling, limewash, lime repointing, chimney repairs, new stone indents and ball finials, window guards, drainage and slab repairs

Cowane's Hospital stands beside the Church of the Holy Rude at the top of Stirling's old town. Founded by the merchant John Cowane as an almshouse, it is a harled building with crowstepped gables, a central bell tower and carved stone dressings, and it remains in use as a venue for the town. The Patron of Cowane's Hospital Trust appointed us as main contractor for a full programme of external fabric repairs, designed by Benjamin Tindall Architects, covering the roofs, walls, chimneys, stonework and windows.

Before & after

Drag across the image to compare the building before our work and after completion.

Cowane's Hospital after restoration by LTM Group

BeforeAfter

Cowane's Hospital, St John Street, Stirling — photograph 1

Cowane's Hospital, St John Street, Stirling — photograph 2

Cowane's Hospital, St John Street, Stirling — photograph 3

Cowane's Hospital, St John Street, Stirling — photograph 4

Cowane's Hospital, St John Street, Stirling — photograph 5

Cowane's Hospital, St John Street, Stirling — photograph 6

The challenge

Earlier campaigns had left the building wrapped in layers that were trapping moisture: paint on the rubble walls and bell tower, smooth cement pointing, cement repairs at window ingoes and a cracked, poorly bonded harl. Sections of sarking and roof timber had rotted, valleys and flashings needed renewal and the chimney stacks had open, wide joints and loose ashlar. The true extent of the masonry work could only be measured once the paint and cement had come off. The building is listed, so stone, mortar and finishes all needed approval, and it sits beside a busy kirkyard open to the public throughout the works.

Our solution

The building was recorded in a dilapidation and stone survey before work started, and samples of the original pointing, harl and coatings were analysed to set the binder ratio and aggregate grading for the new mixes. Paint was first trialled with the DOFF system, then removed with the TORC system, which proved more effective on the coatings found. Failed harl and smooth cement pointing were cut away by hand, cement repairs were removed from the ingoes and the walls were raked out, then repointed, with crowsteps, pediments and the bell tower selectively raked and pointed. A traditional lime harl, in place of the cement-gauged harl originally specified, went on over a tack coat and dubbing-out coat to take up the uneven rubble, following sample panels agreed with the architect, and the chimney stacks, crowsteps and bell tower stonework were finished with a pigmented hot-mixed lime shelter coat, developed through trial panels on site to protect exposed, sky-facing masonry. On the roofs, slates were stripped, dressed and stored, rotten sarking and timbers were replaced, insulation and ventilation were added, and the roofs were reslated with the salvaged slate topped up with matching second-hand Scots slate, with new Code 6 lead valleys and flashings. In our workshop we cut new sandstone indents and replacement ball finials. Stained glass was removed for specialist repair, and new woven mesh guards were fitted to protect the windows.