‘Let all guests that come to the monastery be received as Christ. For one day he will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me’. That is the rule of St Benedict that a new Hostry at Norwich Cathedral is designed to help satisfy. And with modern heating and insulation, the welcome will not only be spiritually warm. The Hostry’s fulfilment of the welcome pledged by the Cathedral’s monastic founders is the culmination of an 11-year campaign that has seen the largest building project at the Cathedral for 900 years. With stonework by Rattee & Kett to designs by Hopkins Architects, the new Hostry and a rectory are impressive pieces of modern architecture accommodated within the footprint and remaining walls of the original monastic hostry and refectory at the Cathedral.

Norwich Cathedral has a new visitor and education facility, called the Hostry, that sensitively re-establishes the medieval west entrance to the Norman cathedral’s cloisters. It is built on the footprint of the original monastic hostry, or pilgrims guest hall, even using the same foundations.

The new Hostry completes a programme of new building around the cathedral cloisters that started with the refectory constructed by Cambridge stone and conservation specialists Rattee & Kett five years ago.

They were also the stone specialists on the Hostry, which, if anything, is even more sympathetically designed than the refectory, although both buildings came from Hopkins Architects. The two buildings re-animate the medieval cloister as the heart of the cathedral precinct.

To help the architect understand the stone he was dealing with, Rattee & Kett Director Andy Brown took him on a tour of the quarries being considered as sources for the rubble stone walling that had been specified as ‘regularised random’.

Hanbeck Natural Stone’s Ancaster Ragstone was chosen for the new walls with a wall-length Clipsham cill made of stone from Clipsham Quarry Company. Being available in 150mm beds it needed minimal cropping, but still required some skill in laying to achieve the ‘regularised random’ style specified. Rattee & Kett had just four people building it in order to achieve the consistency required.

Exemplar panels were produced before the work commenced. Once these had been approved by the 32-person Diocesan Advisory Committee, the project began. The exemplars were used for quality control as the work progressed, comparing the wall that was being built with the ideal of what it should look like. It was worth the effort – the building was handed over with zero snagging.

The Hostry not only adds exhibition spaces and an education room, it also houses the Cathedral’s Song School and choir rehearsal spaces. And it provides a large community room, which can bring together those who live and work in the Cathedral Close as well as offering conference facilities for outside organisations in a reflection of the Benediction principals of worship, hospitality and learning.

The brief for the architect was to create buildings of such architectural merit that they would enhance and respect the cathedral complex, increase visitor access across the precinct and resolve disabled access, all in a manner sensitive to existing buildings and archeological remains presumed to be present on the site.

With minimal alterations to the medieval fabric, the team involved at Norwich have built new structures that replicate the location, function and form of their historic predecessors in a modern context. Far from being a modern intrusion into the ancient fabric of the cathedral, the new buildings enable a greater understanding of the Cathedral’s historical organisation. They are also expected to replicate the longevity of the original building.

The result is that modern architecture has emerged from the most sympathetic attitude to building these structures in such an intimate relationship with their historic predecessors.

Environmental sustainability has played a major role – the use of natural ventilation and the insulation and underfloor heating create comfortable yet energy-efficient spaces. In this way, the old has been reinvigorated by the new to create buildings that will continue to stand the test of time.

Rattee & Kett were taken on at an early stage by the cathedral to source and order appropriate stone, so the stone would not cause any delays. Once it had been sourced, Morgan Sindall were appointed as main contractors and the project got underway.

Project Manager and Rattee & Kett Director Andy Brown says: “Investigations found that the foundations of the Monastic Hostry were still almost intact. To avoid damaging any of the medieval archaeology in the cathedral grounds, we were briefed to build off the original foundations, rather than new footings. This proved to be a particular challenge when constructing a new load-baring wall.”

Working closely with archeologist Dr Roland Harris, Rattee & Kett made solid the foundations of the original Hostry, cleaning the existing footings before making some minor repairs.

The architect had to produce a design solution to spread the load of the new structure on the foundations. A layer of lime putty was used to define the junction with the existing material and the wall was built by creating shuttering of stone one metre high at a time into which stainless steel reinforcing was lowered by crane and white cement poured, effectively creating a reinforced white concrete beam to take the weight of the roof.

Rattee & Kett also re-ordered some of the existing doorways, forming a new barrel vaulted entrance in the locutory to allow access to the new Hostry.

And the first customers at the Hostry were Rattee & Kett themselves. They used it as a venue for one of their roadshows.

The roadshow to success

The first commercial users of the new Hostry visitor and education facility at Norwich Cathedral, where Rattee & Kett were specialist stone contractors, were Rattee & Kett themselves.

The Cambridge-based stone and conservation company presented one of their CPD-accredited roadshows in the building. Pictured (left) in the new building at the roadshow are (left to right) Andy Brown, Director of Rattee & Kett, Nick Wilson, the Manging Director, and Steve Ralph, another Director. Rattee & Kett will be back on the road in October and November. One of their special focuses for 2010 is lime plaster.

The format is simple, instructive and entertaining. After a short introduction from MD Nick Wilson, assisted by Directors and Contract Managers who showcase some of their recent projects, there is the star turn of Ian Constantinides, one of the country’s most informed conservation specialists.

As well as Norwich, this year’s roadshows have so far encompassed Bath, Bletchley Park, Boston, Cambridge, Exeter and Salisbury. And the Norwich Hostry is not the only venue where Rattee & Kett can show examples of their work.

The roadshow has notched up 2,500 miles and welcomed more than 200 guests, who, as well as posing some lively questions, have consumed several thousand buffet snacks and copious amounts of liquid refreshment. To find out where the next roadshows will be held, visit their website.

Project summary

Project value: 12.5m (Hostry, refrectory and upper cloister)

Project size: 1,078m²

Clients: Norwich Cathedral

Architects: Hopkins Architects

Main contractors: Morgan Sindall

Specialist stone contractors: Rattee & Kett

Stones used: 1)Ancaster Ragstone 2)Clipsham

Stone Suppliers: 1)Hanbeck Natural Stone  2)Clipsham Quarry Company