Gransden Construction delivered the restoration of Murston Old Church and a new-build studio block to create a flexible arts and community hub in Sittingbourne. The scheme brings the scheduled monument church back into use with new lighting and underfloor heating for exhibitions and events, and adds a multi-room studio building with a small community café to support workshops and local enterprise.
What we delivered
- Church works: sensitive refurbishment with lighting and underfloor heating to enable year-round use as a venue/exhibition space.
- New studio building: ground floor flexible education/community space (sub-divisible), four studios plus café at ground level and four further studios at first floor, with associated mechanical and electrical installations and external works.
- External works & services: coordinated utilities, drainage and access arrangements to integrate the new facilities within the churchyard setting.
Working in a scheduled ancient monument
The church and churchyard form a scheduled ancient monument with headstones and unmarked burials; our methodology adopted hand-dig only within the monument boundary, defined no-go areas, and public protection measures at all times.
A public footpath crossing the site remained open throughout; we maintained segregated routes with Heras fencing and controlled deliveries and plant movements to keep the community safe.
Services & site constraints
Two parallel gas mains (high and medium pressure) traverse the site; we verified exact locations with CAT scanning and hand-dug trial holes and prohibited mechanical excavation in proximity, coordinating with the network operator as required.
Project team
Client: Murston All Saints Trust
Contract Administrator/Architect: Sell Wade Consultants and Clague Architects
Principal Designer / QS: Greenwood Projects
Main Contractor: Gransden Construction Ltd
