Oxford Ironmongery helps exciting restoration project to take off

At what was formerly an airfield going back to 1911, a 348 acre site that is now owned by Bicester Heritage is Britain’s first heritage motor and aviation specialist business campus, which is creating a centre of excellence for all the services and support required by vehicle and plane owners and enthusiasts.

RAF usage of the site largely ceased in 1976 and it was not until the site was purchased by Bicester Heritage in 2013 that it was used to any degree.

Over the intervening almost 40 years very little was done to maintain the 60 plus buildings, some of which were built back in 1926 and many of which are listed. Tenants now include a wide variety of companies associated with heritage vehicles and aviation such as restorers, sandblasters, specialist storage facilities, upholsterers, engineers and sales companies as well as the latest tenant, a historic grand prix car preparer.

As new tenants are secured, buildings are refurbished by Beard Construction working alongside English Heritage with emphasis placed on restoration that is consistent with the design and style of the period when they were first constructed. Design is managed by architect Gaunt Francis and for specialist areas such as architectural ironmongery the expertise of Oxford Ironmongery is called upon.

‘Attention to detail is key, particularly when restoring a site of such historic importance. We put over two hundred hours of research in to our choice of paint colours alone. It is reassuring to know that Oxford Ironmongery share the same fastidious nature when it comes to their hardware, without these details our restoration would not be complete.’ Daniel Geoghegan, managing director of Bicester Heritage.

Jack Piccaver who is a quantity surveyor at Beard adds: “Oxford Ironmongery is one of our key preferred suppliers and always our first choice when we are working on listed buildings. They supply the highest quality products specified to meet our clients’ exacting requirements.”

Oxford Ironmongery’s managing director Julian Newman says: “While a lot of the door hardware has been replaced over the years, much of what was used was not accurate reproductions of what was originally there and it was a priority for Bicester Heritage to ensure that it is in keeping with the original buildings.”

As each building is let, Julian Newman and David Simms of Gaunt Francis carefully assess it to determine what ironmongery would have been there when it was built. The Oxford Ironmongery team then researches the most appropriate and historically correct products to meet the practical requirements of the building’s new use bearing in mind what can be manufactured, cost constraints and deadlines.

Julian continues: “Most of our work is involved with the restoration of period properties and we constantly need to balance the often conflicting priorities of aesthetics, practicality and the budget available.”

David Simms says: “Julian and I pool our expertise and then I rely on his team to write detailed schedules which makes procurement and planning installation extremely straightforward.”

It is relatively early days for this exciting and unique project with restoration complete at 18 of the 60 buildings, which has created 30 business units. Oxford Ironmongery has been commissioned for the next phase of renovations and envisages that it will be involved for several more years helping Bicester Heritage to achieve its vision for the rebirth of this fascinating and historically important site.