Wernick Hire Provide Temporary Village Hall During Development

In many ways Meppershall is the quintessential English village. Overlooking the Bedfordshire countryside, it boasts a 17th century manor house and a church dating back to the Normans. While it doesn’t quite have the same impressive heritage, another building is central to the Meppershall community; the village hall.

Serving as, among other things, a nursery, rehearsal space and a bar, the hall is used by everyone from the Brownies to the kickboxing club. Alongside a new housing development a joint project was launched between developers Croudace Homes Ltd, Meppershall Village Hall Charity and the Meppershall Parish Council to construct a new village hall to ensure it could continue to accommodate the varied needs of the community.

Construction of the new hall would require the demolition of the existing one. Knowing that depriving the community of these facilities was not an option, the project team set about procuring an interim building. To provide this, they approached the local Wernick Hire depot in nearby Ampthill.

“The village hall really did need to be all things to all men,” commented Depot Manager Mark Jackson. The solution provided by Wernick included a large open plan area leading out to a small patio. This multi-purpose space, which also has a dedicated sink in one corner, can be used by the many groups that hire the hall.

Some areas, however, needed more specific features. “We did have a bit of a challenge providing a certain facility for the social club,” commented Mark. In the existing hall the club would open from 8pm until midnight, and would be used by the local community to socialise, enjoy a drink, and maybe play a few games of snooker. “Snooker tables are very heavy, and our floors aren’t really designed to support that level of point loading. So, to ensure the club wouldn’t lose out we adapted the foundations and floor in the area next to the bar.” The fully licensed bar can be secured with a roller shutter and is supported by a dedicated cold store. The building also incorporates male, female and disabled toilets, a storage area, office and kitchen.

“I think everyone is very happy with how it turned out,” commented Simon Adamson, Site Manager for Croudace. “The service we received was absolutely brilliant, I couldn’t fault it.”

Once complete, the new Village Hall will have custom designed Pre-School room and play area; a larger and lighter Social Club area with a bar, with an adjoining games / meeting room and a new hall complete with stage and theatre lighting. It will be served by a function bar and catering kitchen.

Find out more about temporary building solutions from Wernick Hire here.