The Bar Convent, York

The Bar Convent is England’s oldest living convent, founded in 1686 by sisters of the Congregation of Jesus. Still the home of a community of Catholic sisters today, the Grade I listed building now houses an award-winning guesthouse, café, gift shop and meeting rooms. LEDA provided advice prior to their multi-million-pound renovation in 2015, when the convent became the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, with a state-of-the-art interactive exhibition of the building’s history.

We produced a report following an extensive survey of the building, which included a condition survey of the mechanical and electrical installations in the buildings with an assessment of opportunities for improved energy efficiency and fuel cost reduction. Conscious of the buildings’ listed heritage status, we advised of potential sustainability improvement through fabric improvements (where appropriate), equipment replacement and building user management.

The findings and recommendations for the Bar Convent areas were presented along with those for 21-29 Blossom Street. We used records of fuel consumption provided by the Convent as a basis for calculating savings and likely pay-back periods. This report covered a range of buildings in varying condition with different functions and different services installations. The report was created to provide a balance between providing sufficient detail for informed decisions to be made on investment priorities, whilst avoiding over-complexity.

 

Client:	The Bar Convent Trust & Congregation of Jesus Charitable Trust
Services Provided:	Energy Audit and Recommendations Report
Dates:	Various projects 2013-2021
Construction Value:	Various