Glulam gets YouTube debut

Glulam is attracting a whole new audience

LIFE BUILD Solutions has been chosen to create a new church for parishioners of St George in Britwell, Slough, who have been without their spiritual home for more than five years.

Excitement about the project is so high that the site has become a regular feature on YouTube.

(Visit www.youtube.com and type in vicarrevjohn).

The regional construction company started work on the £1.7m scheme for the Church of England earlier this summer, to replace the original 1960s building, previously demolished.

The new St George’s, which will be ready to receive its first congregation in time for Easter, will feature energy-saving solar roof panels and a rainwater recycling system for flushing toilets and irrigating the grounds.

Earlier this month, parishioners buried a time capsule and helped lay a foundation stone as an integral part of the church fabric, which consists of a double-storey steel frame covered in traditional brickwork.

The slate roof will be supported by a series of Glulam (glued, laminated) timber roof beams spanning 17m over the main worship area.

Other notable features will be a baptistery pool for full-immersion adult baptisms, and four stained-glass window panels recovered from the old church. Architect for the project is Allen Associates of Bracknell.

The vicar, the Rev John Chorlton, is so keen about the rebuilding programme, he has set up a webcam in the window of his vicarage overlooking the site to capture daily progress as his new church takes shape - and he uploads regular video reports onto YouTube. “You are now being filmed for next week’s exciting episode,” he told guests.

And he doesn’t even mind living on top of a busy building site, announcing: “It has been the most wonderful experience of my life. Life Build have been really good neighbours.”

Life Build project manager Mark Wimhurst commented: “It is a rare privilege to be building a new church for the benefit of future generations in this community. The vicar has given us great support and encouragement in our work.”