Worcestershire college house set to rise from ashes of devastating blaze (From Worcester News)

Worcestershire college house set to rise from ashes of devastating blaze

7:10pm Sunday 11th July 2010 in

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MALVERN College is seeking planning permission to rebuild the 19th century boarding house that was damaged during a huge fire in April.

Number six house was home to 55 students and, while the boarding side of the house survived relatively unscathed, the private section – home to housemistress Nicola Cage and her family – was gutted by the blaze.

As the house, which was built in 1871, is a grade two listed building, great care has to be taken in its restoration.

The building was made safe after the fire and now, after detailed assessment, the college has applied to Malvern Hills planners for listed building consent to proceed with the rebuilding.

The intention is to rebuild the house on a like-for-like basis, with upgrades being made in a small number of areas such as lighting, roof cladding and doors.

Although such work would not usually require listed building consent, permission is being sought as extensive searches have failed to uncover detailed original plans of the building.

Bursar Ian Barron said the repairs would be an “intricate project” and that it is currently impossible to put a timescale on when the work may be complete.

“We are working closely with the conservation officer and as quickly as we can to get the girls back into the house at the earliest opportunity,” he said.

A statement by property consultants GL Hearn submitted with the planning application details the “considerable” damage to the house.

It said: “All of the interior of this part of the building has been damaged beyond repair. The roof structure has been lost. Some of the upper parts of the external walls were badly damaged in the fire and some limited areas have had to be taken down as emergency works to make the building safe.”

The Cage family and boarding students have been living in a refurbished boarding house at the college since the fire.