The Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd was built between 1962-4 and became Grade ll* listed in 1997. The architect, Gerard Goalen, was appointed based on his previous church commissions and being part of the design team for the Liverpool Catholic Cathedral.
The building consisted of a reinforced concrete structure with prefabricated concrete panels. Various repair works of the building had taken place in 1987 and it was clear the previous repairs had only scratched the surface. The building was in need of major conservation / restoration of the fabric to prevent irreversible damage. One of the important features of the church is the stained glass by Patrick Reyntiens which was at risk of being damaged by the surrounding fabric.
To ensure the necessary works were done correctly, a multi-discipline team consisting of architect, structural engineer and concrete specialist was assembled. AJA were appointed to undertake comprehensive investigation of the existing structure, alongside the structural engineers. Investigations were made into the precast fascia panels, copings and how they were fixed to the existing concrete structure.
Chloride testing of the concrete was also done to assess the concrete. Detailed sampling of concrete mixtures was undertaken to ensure the making good of the structural investigations matched.
Following the investigative work, AJA produced the final Building Fabric Report for submission to English Heritage for funding, which was successful. This funding allowed the most urgent conservation and restoration works to be carried out.
Church of the Good Shepherd
The existing decorative pre-cast concrete cladding panels were removed from the church and exact replicas fabricated by local specialists utilising improved modern materials to avoid replicating the previous problems. The roofs were recovered using high performance materials, including the complicated paraboloid high level roof. This also included replacement of some of the domed roof lights and waterproofing the junctions around inset glass lenses on the lower roof.
Areas of corroded reinforcement in the prefabricated units supporting the high level glazing were removed and the concrete carefully removed to retain the original appearance. This involved numerous samples using selected aggregates sourced from the same quarries in northern France used for the original concrete.
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