Friday, 18 November 2011

2011 ARCHIVE - Windhorse Community Door Project

Over the last few years Windhorse Trust, that looks after our communities, has been in a protracted dialogue with Cambridge City Council about how our communities should be designated. For many decades the Council were relatively happy for our Buddhist Communities to be somewhere between a family style home and a HMO or House of Multiple Occupancy. This meant they were exempt from some of the more stringent regulations regarding HMO's. However the trust was unable, on this ocassion, to convince them that our communities should remain being exempt. This has meant the expensive introduction of a huge number of fire doors, and fulfilling other statutory requirements of being registered as a HMO.

Samata at work in
No 54 Herbert Street Community

The Fire Doors installed in our larger communities are rather dull, and rather blank looking. They introduce an uncharacteristc institutional feel into the atmosphere of what are open, friendly Buddhist Communities. Vidyavajra, with his team of Samata & Pano, started in July this year to prepare,paint and apply panel molding to these doors. Vidyavajra chose a style of decorative panel molding to make them look more aesthetic and in keeping with the style of late Victorian/early Edwardian terraced houses.

For three days every week, for five months the team has been, scraping, sanding, priming, sticking the molding on, more filling, sanding and priming, before final coats of paint were applied. It was a long slow slog to completing all the doors in four communities. Often they have been doing all of this in quite tight working spaces. At the same time trying not to inconvenience the community too much, with paint cans, equipment  and floor sheets etc scattered across landings and alcoves. In total its required the cutting of 468 individually mitred pieces of panel molding.& the painting of 45 doors (31 with Panel Molding - 8 Plain Doors - and 6 Cupboards).  Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what this has involved.
Plain Doors with unpainted architraves
No 54 Herbert Street Community

With painted architraves
No 54 Herbert Street Community

Ist Primer Coat & Panel Molding applied
No 54 Herbert Street Community

Everything Primed & Final Coats
No 54 Herbert Street Community

Finished Doors
No17 Newmarket Road Community

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