Castle Point Development at Burgh Castle, Great Yarmouth.

Castle Point is a beautiful development in Burgh Castle, there’s a genuine feeling of rural space, yet situated within easy reach to shops & amenities. Each property offers a flexible internal layout and will be finished to a very high specification in agreement with the buyer. This truly is a superb opportunity to enjoy open plan modern living in a unique semi rural setting.

This delightful development of 4 desirable high quality rustic farmhouse style properties are made up of 3 and 4 bedroom, detached and link-detached houses with exceptional build quality and finish, while still embracing village life. Fully undertaken by a highly regarded local developer, every attention has been given to the process of delivering a home of modern capacities and efficiency, whilst not compromising comfort and a distinct country style.

Strumpshaw is a popular Norfolk village situated in the Yare valley just six miles from the Cathedral city of Norwich. In 2017 Total Build which had at that point focused upon smaller building works, embarked upon one of its largest projects to date in designing and building a development consisting of many dwellings which would be built upon a derelict brownfield site.

The designs proposed by total Build were unlike that which many would think of when imagining a new build site in their minds. Many developers set out to maximize profits through mass producing the same generic house templates as much as they can within the available space. The designs proposed by Total Build called for the construction of large & unique dwellings which oozed style and build quality.

By May 2017 the site had been successfully cleared ready for the construction phase to begin. Much of what could be recycled from the site was while materials that could not were disposed of safely in accordance with national laws and regulations.

It may sound simplistic and possibly even obviously but every aspect of this project was meticulously designed. From the placement and orientation of the site to maximize the affects of sunlight through to architectural styling & details. These modern & luxurious homes cry individuality which makes these homes fit in respectfully with the surrounding area.

Every aspect of this project has been built with the utmost care and an unwavering attention to detail. Everything from the brickwork detailing through to the smallest of carpentry has created as if it were our own home We have spared no expense with regards to fixtures and fittings.

Blundeston is a beautiful village located just north of Lowestoft on the East Anglian coast. Steeped in history it is strongly influenced by the works of Charles Dickens whose character, David Copperfield, was born within the village.

The site upon which the Red Lion development was to be build occupies the site of a former village pub of the same name. Since closing its doors for the final time the historic building had fallen into disrepair and was subsequently demolished.

The new development consisting of three dwellings each has 4 bedrooms, spacial open plan kitchen / dining areas and expansive orangery style windows that flood each home with brilliant sunshine. All properties have West facing gardens to the rear overlooking open fields which soak up every drop of the summer evening sun. In a nod to the sites heritage the houses even boast sash windows which hark back to the building that existed there previously.

Located on the East coast of Suffolk, Kessingland is a small coastal village between the market town of Lowestoft to the North and the beautiful postcard town of Southwold to the South. Popular with tourists, Kessingland enjoys access to miles of golden beaches & the outstanding natural beauty of the Broads.

Beach Road in Kessingland is regarded as prime estate. Running parallel to the coast it is mere stone throw away from the sandy beaches - you can literally hear the waves breaking. It is also enjoys the very first rays of the rising sun as being almost the most Easterly point of mainland Britain.

The site prior to construction was a derelict pieces of land sitting between two other properties. To the front existed almost unbroken views of the beach whereas to the rear were open fields. Total Build designed a 4 bedroom East facing property which included an upstairs balcony. The interior was designed with the trademark Total Build attention to detail and quality.

East Coast College is a Further Education (FE) college which has campuses in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. Following a six-month pilot area review in 2014, it was proposed that the merger of Great Yarmouth College and Lowestoft College would result in improved education and training provision locally. The colleges have now formed a Federation as East Coast College.

The colleges formally merged in the Summer of 2017 ready for the new academic year. East Coast College is a partner college of the University of Suffolk and the Lowestoft campus boasts specialist maritime and offshore training opportunities.

Dating back to the 1960's the main tower which formed the central part of the former Lowestoft College had become a familiar landmark within the town which could be seen for miles around. The building had with age began to decay quite badly with maintenance costs steadily rising due in no small part to its relatively poor energy efficiency & exposed profile to the North Sea. This was hindered further by the relatively high ratio of windows used within the structure.

We were first tasked with assisting the main contractor in removing the old cladding from the building in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. The old windows including their aluminium frames were then removed before being replaced with a smaller number of high energy efficient windows. The void created by this reduction was then filled with energy efficient cladding.

A number of the concrete mullions were removed in every room with external walls. We then created new walls where these mullions were removed. The new walls internally were created using metal stud-work, insulation and plasterboard. The external part was then covered in the new colour changing chameleon cladding. We then also removed a redundant plant room from the roof of the structure.

"The biggest challenge in this project was the tight deadline. All internal work had to be completed by the end of the summer holidays."

Cara George, Total Build

The majority of work was undertaken during the Summer holidays in order to minimise disruption to students. That being said the site did remain open to the public and working at heights brought its own challenges.

A large low level scaffolding platform was erected around the base of the tower as a main platform to work off. Because of the height of the building mast climbers were required to reach all areas of the building. These mast climbers had to be fitted into the building for structure and safety. This was done by drilling through the external walls and fitting the mast climber supports into the drilled holes.

The project was completes on time and within budget.

Total Build were approached to tender for a new agricultural building to be erected at Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve in Carlton Colville, Suffolk. A steel framed building with low level block work was required. The structure was to then be clad with wood to and concrete corrugated roof sheets with skylights installed.

Having won the tender, foundations were dug and poured after which bolts for the steel uprights were sunk within the required areas. Drainage for stormwater was provided and a soak-away was installed. Services for fresh water and electricity were then brought up to the site. 

A sub contractor installed the steel uprights for the buildings frame. As all bolts were already installed within the foundations by Total Build the process of placing and securing the uprights was quick and painless.

A single course of blocks was then laid around the building which was used as a level by which the internal floor was screed with concrete. The floor was poured in the warm summer months so a retarding agent was sprayed over and covered with polythene so it didn’t set too quickly and crack.

Once the floor was finished another three courses of block-work were laid to the required height. The steel sub-contractors then returned to install the steel roof frame, double doors and concrete corrugated roof sheets with skylights. 

Castle style treated softwood cladding was then fitted to the exterior of the building and the steel frame doors. Low level sockets and lighting were then installed which completed the construction of the building. Finally, Vmex perimeter fencing was installed around the site which created a secure compound.

Roman Hill is a primary school located within Lowestoft, Suffolk. Total Build were approached regarding urgent work that required undertaking to make safe and replace retaining walls in the school playground and at the school entrance. 

Ideally, the work had to be completed in such a way that it did not disrupt the school pupils of create unnecessary risk. The autumn school holiday was the perfect opportunity for us to carry out the project when no children are on school grounds however this in turn created a very tight deadline to get the work completed before the children returned.

The retaining walls had become unstable and therefore potentially unsafe. These identified sections had to be first taken down before the new sections were built. The existing bricks were unfortunately not suitable to be re-used within the project so instead new reds were used. The new retaining wall was made considerably stronger in order to hold back the small section of garden behind it.

The new section of wall is tied into the existing wall further up and alongside the path. We then topped off the wall with blue engineering bricks to match the newer sections that had already been replaced.

The soil behind the retaining wall was reduced in height and an area was concreted ready for new slabs to be laid. The new slabs were laid in the requested position ready for a new bench to be placed for the children to use. The area around the new bench will be planted with sensory shrubs for the children to enjoy as part of their learning experience.

Awaze is Europe's leading managed vacation rentals and holiday resorts business, with operations and team members in most European countries as well as the UK. Total Build were tasked with an exciting opportunity to convert their existing offices in Lowestoft.

Prior to work beginning their lowestoft offices, which occupied an old shoe factory within the town, the building had been repurposed to hold contained and secluded office areas. The brief of the project was to create a more open plan and collaborative working environment for both their employees and visiting customers.

The call centre is open until 9pm so this specific challenge meant that no loud work could be carried out until after then. As much quiet work was done during the day and the main portion of the demolition and removal of the existing partitions was carried out throughout the night. The whole project took just under two weeks with as little disturbance with the day to day running of the call centre.

There were seven offices in total that required opening up in the main call centre section of the building to make the environment more inclusive for all the members of their team.

We started by removing all of the individual office partitions, glass, doors and suspended ceilings to leave the main structure and roof. We carefully reduced back the timber frame to be inline with the existing walls. We then reassembled the suspended ceilings, electrical sockets, lights and sprinkler system into the small section of ceiling that remained. 

The office wall partitions went through the suspended floor which could not have been anticipated so we also had to patch up the floor and add more carpet tiles down. The fascia and redecoration took place once construction was complete, finishing off the remaining sections to match into the existing.