A building in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire that became known as Churchill’s Toy Shop after the role it played in Britain’s war effort, has undergone a transformation into exclusive apartments.
The apartments, for Stonehouse Real Estate, feature door hardware and expertise from award-winning architectural ironmongers Em-B Solutions.
Churchill Manor is a refurbished development of one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments that incorporate myriad features of the original buildings. The development includes the building that housed Ministry of Defence 1 Military Intelligence Research unit where some of the most ingenious inventions of WWII were devised. During the war it became known as ‘Churchill’s Toy Shop’ as the team there worked on creative devices such as sticky bombs, the pencil detonator, floating mines and even a bullet-firing helmet. Rumours persist that this was the inspiration behind military inventor Q and his collection of gadgets in the Ian Fleming James Bond stories.
This was not a standard apartment fit out. Everything has been meticulously specced and sourced, including the door furniture which is so vital to the luxe appearance and feel of the apartments
Jonny Eden, Stonehouse Projects
Stonehouse Projects has completely reinvented Churchill Manor the building, creating apartments which have been specced and fitted out to the highest standards, incorporating many of the building’s original features including fireplaces, panelled walls and original windows. One of the apartment’s kitchens was once Winston Churchill’s office giving the new owners the chance to sit where the great man himself sat whilst making strategic decisions to defeat the Axis forces.
Specification of door furniture and scheduling of fire doors
After working with Em-B Solutions previously, Jonny Eden from Stonehouse who was responsible for the spec and design of the project, turned to the Leeds-based company to assist with the specification of the door furniture and to help with the scheduling of the fire doors required for the apartment entrance doors. Star of the door hardware suite is a selection of stunning Georgian-style lever on backplate sprung door handles forged from solid brass in a variety of finishes to suit different apartments. Matching the hardware throughout the apartment was vital to maintaining the high-end design feel and attention to detail that epitomises this development.
“This was not a standard apartment fit out. Everything has been meticulously specced and sourced, including the door furniture which is so vital to the luxe appearance and feel of the apartments,” says Stonehouse’s Jonny Eden. “We quickly realised that we needed to bring in the experts at Em-B for the door schedules, especially the fire doors so that we could ensure that the ironmongery not just looks and feels great but meets the highest standards of safety and security.”
