Paper House is led by two architects, Mark Hoare and Ted Ridge. Our aim is to achieve socially responsible and neighbourly development, with lasting social value. This is a separate venture to Hoare Ridge & Morris Architects, which is based at Snape Maltings, Suffolk.
Paper House was established in early 2019, prompted by the opportunity to purchase the former Conservative Club in Framlingham. This listed building occupies a prominent location between St Michael’s Church and Framlingham Castle. The ‘Con Club’ played an important role in the life of the town for more than a century, but closed in late 2018.
We became involved because we feared that a typical developer-led scheme for the building and site would result in it being ‘carved up’ into several residential properties with little benefit for the local community.
We thought that while some residential use would sensibly be an ingredient in the future life of the building, it ought to be possible to develop a more mixed-use vision for the club which would bring wider social benefit and maintain a place for the building in the public life of Framlingham. Our vision involves creative employment space, artistic and gallery space, a cafe, space for community use, and one flat. The building had until recently been a mixed-use building, combining office space (let to several parties), residential space, and the club itself.
Our hope has been to achieve a viable life for the building which also delivers public good. Framlingham has plenty of housing being built but the town is not seeing corresponding growth in employment or social opportunity to match this – the Con Club will provide a bit more of what is missing in a central location, and to do it in a way which is sensitive to the history of the listed building, while breathing exciting new life into it.
We have finished our major building works and the change we have made should make the place sufficiently flexible and adaptable to ensure a long term future in the public life of the town.
The cafe is now up and running and most of the new creative community have moved in. Our ideas for the club as a whole continue to evolve through talking to the local community and other interested parties, identifying local needs and attempting to balance these with the economic viability of different uses and activities. Our aim has been and remains to avoid duplicating what already exists in the town. We have recently taken on the adjacent Theatre/Assembly Hall, reuniting this with the club as a Phase 2 of development, which presents some great opportunities.
Information on the various rooms and spaces to let is given on the news page.
Since we bought the club in 2019 we have had amazing support from friends, colleagues and the Fram community – so thank you everyone.
Mark and Ted
If you want to get in touch, email is easiest at:
mail@paperhouseproperties.co.uk
Instagram: @exconclub