Paul White, director of the redevelopment of St Luke’s Church – the former Three Counties Asylum chapel – into four luxury homes, shares with us a little of what has been going on over the last month in the renovation and conversion of this listed Victorian building.

As Spring has sprung we’re finally starting to see the light – quite literally. After a three-month delay, caused by illness on the part of the leaded light specialist, we’re finally back on course.

The new entrance is complete and sporting its flash new gothic arch doors, which have caused quite a stir, plus this week we have finally started installing the clear glass windows on the large northern flank. The difference this makes on the inside is phenomenal – The Nave and The Apse now have views out towards Eliot Way through the trees, framed by the wonderful splashes of colour and life in the sparkling new red-, blue- and yellow-banded windows.

The Vestry is now close to fully plastered and we’ve even painted some ceilings, which bounce the light around even more. After months of working in the dark it’s lovely to see so much natural light. The building has such a large internal volume that getting in enough light was always a concern, but we’re now buoyed up by the results. Stripping the dark stain was 100 per cent the best move we made.

May will see us finally drop the scaffold from the Apse and the northern side of the building, leaving just the Tower and western side to do. Utilities continue to be an issue with at least two attempts to locate a live gas main ending in failure and no small amount of disappointment in having to disturb previously completed garden areas in the process – but that’s just part of the ‘fun’ of working on old buildings!