Russell Everett MCIOB director at Excel Home Design shares the challenges of creating a modern showroom in a church.
Excel Home Design recently launched its new headquarters and showroom at St George’s Church in Tonyrefail, marking the completion of a project that combines heritage restoration with contemporary residential design.
The opening event in June brought together industry partners, suppliers and representatives from organisations including the CIOB, Federation of Master Builders, and Local Building Control. Guests were invited to explore the space, with the Llantrisant Male Voice Choir performing and a live cooking demonstration taking place using the fully functioning kitchen displays. The event provided an opportunity to showcase not only the completed building, but also the approach behind it.
Beyond the launch itself, the project represents a careful balance between preserving the character of a historic structure and adapting it to meet the expectations of a modern, open-plan design environment.
One of the primary challenges was working with the church’s original fabric. The bath stone windows, a defining feature of the building, required full restoration. This involved repairing the stonework while retaining the original window detailing, ensuring the building’s architectural identity remained intact.
Alongside this, the roof structure required repair and reinforcement to meet modern standards while still respecting the existing form. These works were essential in stabilising the building before any internal reconfiguration could take place.
A more complex challenge was creating a fully open-plan layout suitable for a working showroom. This required reconfiguring the internal structure and introducing concealed steelwork to support the new spans. Much of this intervention has been carefully integrated within the building, allowing the space to feel open and uninterrupted while maintaining full structural integrity.
Internally, the design approach focused on integrating contemporary displays within the existing structure. Exposed stonework has been retained and incorporated into the showroom features, creating a clear dialogue between old and new.
The completed space functions not only as a showroom but as a working environment where clients can experience design in a more immersive way. Fully operational kitchen, bathroom and extension displays are supported by digital tools, including 3D visualisation and virtual reality, allowing projects to be explored in detail before construction begins.
For me the project was about more than the physical transformation of the building; the challenge was finding the right balance between respecting what was already here and creating something that works for the future. It was important to retain the character of the church while introducing a space that allows clients to properly experience what’s possible in their own homes.
For Excel, the project reinforces the principle behind its ‘Designs for Living’ approach. Whether working within the constraints of a historic building or a residential extension, the construction process must ultimately support how the space will be used and experienced.
At St George’s Church, that approach has been realised through a combination of careful restoration, considered engineering and a clear design philosophy, demonstrating how heritage buildings can be successfully adapted to meet modern expectations without losing their identity.
