Genesis Project

The Genesis Project is a community-based project whose remit is to help revitalise the centre of the town of Great Torrington, in North Devon. As part of this project, the site of the multi-storied old Castle Hill Hotel on South Street has been renovated to include a variety of community facilities. The project has been funded by various bodies including English Partnerships, Torridge District Council and LEADER.

The project involved the restoration of a derelict Grade II Regency period Listed Building, and two more modern buildings linked to it. Phase I of the Genesis project includes a Civil War Museum highlighting the more tempestuous moments in Torrington's history, together with a shop and a telecentre offering computer training facilities. The second phase incorporated a public library, which moved to the Castle Hill Centre from its current location in Torrington, together with a tourist information centre and general purpose communal office space.

Features include:

• High levels of insulation incorporated in previously uninsulated buildings
• Reuse and renovation of a previously derelict group of buildings
• Traditional lime renders, lime wash, organic paints and stains
• Triple glazed high performance timber windows and doors to the modern buildings
• Treatment of extreme fungal attack by non-chemical means
• Many traditional details such as sliding sash windows, picture rails, skirting, decorative plaster mouldings
• Use of natural slate