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Hidden treasures
St Mary’s Catholic Church on Julian Road
When a fire broke out at St Mary’s Catholic Church in 2015, Stuart Jones Interior Design and Restoration had just begun restoring the 140-year-old building. It took three years to complete. Millie Bruce-Watt caught up with the brains behind the project, Joanne Jones, who shared the unexpected discoveries along the way and explained why St Mary’s means so much to her
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ith a client portfolio that spans some of the most wellregarded brands in the local area and around the globe, Bath-based interior designer Joanne Jones of Stuart Jones Interior Design and Restoration is pushing the boundaries in the interiors world. Joanne’s bespoke approach to every project, not to mention her ability to create impressive 3D virtual reconstructions of a space, has made her a stand-out name in her field. In 2015, Joanne was appointed to restore St Mary’s Catholic Church in Bath, a 19th-century building cherished in the community and packed full of small reminders of the city’s history. It was a grand project and, as it transpired, one of discovery. We sat down with Joanne to learn more about her life, her work and how her expansive archaeological background made her the natural match for the restoration of St Mary’s. On 24 July 2015, just a few months after work began on refurbishing the 140-year-old church on Julian Road, a fire broke out in the early evening, badly damaging the building and halting the restoration for several months. More than 40 fire fighters tackled the blaze that started in the porch and work was put on pause until investigators deemed the fire an arson attack. “It was very sad. We’d been working on the church for a few months before the fire broke out,” says Joanne, “and this put everything on hold for a while. The roof needed work but luckily the stained glass window wasn’t damaged. We just wanted to bring it back to its former glory and how it would have been when it was first built.” After the church was deemed fit to enter and worked restarted on the ancient stone, Joanne and her team uncovered an array of original features, exposing the age of the structure and the events it must have witnessed over the last century. “One of the amazing things we uncovered was under the carpet. We found tiles that had been cracked during the Blitz and we had to do what we could to match them to the 80 TheBATHMagazine
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new tiles and restore it as closely to its original form as possible. “The fire also gave us an opportunity to take out awful things that were added in the eighties, for example. One of the biggest things we did was remove the carpet surrounding the altar. We took it back to the original flooring and this had a massive effect on the acoustics in the church. It now sounds completely different but similar to what it must have sounded like when the church was first built. It’s an incredible sound.” The work on St Mary’s Church was completed nearly three years after work began. With the roof reconstructed – a feat that saw Joanne and her team working several hundred feet in the air for months – and the interiors of the church brought back to life with such delicacy as to not disturb the integrity of the building, the church is now a stunning cornerstone in the community. “I am proud – it gave me a lot of confidence. If it weren’t for St Mary’s, I wouldn’t have the confidence that I have as a designer now. I’m a lot more organic in the way I work now, which I love.” Throughout her prolific career, working around the globe in France, Germany, Canada and Alaska before settling in Bath almost 11 years ago, Joanne has built a portfolio filled with eclectic developments. Stuart Jones has formed an exceptional reputation priding itself in transforming interior spaces, from renovating Georgian townhouses to assisting with new build projects. One of Stuart Jones’ unique selling points is Joanne’s ability to create 3D virtual reconstructions of a space. Using interactive design software, known as Virtual Worlds, Joanne brings the design process to life, making projects a reality for residential and commercial clients, architects and designers, which helps inspire and encourage their clients to visualise the finished space. “Virtual Worlds allows our clients to see the space exactly how it is going to be – you can even open drawers and get a feel for what it’s
