Described by Pevsner, as one of the most moving of all Victorian churches with an interior of breathtaking majesty and purity, St Augustine's in Pendlebury is one of England’s most important churches.

In May 2006, St Augustine's became the focal point of a campaign by English Heritage to save places of worship in Greater Manchester from falling into dilapidation.

The Grade 1 listed High Anglican church was built by George Fredrick Bodley between 1871 and 1874. One particular area of concern was the floor space immediately inside the west porch entrance which covers some 80m² and had become very uneven due to increased settlement over recent years.

Limecrete was chosen for the remediation work over the widely used option of Ordinary Portland Cement and Maysand was selected as main contractor on the project. “We chose limecrete because it is a breathable and lightweight alternative to cement-based concrete and we felt that at St Augustine’s it would have clear advantages for use on such an historic building,” says Stephen Welsh of architects Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams.

“At that point it was the first limecrete project that our practice had been involved in and it was very interesting for everyone involved.”

Limecrete is a mixture of natural hydraulic lime and lightweight clay aggregate that can be used to create breathable floors, offering increased vapour permeability. This is especially important for traditional buildings.

Adds Stephen: “One of the issues with using concrete is that it can cause rising damp in perimeter walls and columns — that’s not as much of a problem with limecrete because of its a breathable structure.

“When we looked at St Augustine’s and saw the level of the sub floor we realised that the floor would be just about the right depth for limecrete. We were delighted with the way the project proceeded and are already planning to use limecrete again in future projects.”

As using limecrete was a first for both Maysand and Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams it was a project that required a great deal of collaboration between contractor and architect.

Says Maysand Managing Director Bryn Lisle: “St Augustine’s was the perfect example of a partnership approach as both parties were going into new territory. We carried out a great deal of advance research and planning and worked hand in hand on the site with the architects to ensure a high standard finish.”

Further examination of the project by the Maysands team also showed another benefit of limecrete. It creates a smaller carbon footprint as manufacturing temperatures for limecrete are around 550-600°C lower than Portland cement.

Our calculations found that the CO² creation using concrete would have been 12.2t/CO² compared to 4t/CO² emitted when using limecrete. This significant saving is another reason why limecrete is a likely to become a material of choice for Maysand in the future.