Institute of Historic Building Conservation No 119 May 2011 Healthy environments
Call us now on 01248 600 656 or visit www.welshslate.com Welsh Slate, Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 4YG E-mail: [email protected] ROOFING THE NATION’S BUILDINGS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS
C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 1 Cover: St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge, London. Public policy is increasingly focusing on how to make environments that promote physical activity and health: see page 15. (Photo: © Dragos Daniel Iliescu) Editorial Institute ofHistoricBuildingConservation No119May 2011 Healthy environments A healthy environment for debate Last year the word obesogenic waddled into our consciousness. Meaning ‘tending to make people obese’, the adjective has been used to describe certain types of development and streets which discourage walking. A concern for public health was where the placemaking movement began in the 19th century. Chris Pond and Graham Tite (pages 18 and 21) look back at some of those origins. In those days the problems included poor diet, lack of fresh air, poor hygiene and lack of medical attention, rather than obesity. Today the association of poor environments with low standards of health is as real as ever. Margaret Douglas (p15) and Craig Stirrat (p23) explore some of the issues. But it is too easy to conclude that the fact that unhealthy people tend to live in poor environments is evidence that it is the environment that is making them unhealthy. It may be, rather, that unhealthy people live in poor environments because, being unhealthy, they can not earn enough to live somewhere pleasant. Or it may be that they have low standards of education, particularly in the art of being healthy, which is why they end up poor, unhealthy and living in places that no one would choose. The stories that Chris Pond and GrahamTite tell are an inspiring reminder of the days when the public health, town planning and conservation movements were discovering themselves. Poverty, disease and ill-health were not inevitable: the coordinated and determined efforts of enlightened people could, and did, make a difference. Will Holborow’s article on re-using historic hospitals (p25) reminds us of another set of changes in the way we think about health.The belief in the importance of isolation gave way to the fashion for care in the community (community being a useful euphemism). The change in health policy has led to opportunities for development. Sometimes these opportunities have had positive outcomes, creating attractive places in and around historic buildings. Too often, though, the opportunities have led to development in inappropriate places. After all, isolation hospitals tend to be isolated – the clue is in the name. Sometimes the fact that those former hospital ‘brownfield sites’ were actually luxuriantly green should have prompted us to let them stay that way. At a time when controversial health and planning reforms are under way, little is certain. Comfortable orthodoxies have been undermined but, like it or not, this is where we have to start from. Can localism be a basis for effective planning? Can we make the case for the value of conservation all over again? Can we regain the optimism that inspired our pioneering predecessors? At the very least it’s a healthy environment for debate. www.ihbc.org.uk Registered as a charity in England andWales number 1061593 and in Scotland number SC041945. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England number 3333780. Registered Office: 3 Stafford Road,TunbridgeWells, Kent TN2 4QZ. Officers President Eddie Booth email [email protected] Chair Jo Evans email [email protected] Vice Chair Sheila Stones email [email protected] Secretary Richard Morrice email [email protected] Treasurer Michael Knights email [email protected] Membership Secretary vacant email [email protected] Education Secretary John Preston email [email protected] Publicity Secretary Doug Black email [email protected] Law & Practice Coordinator vacant email [email protected] Director Seán O’Reilly email [email protected] Projects Officer Fiona Newton email [email protected] Consultant Consultations Coordinator James Caird email [email protected] Membership Services Officer Joanna Theobald email [email protected] Administration Officer Lydia Porter email [email protected] Committee Chairs Policy Mike Brown email [email protected] Membership & Ethics (Acting) Richenda Codling email [email protected] Finance & Resources Richard Morrice email [email protected] Education John Preston email [email protected] Communications & Outreach Charles Strang email [email protected] Branch Officers North Geoff UnderwoodTel 0191 433 3435 NorthWest Kate Borland Tel 0778 0704726 Yorkshire Keith Knight Tel 01904 658482 West Midlands Charles Shapcott Tel 0121 7044312 East Midlands Roy Lewis Tel 01636 619335 South Julia Foster Tel 01296 585888 SouthWest JamesWebbTel 01202 732849 East Anglia Phil Godwin Tel 01263 516131 South East David Kincaid Tel 01227 862185 London David McDonald Tel 020 7361 3352 Scotland Stuart Eydmann Tel 01506 775279 Wales Nathan Blanchard Tel 01492 583443 Northern Ireland Colin Hatrick Tel 028 9064 1126 Republic of Ireland Cormac O’Sullivan Tel 00353 5677 62907 Business Office Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA England Tel 01747 873133 Fax 01747 871718 email [email protected] Briefing 2 Out of Context 4 Letters 5 Professional prospects Bob Kindred 6 Periodically 8 The writer’s voice 11 Conference report: Understanding significance Keith Parsons 12 Caring for the building and the client Christopher Catling 13 Realising good places for health Margaret Douglas 15 A good start in life Chris Pond and Graham Tite 18 A fruitful day in the country Chris Pond 21 Health inequalities in the built environment Craig Stirrat 23 Re-using historic hospitals Will Holborow 25 Restoring a house in France Peter Fisher 28 Refrigeration on ice Liz Humble 31 Architecturally speaking 34 Notes from the chair 36 Director’s cut 38 Vox pop 39 Book reviews 41 Products and services 45 Advertisers index 48
2 C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 Briefing Context Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Fiona Newton 21 George Street, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9JU Tel 01507 602567 email [email protected] Editorial Board Fiona Newton (chair) Nigel Crowe (main features) Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Michael Taylor (main features) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2011 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Published for the Institute of Historic Building Conservation by Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA Tel 01747 871717 Fax 01747 871718 email [email protected] www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to non-members of the IHBC at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £50.00 Elsewhere £75.00 Subscription orders, together with remittances payable to Institute of Historic Building Conservation, should be sent to the IHBC Business Office at Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication.While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Copy deadlines Context is published five times a year, in March, May, July, September and November.The copy deadlines in 2011 are: July, Issue 120 16 May September, Issue 121 18 July November, Issue 122 19 September Fouquet’s models A collection of models of the great buildings and monuments of ancient Greece, Rome and the near east, made by the architectural model maker and artist François Fouquet, will be on display at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London from 15 July to 23 September. As professor of architecture at the Royal Academy from 1806–1837, Soane collected architectural models to use in teaching design and construction. Following in the footsteps of his model-maker father Jean-Pierre (1752– 1829), François Fouquet produced meticulously detailed and fragile plaster-of-Paris restorations, showing the greatest buildings of the ancient world as they might have appeared when first constructed. Archaeological excavations carried out in Italy from the 1730s generated renewed interest in these buildings, and folio editions and models were produced to fill the demand. Soane’s Fouquet models were made between 1790 and 1830 for architects and collectors in Paris, using techniques which remain a mystery. Soane bought his 20 Fouquet models from the architect Edward Cresy in 1834. They include representations of the Temple of Venus at Baalbec; the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Arch of Hadrian and Tower of Winds in Athens; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world); The Temple of Augustus at Pola in Istria (now in Croatia); the Temple of Neptune at Palmyra; the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli; and the Pantheon and the Temple of Fortuna Virillis in Rome. Burges glass returns home The future of two rareWilliam Burgesdesigned stained glass panels has been secured following their purchase for £125,000 by Cadw. The panels, which were once part of a set of 20 for the chapel at Castell Coch near Cardiff, will go on public display at the castle. Burges designed a timber-framed chapel springing out of the roof of theWell Tower which was fitted with the stained glass panels. The chapel was demolished sometime before 1891 and the 20 panels were recorded as being stored on site in 1901. Ten of those panels are on display in a gallery at Cardiff Castle, while eight more are displayed in a model of the chapel in the attic room of Castell Coch’s Well Tower. The whereabouts of the two missing panels had been a mystery until they failed to sell at an auction last year. The panels showWelsh and British saints and biblical figures.
C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 3 Mausoleum restored A Grade II* listed mausoleum containing the remains of Victorian adventurer and explorer Sir Richard Burton has been restored. The Burton Mausoleum, in the grounds of St Mary Magdalene’s Catholic Church, Mortlake, south London, had been on English Heritage’s register of buildings at risk. The mausoleum’s design was based on a tent used by Burton on his travels in the middle east: the surfaces of the Forest of Dean stone memorial were modelled to simulate the canvas and guy ropes of a tent. They carry both Christian and Islamic symbols. The door to the mausoleum had been permanently sealed shut. Visitors can now view the interior through a glass panel set in the roof at the back of the structure. This originally contained a stained-glass window picturing a white dove of peace flying towards the sun, which was destroyed many years ago. A mirror now enables visitors to view a small altar at one end. Previously this had been hidden from view. The project, managed by the Environment Trust, was funded by individual donations and grant support from English Heritage and the Heritage of London Trust. HOK London was the consultant architect. Heritage Crime Initiative English Heritage and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have initiated the Heritage Crime Initiative. Chief inspector Mark Harrison of Kent Police has been seconded to English Heritage to develop it. Harrison has had a base in the Canterbury City Council’s conservation section, which has allowed him to ensure that the initiative recognises the constraints and priorities of conservation officers. Heritage crime is defined as ‘any offence which harms the value of England’s heritage assets and their settings to this and future generations’. Priorities will be set annually by a Strategic Tasking Group (composed of English Heritage, ACPO, the Crown Prosecution Service and representatives of local authorities). This group will receive intelligence analysis, set national priorities for prevention and enforcement and will oversee the running of the stakeholder group – the Alliance for the Reduction of Crime against Heritage (ARCH). ARCH will be composed of enforcement agencies, NGOs, professions such as the IHBC, voluntary groups, and charities. A voice for heritage skills The Heritage Crafts Association held a Skills Forum on 11 May at Chelsea College of Art, London. The event brought together over 100 representatives from UK crafts bodies with representatives of the Heritage Lottery Fund and government to discuss traditional craft skills training. Delegates included representatives of core bodies such as the IHBC, Icon, the National Heritage Training Group and sector skills councils, as well as craftspeople and conservators. Jo Riley of the HLF outlined her organisation’s grant programmes and its annual expenditure, which has risen from £180 million just a few years ago to £220 million in 2011–12 and is set to rise further. On the Skills for the Future programme, now closed to applications, she hinted at proposals for a new scheme to be announced later in the year. A keynote speech by skills minister John Hayes MP, delivered by video, showed that the industry has a new ally in government. His address included proposals for mapping the craft sector and showcasing its work. Delegates discussed crafts sector requirements and the needs for training, identifying key requirements where the government could help, such as the need for craft training to include older students, not just 16 to 19 year olds. Voysey Society A Voysey Society has been founded by a group of people who had been surprised to find that there was no organisation devoted to a study of the man and his work. Plans include a website and an exploratory meeting in a Voysey property. Contact the acting membership secretary, Peter King at pgking47@ gmail.com. Has anyone seen her? The Kings Weston Action Group in Bristol has launched an appeal to track down a historic marble statue from one of the pavilions in the public grounds of Kings Weston House. The house and the Echo pavilion, both listed Grade I, were designed by Sir John Vanbrugh. Hartlepool Council is looking for a new owner for a Grade II listed former Odeon cinema. Currently privately owned, the building has stood empty for the past 11 years. It was built in the 1930s, closed as a cinema in 1981, and had a number of uses before it finally closed in 1999.The front features two Grecian-style stone friezes above the main entrance. (Photo: JoelVirgo, 07706 153583)
4 C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 ‘SPENDING vital funds on a building we do not own and have no specific use for is not the answer… Under normal circumstances’ the building would be an obvious candidate for Section 215 Untidy Land Action… However, this has to be balanced by the practical and financial implications of taking legal action against the owner who is serving a long-term jail sentence. ‘The likelihood of [the owner] complying with this sort of legal action, with a maximum penalty on conviction of £1,000 for non-compliance, is small, and without his cooperation the council would inevitably be forced into a position of carrying out potentially very expensive repairs entirely at the taxpayers’ expense. ‘Because of the extent of deterioration of the building, an urgent works notice would also be extremely costly for a building like the Palace Theatre, and while English Heritage may be willing to fund 80 per cent of the cost, that leaves at least 20 per cent of the costs to be found from somewhere.’ A spokesman for Plymouth City Council announcing that the council has ruled out trying to force Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh, jailed in 2008 for nine years for allowing the sale of Class A drugs, to restore the Grade II* listed Palace Theatre, of which he is the owner. ‘THE LISTING of a building is a much an act of design as the erection of the original was when it was built. Every generation seems to think that they are as worthy as any other to burden the future with their valuejudgement-moments, and Broadgate is about as valueless as it gets. ‘If you list Broadgate, then it suggests that most of Dallas is as valued an architectural statement as a listed thatched-roof Cotswold cottage. Both turn my stomach, but today’s Broadgate is tomorrow’s Croydon.’ John Onken writing on the Architects’ Journal’s LinkedIn discussion forum about the proposal to list the Arup Associates development at London’s Broadgate. ‘COST-EFFECTIVE sustainability must trump all but the most overwhelming of other objections. Solid wall insulation may demand the very wraparound extensions that planners traditionally hate. Triple glazing may alter the look of a conservation area, but it may be the lesser of two evils. Such new ideas may prove challenging, but they must be embraced if we are to win this crucial battle to save the planet.’ Lord Deben (John Gummer) writing in Planning. ‘IFYOU JUDGE traditional buildings by modern standards you get inaccurate results. If you test the efficiency of traditional walls using different methods you get better results. Traditional buildings were designed to keep the weather out, which just happens to be good for heat efficiency. They were also as concerned with fuel efficiency as we are now because they had to go and cut the wood down themselves.’ Caroline Rye of the University of Portsmouth speaking at the launch of her research for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). According to SPAB, home owners are in danger of harming historic buildings to make them more ‘green’ because of flaws in the Energy Performance Certificates that are now compulsory whenever a home is rented out or sold. ‘THE BUREAUCRATS in government departments who concoct those ridiculous rules and regulations that make life impossible, particularly for small firms… [and] the town hall officials who take forever with those planning decisions that can be make or break for a business – and the investment and jobs that go with it.’ Prime minister David Cameron identifying ‘enemies of enterprise’ at the Conservatives’ spring forum, as a result of which town hall officials may feel under pressure to rush through those planning decisions that can be make or break the quality of a place – and the investment and jobs that go with it. The Echo was built in the 1720s. The plinth is still there, but the statue was last seen 40 years ago. The Georgian statue is clearly seen in a copy of an early photograph generously given to the group by Country Life magazine. The statue is of a woman draped in classical robes, her hair distinctively braided. The statue was toppled some time during the second world war when the park was used as barracks for the US Army and may have been badly damaged. It was removed to the basement of Kings Weston House where it stayed for a number of years. Until 1970 it was the focus of the student’s common room of Bristol College of Science and Technology Architecture department. Since then its location has become a mystery. Searches of the City Museum and art gallery have produced no leads. To coincide with the launch of their campaign KWAG have recreated a scale replica of the statue from the Country Life photo. The fullsized flat figure mounted on board gives the impression of how it once looked and will hopefully help people recall whether they have seen it. KWAG representative David Martyn says: ‘There must be people in Bristol who know what happened to her. The house has been the home of a school, college and police training centre since the war and hundreds of people have passed through. I’m sure someone must have seen the statue and remembers when she left and where she went.We’d really love to relocate her and see if she can be reinstated.’ Contact David Martyn on 0781 666671 or [email protected] Recognise her? (Photo by David Martin)
C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 5 Reinventing the wheel From John Fidler, Los Angeles Congratulations on yet another wellproduced, interesting issue (Context 118, March 2011). Nothing in the USA comes close to your production values, and the content is always thought provoking and newsworthy. Two points prompted by writing. First, I always enjoy uncle Bob Kindred’s reviews of the conservation literature and was glad to see that he picked up on the special issue of the Association for Preservation Technology’s Bulletin (Vol 41, No 4, 2010) on building documentation.With so much to read and review, he may have missed, and your readers may be interested to learn, that both the symposium and the publication were put together by three Englishmen, at least one of them an IHBC member. The documentation symposium preceded the annual conference of APT in Los Angeles. Chris Gray (now running GBG-US and formerly with the metric survey team at English Heritage) and I were on the local organising committee.We and David Woodcock (retiring director of historic preservation at Texas A&M University school of architecture) devised and managed the symposium, chaired the sessions and edited the publication. Second, Rob Pickard’s article (‘Funding sources and strategies’) in that issue reminded me how often we reinvent the wheel in our business. The body of knowledge does not seem to get passed on from one generation to another. Or if it does, developments do not seem to get very far. For example, the UK conservation industry has known about Monumentenwacht since the 1970s when the late Derek Linstrum first brought over the pioneers to talk about their work at the then Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies at York University.What Pickard’s paper did not say was that the maintenance inspection and minor repair programme is subsidised by the Dutch government in lieu of having any major capital works grants programme in the Netherlands Letters (though, as in Germany, there is a local income tax to repair churches). Sterling efforts were later made by Maintain Our Heritage from 1998 onwards to emulate the Dutch scheme, but the pilot schemes have not taken off because the commercial drivers failed to materialise. In the USA, the tax incentive programme introduced in 1976 continues and every so often somebody in the UK takes an interest. Indeed, I did too for part of my masters degree at Manchester University school of architecture under Ron Brunskill. Tony Pass (now of Manx Heritage but then conservation officer for Greater Manchester Council) was my external thesis examiner, read about the tax measure and promptly reported my findings to a government inquiry, where it was eventually cited in the Montagu Report Britain’s Historic Buildings: a policy for their future use (BTA, 1980). In that document, another oral witness from CIPFA (the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy) dismissed the US tax idea in seven words. Mike Pearce followed up with me on pushing the US tax idea for Conservation: a credit account (SAVE, 1988), but again there was no traction with HMTreasury. John Fidler Sign of the times From Allan Morrison, Derbyshire You might be amused, or horrified, by the photos I took in Buxton this week. I thought perhaps it was a hoax. Then I thought it might reflect the present government’s ambivalent attitude to conservation. Perhaps the contractor thinks heritage demolition is acceptable if they claim to be recycling? Sadly the building (Haddon Hotel on London Road, Buxton), fire damaged about a year ago, is allegedly beyond economic repair, and not in the conservation area. Allan Morrison
6 C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 Professional prospects Why would anyone want to do this for a living? Bob Kindred writes: The employment of conservation specialists has recently become more precarious that at any time in the last decade, particularly in the public sector. Advertised posts in local authorities in England have fallen from a peak of 158 per annum in 2003–4 to just 26 in 2010, the lowest since IHBC started monitoring salaries and terms and conditions in 1998–9. The immediate outlook for employment in local government appears very uncertain. The extent to which the traditional model of directly employed staff will continue under the current government’s localism and big society agendas is also unclear. Regrettably the route-map for opportunities for those wishing to work in potentially the largest part of the heritage sector remains obscure. The present crisis in the profession can not be disguised. Coinciding with the mounting evidence of redundancies and frozen and downgraded posts is a growing concern about the future capacity of the planning system to meet the needs of the development industry and the aspirations of local communities when the economy recovers. There will certainly be a need for appropriate heritage expertise if, for example, neighbourhood plans get off the ground. Communities and Local Government has reminded local authorities on more than one occasion not to shed planning officers but to redeploy them, although regrettably without specifying the need to retain associated heritage professionals. The view in some quarters, not least among some chief planning officers and leading councillors, is that local authority conservation services are expendable because they are non-statutory. Not only is this not the case, but a succession of recent Ombudsman cases has clearly criticised local authorities for failing to give specialist conservation advice compelling weight when dealing with planning proposals. Just as it is difficult to give clarity about employment prospects in local authorities, so it is difficult to generalise about what comprises a typical conservation service and what a prospective new recruit might expect. Services range from teams of several individuals in metropolitan boroughs and (a decreasing number of) counties, to lone individuals in shire boroughs and rural districts. Some authorities are entering into joint service provision, and some are merging voluntarily. This seems not necessarily to be creating new job opportunities. If anything the opposite may be the case. The size of the heritage resource often has little influence on the numbers employed. Some shire districts, for example, have numbers of listed buildings running well into four figures, spread over a wide geographical area, but employ just one specialist. In these situations the number of heritage assets will inevitably influence the nature of the local authority’s conservation workload. Similarly, there is a range or organisational structures, from standalone heritage services to those most typically integrated with colleagues in development control, planning policy or urban design teams – or occasionally with regeneration or economic development staff, depending on the authority’s overall political priorities. Another important element is the location of the specialist within the decision-making hierarchy of the authority. The seniority and reporting structure of the post and the degree to which it involves contact with key decision makers (either officers or councillors) will indicate the level of influence likely for the advice given by the post-holder. Much of this should be reflected in a good job description and person specification, about which more below. A key element for recruiting employers is the balance of qualification and experience demonstrated by prospective candidates. Ideally employers will be seeking both attributes, unless the post specifies that it is on a career grade and geared for recent graduates. Many prospective candidates face a classic dilemma: no job, no experience; no experience, no job. Candidates with relevant work experience (whether paid or not) frequently stand out in applications. It never ceases to surprise this writer that advertisements for relatively junior posts are often ambitiously phrased to reflect the inflated expectation of the employer. The appointee (particularly if recently graduated) will apparently be capable of demonstrating a full range of the skills from the outset, and immediately and persuasively advise, negotiate with and influence planning colleagues of greater seniority and experience, as well as agents and the general public. It perhaps goes without saying that a little homework on the prospective local authority is advisable (and if a job application is subsequently made, demonstrating this where appropriate in the application form and at interview). If the recruitment advertisement states that an initial informal approach can be made to a specific officer for further information, this is an opportunity to probe issues that may not be clear from the recruitment documentation. This should be carefully planned in advance, as the candidate may feel frustrated if key questions are remembered only after the event, and employers will be less favourably disposed towards candidates making the same queries more than once. Such pre-planning is also essential if the candidate is short-listed for interview. The conservation-related pages of the local authority website (where the job description and person specification will usually be posted) is also a useful primer. Do the current local policies and guidance appear
C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 7 up to date? Are conservation area appraisals published online? Do these conform to good practice? Have all conservation areas been appraised? How extensive are the local heritage assets? Are any at risk, and does the council have procedures to resolve them? Is there a designated councillor heritage champion for the service? The council’s political composition may also be important. Those with no party in overall control, or governing by coalition, or with a large number if independents (as in some rural shire districts) may be more prone to unpredictability over their policies than authorities with clear mandates. The next key to the post will be the job description and associated person specification. It is to be hoped that the objective of the authority will be to offer a comprehensive, balanced conservation service in relation to national best practice. The comprehensiveness of the duties of the post may depend on whether the post-holder is a singular expert or part of a team, which may itself have specialist roles. It should also be made explicit where the onus lies in directing the workload – whether this is imposed by the head of service or team leader, or whether it is self generating – particularly as posts often refer to the virtue of ‘self-motivation’. As referred to above, what the role may cover may depend on the level of heritage assets and the wider political aspirations of the local authority. An evaluation by the IHBC of over 1,350 advertised posts since 1998 shows a fairly consistent pattern of eight key areas. In roughly priority order, they are as follows: specialist advice on development proposals (development management); conservation area designation and appraisal; grant administration (including, for example, townscape heritage initiatives); policy advice (such as for local development frameworks) and supplementary planning guidance; technical advice to owners; buildings at risk and enforcement; environmental enhancement; and a range of other smaller miscellaneous functions, such as local lists, design briefs, and support for heritage champions, building preservation trusts or conservation area advisory committees. Providing a balanced service within an approximately 37-hour working week is a challenge on its own. Conservation officers operating singly within the authority may find that half their working week or more may be devoted to specialist development management advice or indeed the direct processing of applications for consent. For a time, conservation area appraisal assumed greater workload importance when conformity to a national performance indicator was required, although conservation area designation and review is a crucial statutory priority in any event. Environment enhancement work has continued to shrink in significance, as has grant administration, as local authority budgets have been squeezed. Recently English Heritage has been encouraging more initiative on local lists and buildings at risk, but these tend to be large-scale, long-term workload items easily sidelined by the short-term demands of the development management process, making it more difficult to provide a balanced service. All this may be deduced in part from the priorities given under main duties and responsibilities in the job description – and which job candidates also need to tease out from their preliminary research and when given the opportunity at ask questions at interview. Person specifications usually identity what education and experience is required. Enlightened employers will usually expect education to degree level, with membership of the IHBC as an essential or at least desirable requirement, and a recognised standard of professional competence. This may depend on the previous post-holder (if there was one) making clear to the recruitment team that this should be specified. It is also increasingly common that no minimum period of previous experience, in local government or elsewhere, is specified. This was a much more common practice a decade ago. The reasons for its omission are unclear. Again the balance of qualification and experience has to be weighed up. Additionally the person specification will make clear the knowledge and skills required as essential or desirable (and how the candidate will be expected to demonstrate these); style and behaviour (such as a team player, analytical, organised, motivated, professional, having good time management); essential specialist requirements (ability to work outdoors in all weathers, clean driving licence); and the health and safety risk assessment for the post. Why would anyone want to do this for living? The job can give immense personal satisfaction, even as it can be frustrating. There can be careerlong, constantly evolving professional development and experience. There is the sheer variety and diversity, and the esteem and appreciation of councillors, fellow professionals, and from within the local community. The motivations are there, but the future models for service delivery will be interesting additional challenges for anyone keen to join us. Bob Kindred MBE, who runs the conservation and urban design service for Ipswich Borough Council, has been involved with front-line local authority heritage management since 1982.
8 C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 Periodically The tensions between conserving as much significant historic fabric as practicable while adapting a building to changing circumstances and reconciling these two potentially competing objectives is clearly demonstrated in the opening article of the latest Journal of Architectural Conservation (Vol 17, No 1, March 2011). The building in question is the Grade II* listed Middlesex Guildhall in central London, designed by JS Gibson and built 1911–13, and converted to the UK Supreme Court and opened in 2009. The architect Hugh Feilden describes the complexity of the brief in aiming to resolve issues such as public access and high security with sustainability objectives by seeking a BREEAM Excellent rating. The philosophy of approach was not without controversy. Both the Victorian Society and SAVE objected to the removal of the historic fixtures, the latter resorting at one point to judicial review. Feilden sets the project within the context of the conservation plan drafted before the briefing stage of the project, and the guidance applying at that time, PPG15. The stabilisation of ruined masonry structures is the subject of a very informative article by the conservation engineer Jon Avent. He sets out the process of initial survey to understand the behaviour of the structure, through to the implementation of the remedial works.What makes the paper particularly interesting and useful is the clear guidance on recognising the site risks; a resume of the survey techniques; elucidation of the constraints on site practices beyond normal health and safety practices; the clear illustrations; and the four excellent case studies, one each in England and Northern Ireland and two fromWales. Richard Ireland and David Gundry discuss Headford House, the last remaining house in the Republic of Ireland with a suite of interiors designed by Robert Adam. In 2004 there were sufficient concerns about the building for it to appear on the World Monument Fund’sWatch List, but once the external envelope had been conserved, attention turned to the important interiors. After a short history of the house and a description of the historical evidence from Adam’s surviving drawings, the authors explain how archaeological analysis informed the conservation process. They describe the survey work and paint analysis undertaken, and conclude by putting the significance of Headford into its wider historical and decorative context. Understanding of the project is significantly enhanced by reproduction in colour of Adam’s drawings, examples of the photomicrographs of the paint cross-sections (with explanations), and photographs of the restored interior to the sumptuous Eating Parlour. The international dimension in the journal of the development of ever more sophisticated and constantly evolving survey techniques is provided by John Smits of Corinthian Data Capture in NewYork. Smits explains how high-definition laser scanning is used as a non-invasive, non-destructive method for recording a 3D digital image of buildings. He advocates its use because of the exponential increase in its accuracy, speed and data collecting capacity over the past five years, as computing power has grown. Smits cites some good case studies and examples, and draws attention to how the technology can be used to map planar variations in ceiling and floor surfaces, and masonry facades. This can provide evidence of possible structural shifts or deterioration not apparent by traditional visual inspection and measurement methods. One example shown is a 12-storey, 49.3m-high bank building of around 1906, whose owners sought a quick and accurate way of documenting the extent of spalling and loss of bricks to the upper facade. The final paper in this issue looks at hot-lime mortar, slaking quick lime direct with sand to repair and conserve the facades of Läckö Castle in western Sweden. The castle’s present form dates from 1622–86. It is an important national monument and tourist attraction. The last major restoration of the facades took place in the 1960s. It is a rare example of this method being used in conservation practice. Ewa Sandström Malinowski and Torben Seir Hansen propound the view that hot lime could provide the key to replicating the qualities of the original lime-rich, historic mortars as the basis for making compatible contemporary mortars. The authors’ experiences of the use of hot lime mortars compared with traditional wet-slaked mortar has been encouraging. They summarise www.engineeringhistoryandheritage.com
C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 9 the advantages and disadvantages. Readers may recall this reviewer’s first references to The Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings on Engineering History and Heritage in the September 2010 issue of Context. Volume 164, Issue EH1 (February 2011) has now been published. It again draws widely for its subject matter, including an overview of middle eastern archaeology and the construction of the late 19th centuryWoodhead Dam to supply Cape Town with its main water supply. The principal interest to readers will probably be Graham Slade’s very interesting and well illustrated article about the refurbishment and strengthening of Span 4 at Paddington Station. The work began at the end of 2008. This terminus of the Great Western Railway was Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s masterpiece. The core of the station is his three-span arch roof. The station was much extended in the early 20th century, with the addition of a grand fourth span. This was neglected until recently. Slade explains how it has been refurbished to restore its place within the overall Grade l designation. The works complete the renovation of the station’s entire roof. The article reprises the history of the construction of Span 4; the main aspects of the investigations, structural assessment and strain testing; and the strengthening and repairs to address some of the deficiencies of the original design, completed between about 1912 and 1915. The 37 illustrations are particularly informative, helping to demonstrate the way in which the documentary evidence has assisted the approach to appropriate renovation while still meeting Network Rail’s current requirements for improved passenger information, and the inevitable retailing now deemed an essential part of travel. For those readers dealing with stonework, the January 2011 issue of Natural Stone Specialist describes recent important developments that have resulted in bringing Box Ground Bath Stone back into production for the first time in 50 years. This dense and durable stone comes from the Combe Down Oolite formation. It has been used to construct a huge number of important listed buildings, including Longleat and Laycock Abbey. The availability of the stone has created considerable interest within English Heritage and the National Trust for repair projects, and among architects for new buildings. The mine opened in the 1840s when the construction of the nearby Box Hill Tunnel by Isambard Kingdom Brunel indicated the presence of highquality stone. Although production was maintained throughout difficult trading conditions in the inter-war and immediate post-war eras, the quarry eventually closed in the 1950s. Bath and Portland Stone Ltd has now brought Box Ground back into production from their Harthan Park underground quarry just 200m from one of its original sources. Mining of stone, traditionally considered more skilful and difficult than surface quarrying, resumed in 1999 to extract Ground Stone, but extensive site investigations in 2000 proved the presence of substantial quantities of Combe Down Oolite stone beds. The most suitable location for commencing the work was identified at a point 23m below the surface, once the orientation, gradient and physical dimensions of the access tunnel had been worked out in relation to the water table. The first modern mining production of Box Ground stone left the quarry in July last year. Linked to this article is a useful summary explanation by Tim Palmer of the geology and special characteristics of Box Ground stone. As usual, your reviewer notes a calm authority and acerbic clarity to Philip Venning’s consideration of the spending cuts set out in Cornerstone, the magazine of the SPAB (Vol 31, No 4, 2010). The cuts are savage, but not, at least in most cases, terminal. It is nevertheless ‘a seismic shock’, with gaping new opportunities potentially allowing the society to have a much greater impact. Or, he muses, are we just kidding ourselves? The effects on English Heritage would have been ‘crippling’ at 25 per cent, let alone the imposed one third.While the English Heritage commissioners have said that they will stick to their core activities and statutory duties, the organisation is counting on a big rise in the amount it earns from membership and visits to its sites. Venning describes this as perilously optimistic. The number of visits to all heritage sites has increased in the past two years, thanks to ‘staycations’, but Venning thinks it is hard to see how this will continue, let alone increase. In response to the cuts, the society and the other national amenity bodies are in talks with English Heritage to see what extra support and advice they can offer at local level. They will certainly try, but without the elusive extra funding there are limits to what even they can do. The pragmatism and simple practicality enshrined in the SPAB’s philosophy, coupled with a strong sense of what is aesthetically appropriate, is demonstrated in two articles worth seeking out. One an old solution, one new. In the first, Shawn Kholucy demonstrates that good repair can be great art. He highlights the example of Muchelney, Somerset, now cared for by the National Trust, which the society stepped in to save when threatened by collapse in 1907. This led Earnest Barnsley and Norman Jewson to propose buttressing in the form of a single huge stone blade to support to the western wall. The charming, simple drawing by Barnsley illustrating the method of repair, dated 6 April 1911, is reproduced. In the second article demonstrating both protection and progress – two tenets of the radical conservation and social philosophy which architect Alan Chandler sees as underpinning the SPAB – Chandler shows how this has been interpreted in practice when refurbishing a Kentish hall house for practical family use. He draws on the as-found
10 C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 Build Restore Renew Restores ComptonVerney, Warwickshire. RIBA Award 2004. From cathedrals and abbeys to small churches and chapels. From stately homes and royal palaces to small houses and cottages. For historic buildings across Britain, Linford-Bridgeman is the contractor of choice for repair, restoration and conservation. For more information about Linford-Bridgeman, find us at: www.linfordrestores.com, or call 01543 414 234 Linford-Bridgeman Ltd, Quonians, Lichfield, StaffordshireWS13 7LB Tel: 01543 414 234 Fax: 01543 258 250 [email protected] www.linford.com 4UPOFNBTPOSZ r "SDIJUFDUVSBM .FUBMXPSL r5SBEJUJPOBM 1MBTUFSJOH r 'JOF +PJOFSZ -JOGPSE 4QFDJBMJTU8PSLT CSJOHT UPHFUIFS -JOGPSE (SPVQhT SFOPXOFE TUBCMF PG DSBGU DPNQBOJFT UP QSPWJEF B VOJRVF TFSWJDF GPS UIF QSPQFSUZ PXOFST BSDIJUFDUT BOE TQFDJBMJTU DPOUSBDUPST DPODFSOFE XJUI UIF DBSF PG USBEJUJPOBM BOE IFSJUBHF CVJMEJOHT Our skilled and directly-employed teams can be contracted individually or in combination for projects of all sizes across the UK. By helping our clients to source multiple craft services from a single organisation, we can deliver outstanding craft quality alongside savings in client time and money. 'PS NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO BCPVU -JOGPSE 4QFDJBMJTU8PSLT QMFBTF WJTJU XXX MJOGPSE48DPN PS DBMM VT PO UPEBZ. - * / ' 0 3 % 4 1 & $ * " - * 4 5 8 0 3 , 4 -JOGPSE .BTPOSZ r %PSPUIFB 3FTUPSBUJPOT r 5SVNQFST r -JOGPSE +PJOFSZ -JOGPSE 4QFDJBMJTU8PSLT A division of Linford Group Quonians, Lichfield, StaffordshireWS13 7LB [email protected] www.linfordSW.com
C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 11 principles of Alison and Peter Smithson, perhaps two names not normally considered to be at the forefront of the canon of conservation literature. One of the key figures in generating, and indeed regenerating that literature (in the sense of republishing important conservation books long out of print) is Jill Pearce of Donhead Books. Cornerstone has an in-depth profile of her. She also publishes the Journal of Architectural Conservation (above). Also of note, TheVictorian (No 36, March 2011) takes the opportunity of the 2011 census to celebrate the value of the Victorian censuses to historians for what Ian Dungavell succinctly summarises as an immensely rich source of demographic, economic and social information. He reminds us that if we consider architectural history as broader than the design of individual buildings, the census offers much to those who know how to use it, and for what it can tell architectural biographers now that computers have made it possible to search records by name. In his article on Victorian housing, Colin Thom points out that detailed census information allows consideration of the social character of an area which might be different from the hierarchies implied by its architectural form. This might change our thinking about an area. Thom cites Neil Jackson’s 2009 book on Saltaire as one example, while pointing out that as long ago as 1977 Gillian Tindall had demonstrated in her book on Kentish Town The Fields Beneath that patterns of occupancy were quite different from what we might expect. Another aspect of conservation area character appraisals to consider – where suitable resources can be found. One further interesting aspect of census taking, especially in our increasingly secularised society (where the last census showed many of us ‘spiritually’ to be ‘Jedi’) was the 1851 census, which was the only occasion when it was determined that a religious census should be held in addition to one to evaluate the general population. The record of church attendance showed that only about half the population over 10 years of age went to services. That was not repeated. Dungavell states that if one were conducted today, among the questions the society would like to ask are about the arrivals and departures of vicars and particular changes to church seating. Might a ‘bonfire of the pews’ be expected to emerge? Finally, as I customarily report from time to time, the Newsletter of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (Issue 31, December 2010) lists recent research awards that may lead to publications of interest to conservation professionals. Publication grants were awarded to author Amanda Reeser Lawrence for Revisionary Modernism: architecture of James Stirling 1955–1984, and to the following publishers: Boydell and Brewer for John Cannon and Beth Williams (editors), The Mediaeval Art and Architecture of Bristol Cathedral; the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, Edward Morris and Emma Roberts, Public Sculpture of Cheshire and Merseyside (except Liverpool); and to the Victorian SocietyWestYorkshire Group and ChristopherWebster, Building a GreatVictorian City: Leeds architects and architecture 1800–1914. Bob Kindred MBE On his famous lecture tour of 1882 Oscar Wilde told Americanaudiencesabouta ‘greatEnglishRenaissanceof Art’,which had begunwith thePre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood andwas flourishing in theworkof their successors. ‘Icall itourEnglishRenaissance’,heexplained, ‘because it is indeed a new birth of the spirit ofman, like the great ItalianRenaissanceof the fifteenthcentury’. Victorian artists have often been castigated for their dependence on prototypes and precedents from theOld Masters.ThislectureseriestakesitscueinsteadfromWilde, whosawno inconsistencybetweenthe ideaofa ‘newbirth’ and the inspiration of the past. With the formation of the National Gallery in 1824, and the subsequent proliferation of exhibitions, reproductions, and scholarshipon theOldMasters, theartof thepastbecame visibleandaccessibleasneverbefore.Yetthehistoryofart didnotcomeready-madetotheVictorians.Suchartistsas van Eyck, Bellini, Botticelli, Piero della Francesca, and Velázquez came to theNationalGallerywith the forceof novelty. They were interpreted by the great Victorian critics, curators, and scholars – and importantly, as these lectures will argue, by such artists as Rossetti, BurneJones,Whistler,Millais, andLeighton.The lectureswill explorehow the artof thepast and the artof thepresent came to illuminateoneanother in theVictorianperiod. LectureProgramme 17January:TheVictoriansand theMasters 24January:ArtistandMirror:Pre-RaphaelitesandOthers 31January: ‘Buried fire’:Finding theEarlyRenaissance 7February:ATasteofSpain 14February:Postscript:OnBeautyandAestheticPainting Ticketsavailable from1July2010are£5(£3concessions): onlineatwww.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on by post with cheques made payable to the National Gallery and sent toAdvanceTicketsSales,TheNational Gallery,TrafalgarSquare,LondonWC2N5DN in person from the Advance Tickets and Audio Guide desks,Level2,GettyEntrance on the day, any remaining ticketswill be on sale half an hour before the start of each event. Payment by cash or chequeonly. For informationonly,please telephone02077472888. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art NEWSLETTER Yale University December 2010 Issue 31 THE PAUL MELLON LECTURES 2011 The National Gallery and the English Renaissance of Art ElizabethPrettejohn ProfessorofHistoryofArtat theUniversityofBristol Mondays,17 January–14February2011,6.30–7.30pm SainsburyWingTheatre,TheNationalGallery,London SirWilliamOrpen, TheMirror, 1900.Tate,London 2010 ThePaulMellonCentre Staff Director of Studies: Brian Allen AssistantDirector forAcademicActivities: Martin Postle AssistantDirector forAdministration: Kasha Jenkinson Librarian: Emma Floyd Archivist: Emma Lauze ProjectArchivist: Victoria Lane IT/Website/Picture Research: Maisoon Rehani AdministrativeAssistant: Ella Fleming Yale-in-London Coordinator: Viv Redhead Grants Administrator: Mary Peskett Smith Editor Special Projects: Guilland Sutherland Senior Research Fellows, Special Projects: Hugh Belsey, Elizabeth Einberg, John Ingamells, Alex Kidson, Eric Shanes, Paul Spencer-Longhurst AdvisoryCouncil: Caroline Arscott, Paul Binski, Penelope Curtis, Philippa Glanville,MarkHallett,Nigel Llewellyn, AndrewMoore, SandyNairne,Marcia Pointon, Elizabeth Prettejohn,Gavin Stamp, Christine Stevenson CompanyRegistered in England 983028 RegisteredCharity 313838 16 Bedford Square,LondonWC1B 3JA Tel:020 7580 0311 Fax:020 7636 6730 www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk From A Broken Wave by Lionel Esher (1981) The Architectural Review, the property of the Hastings family, had turned from Georgian-Swedish to DIA [Design and Industries Association] influences on the arrival of Christian Barman in 1933, but its great days started in 1935 when H de C Hastings became its editor and JM Richards succeeded John Betjeman as deputy. Unique among architectural magazines in its visual catholicity, the Review also had the literary intelligence to engage Osbert Sitwell and Ozenfant, Clive Bell and Cyril Connolly, Wyndham Lewis and DH Lawrence. Two particular strokes of editorial genius were the appointment of the unknown and brilliant Morton Shand (the father-in-law of James Stirling) to cover engineering technology and continental developments, and the lifeline thrown to Nikolaus Pevsner when he landed in 1935. Hastings and Richards set themselves to enlarge the consciousness of designers, to cultivate ‘the exploring eye’ and to enrich England’s impoverished visual culture. But they denied the modernists the gift they needed most – criticism. This was deliberate: there were too many enemies for it to be safe to attack one’s friends. So it was, in this sense, a conspiracy: like all embattled progressive movements, this one saw enemies on every side. And again as in all such situations, it was not so much the straight Right that preoccupied it – the old neo-Georgians and the pseudo-Swedes – as the heretics of the Left. It was mortifying and maddening that some laymen could not see the differences between modern and modernistic, the word progressives used for all the cubist-jazz-streamline derivatives of Art Deco, the Pop Art of the day. They little imagined that 40 years later it would be this, and not their hard-won architecture, for which the period would be affectionately remembered.’
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