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T H E B U I L D I N G C O N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C T O R Y 2 0 1 4
T W E N T Y F I R S T E D I T I O N
1
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Armed with these forward-thinking
documents our practice made an LBC
application for repairs, alterations and an
extension to a small country house in West
Wales. The application had a long and bumpy
ride through the LBC process but through
a series of compromises the application was
eventually approved. We fought very hard over
one particular issue, and while our client was
not overly concerned about the outcome, I was
particularly committed to achieving the result
I felt would benefit the historic integrity of
this particular building. The Grade II* house
in question was built in 1692 and had been
altered in various ways over the centuries. The
front facade of the house was symmetrical
with the original oak cross-mullioned
windows surviving on the first floor, and four
sliding sash windows on the ground floor.
The sash windows appeared to be quite late,
and an investigation revealed they had had
very few coats of paint from new, suggesting
that they were probably 20th century. The
facade also had panels of pargetting that
were unusual for this part of the country.
I felt that the facade had been designed as
a symmetrical and balanced composition,
and the common sash windows detracted
from this composition (see illustrations).
Furthermore, the finest room in the house
was the front ground floor living room,
which has a heavy beamed and plastered
ceiling and ornate plastered overmantel.
From within, the sash windows looked very
weak and were detrimental to the strong
masculine aesthetic of the principal room.
The conservation officer was adamant
that the sash windows were part of the
building’s history and should remain, and his
view was supported by the SPAB. In order
to move the project forward we conceded.
However, while on site we made a second
application for changing the sash windows.
This time we cited Cadw’s newly published
Conservation Principles and particularly its
guidance on understanding heritage values
which takes account of aesthetic value: in
the case of our country house I felt that
aesthetics were a significant consideration.
Cadw also gives guidance on restoration and
states that ‘The restoration of the historic
asset will normally only be acceptable if:
The enhanced heritage value of the elements
that would be restored [the oak windows]
decisively outweighs the value of those
that would be lost [the sash windows].’
The completed facade now has all eight
oak windows either repaired or restored.
The approach taken clearly contravenes
the principle of ‘repair as found’ but it does
recognise the overall contribution made by
the aesthetics of the facade to the building’s
heritage value while ensuring that only the
least significant fabric has been lost.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
When planning works to our built heritage it
is clear that each case needs to be judged on an
individual basis. How far are we prepared to
go to save our historic buildings, particularly
those at severe risk? If you haven’t experienced
‘enabling development’, in whatever form
it takes, you will have heard or read about
it. It clearly has its merits, particularly in a
depressed market where the conservation
deficit destroys any prospect of viability. But
there have been opportunists who have given
this creative form of rescue a bad name and
clearly made many people deeply suspicious
and inclined to question its merits.
A very large greenhouse adjacent to a
modest country house was built as an indoor
cricket pitch during the 19th century but is in
a very poor and partially collapsed condition
(see illustration). The owner, who inherited
the building, has proposed a creative means
of rescue as the cost of restoration alone is
enormous. However, the local authority will not
entertain conversion of adjacent farm buildings
to fund the restoration. It is difficult to see
how this building can provide a viable and
sustainable restoration plan on its own. Clearly
a covered cricket pitch attached to a small
private dwelling is unlikely to be sustainable,
especially with a £500,000 capital cost. This
project desperately needs the support of the
local authority conservation officer in finding
an imaginative solution if this unusual building
is not to be lost forever, and again a healthy
dose of compromise is required.
It is clear that very little legislation is
black and white and almost always requires
interpretation, but I am sure most would
agree that conservation practice is also not
exact or prescriptive and has many grey
areas. In my experience those who stick
rigidly to the wording of the legislation and
try to interpret guidance literally often lack
confidence in their own understanding.
Greater knowledge and understanding is
the way to better interpretation. It takes
many years of experience to acquire the
tools needed to tackle the challenges
of conservation and compromise.
THE ART OF COMPROMISE
The recession has seen the number of
experienced conservation officers reduced
by a third since 2006, many of whom have
been replaced by planning officers with little
experience of conservation issues. Many
local authorities and public bodies appear
to be struggling in this area, lacking some of
the basic levels of knowledge and expertise.
The private sector is increasingly expected
to provide evidence of expertise through
the accreditation system as a demonstration
that it can provide a ‘safe pair of hands’.
However, the same cannot be said for the
public sector. As the economy improves it
is likely that the construction sector, which
has been restrained for the longest period
in living memory, will bounce back quickly
and I suspect that the public sector will be ill
prepared for such an event.
Recognising significance is one of the
first principles of conservation, but having the
confidence to make big decisions is equally
important, otherwise we will be remembered
as the generation that ‘froze’. It’s perhaps
impossible to take the grey areas out of
conservation, after all, that’s where the fun is;
but there certainly needs to be a tightening
up of understanding and interpretation of
guidance. Most conservation officers work in
isolation in their local authority department,
and that in itself can lead to doubt about some
difficult and grey decision-making. Of course,
each person is different, and the system will
never be perfect, but protecting our heritage
is a high priority which very few contest and
more support for those at the coalface would
be very welcome.
And what of Dan? Well, he still sees Miss Jones
regularly and they have their little disagreements
about points of detail, but over the years they
have both learned the art of compromise, and
the historic environment (at least on Miss Jones’
patch) is much the richer for it.
MICHAEL DAVIES
BSc(Hons) BArch
DipCons(AA) IHBC AABC RIBA is a chartered
conservation, rescuing buildings from ruin,
and designing modern buildings for the
historic environment.
A greenhouse built to house an indoor cricket pitch which is now under threat: enabling development might be
the only way to secure its future
