CONTEXT 185 : SEPTEMBER 2025 3 to Seoul, Belfast to Bangalore. Eighty-two per cent remain in the heritage or planning industries. They most commonly go on to become conservation officers for local planning authorities or as heritage professionals for private firms. Between 50-100 of those operating in the UK are members of the IHBC. Originally established to bridge a gap in professional training, Planning Club continues to demonstrate the value of informed, well-supported planning in historic cities. As a model, it can contribute to the longstanding nationwide need for planning expertise, serving the needs of economic regeneration and the national housing shortage. While still unique to York, the success of Planning Club indicates that similar initiatives might benefit other historic cities in the UK. New life for Smithsons’ school A comprehensive refurbishment of the Grade II*-listed Smithdon High School on the Norfolk coast has been submitted for planning and listed building consent to continue in use as a school. Formerly known as Hunstanton School, it was designed by Alison and Peter Smithson. A Department for Education funded scheme aims to conserve and repair the original buildings to improve usability and accessibility, reduce energy use and running costs and resolve a series of functional challenges that have beset them during more than 70 years of school use. A team led by main contractor, Bowmer + Kirkland – including architects Jestico + Whiles and conservation architects Purcell – has submitted applications to enable the major fabric improvement. As the Smithsons’ first completed project, it is regarded as one of the country’s most important post-war school buildings. Nevertheless, serious problems emerged as soon as it was completed in 1954. Its extensive glazing caused significant overheating in summer and heat loss in winter, and thermal movement within the steel frame caused many of the fixed glass panes to break. Architecture critic, Martin Pawley, wrote in 1984 that the school had ‘led a kind of Dorian Gray existence: eternally youthful in the pages of architectural literature but ageing horribly in its strange isolation on the windswept Norfolk coast.’ The work will include replacing the glazed facades with new high-performance windows. The existing structure will be retained, and new window frames and glass will be as close as possible in appearance to the original design. Unsympathetic additions and extensions will be removed, restoring the original layout with improved accessibility. Building Stones Glossary Historic England has published a Building Stones of England Glossary to explain geological terms used in the Building Stones Database for England – from ‘acicular’ and ‘actinolite’ to ‘zeolite’ and ‘zircon’. Historic England and the British Geological Survey (BGS), working with local geologists and historic buildings experts, have compiled the Building Stones Database for England to identify important building stones, where they came from, and potential alternative sources for repairs and new construction. Drawing on this research, BGS publications and fieldwork, guides have been produced for each English county. The guides are aimed at mineral planners, Smithdon High School on the Norfolk coast, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson Baryte occurs as veins or stringers in sedimentary rocks and occasionally as small blebs or cement in sandstones.
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