Institute of Historic Building Conservation No 138 March 2015 The changing face of retail Carpentry traditions and timber-frame buildings Protecting historic routes
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 1 Cover: Retail therapy in Chester (Photo: Arena Photo UK/Shutterstock.com 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 Trefor Thorpe, president@ihbc.org.uk Chair Mike Brown, chair@ihbc.org.uk Vice Chair Emilia McDonald, vchair@ihbc.org.uk Secretary Jo Evans, ihbcsecretary@ihbc.org.uk Treasurer Richard Morrice, treasurer@ihbc.org.uk National Office Director Seán O’Reilly, director@ihbc.org.uk Projects Officer Fiona Newton, projects@ihbc.org.uk Consultant Consultations Coordinator James Caird, consultations@ihbc.org.uk Membership Services Officer Carmen Moran, membershipservices@ihbc.org.uk LETS Officer Kate Kendall, lets@ihbc.org.uk Administration Officer Lydia Porter, admin@ihbc.org.uk Committee Chairs Policy David Kincaid, policy@ihbc.org.uk Membership & Ethics Paul Butler, membership@ihbc.org.uk Finance & Resources Richard Morrice, resources@ihbc.org.uk Education David McDonald, education@ihbc.org.uk Communications & Outreach Charles Strang, communications@ihbc.org.uk Branch Officers North Geoff Underwood, 0191 433 3435 NorthWest Crispin Edwards, 0161 474 2620 Yorkshire David Blackburn, 01943 603479 West Midlands Charles Shapcott, 0121 7044312 East Midlands Roy Lewis, 01623 756623 South Julia Foster, 01296 585888 SouthWest JamesWebb, 01202 732849 East Anglia David Andrews, 07760 208231 South East Sean Rix, 01483 523379 London Sheila Stones, 01223 582716 Scotland Stuart Eydmann, 07525 479835 Wales John Edwards, 07796 440934 Northern Ireland Jill Kerry, 028 9048 7395 Republic of Ireland Cormac O’Sullivan, 00353 5677 62907 Institute ofHistoricBuildingConservation No 138March 2015 The changing face of retail Carpentry traditions and timber-frame buildings Protecting historic routes 2 Briefing 4 Out of Context 5 Obituary: Chezel Bird 6 Letters 7 Periodically 9 The writer’s voice The changing face of retail 11Editorial 12The changing face of the high street Tim Brennan 14Thomas Sharp’s Exeter legacy Tom Copp 16A sense of place Leigh Sparks 18The Wetherspoon collection Nigel Crowe 21Voices of the people Colin Hyde 23The art of shop signs Lyndsay Lennie 26Love architecture, hate dogma Michael Davis 29Carpentry traditions and timber-frame buildings Charles Hippisley-Cox 32Protecting historic routes Philip Masters and Sally Stradling 37IHBC London Day Conference The regeneration game: heritage, community and business Kate Jefferson 38IHBC North West conference, Liverpool The setting of heritage assets Keith Parsons 39ATHERC conference, Vienna Fifty years of the Venice Charter Sabine Coady Schaebitz 40Architecturally speaking 43Notes from the chair 45Director’s cut 46New members 47Vox pop 48New member profile: Sara Davidson 49Book reviews 53Products and services 56Advertisers index
2 C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Fiona Newton, 01507 602567 editorial@ihbc.org.uk Editorial Board Nigel Crowe Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Fiona Newton (chair) Elizabeth Smith Michael Taylor Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2015 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA 01747 871717 context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £60.00 Elsewhere £90.00 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. Briefing Context Copy deadlines Context is published five times a year, in March, May, July, September and November. The next four copy deadlines are: July, issue 140 15 May September, issue 141 17 July November, issue 142 11 September March, issue 143 15 January Prosecutions database updated The IHBC’s national online Listed Buildings Prosecutions Database has been updated with several new entries, bringing the total to well over 200. These include unauthorised demolitions of unlisted buildings in conservation areas, and the more usual cases of unauthorised alterations and demolitions to listed buildings and failure to comply with listed building enforcement notices. The accompanying online illustrated commentary has also been updated, bringing the total of cases with more detailed background detail to 73. The government’s Best Practice Guidance on Listed Building Prosecutions encourages the submission of data to the IHBC to help inform future enforcement activity. Further cases are always sought. If you have been involved with a case that is not on the database, please forward the details to Bob Kindred at government@ihbc.org.uk, preferably in the format in the main table (size of fine; costs awarded; nature of the offence; address; grade of building; type of court (magistrates or Crown); any other information which would be informative (such as a guilty plea or observations by the court, a press release or photographs). Bob Kindred CORRECTION Certificates of immunity from listing In Legal Briefing (‘Changes to the listed building consent regime’, Context 137, November 2014) it was mistakenly stated that the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 introduced in the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Area) Act 1990 the right to apply for a certificate of immunity from listing only after planning permission had been granted. In fact, the act extended this right so that an application for a certificate may now be made at any time. Thanks to Emma Sharp for pointing this out. Harvard House reopens The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has reopened Harvard House, a Grade I listed Elizabethan town house in Stratford-upon-Avon. Previously known as ‘the Ancient House’, Harvard House was built in 1596 by Thomas Rogers, a butcher and a corn and cattle merchant whose grandson founded Harvard University in the USA. Rogers served as alderman for the Stratford Corporation alongside John Shakespeare,William’s father. In 1909, with the support of English novelist and local resident Marie Corelli, the house was bought by Edward Morris of Chicago, who gave it to Harvard University. Harvard House: an American connection Agreement for Stow Maries The first listed building heritage partnership agreement (LBHPA) in England has been signed between English Heritage, Maldon District Council and the trustees of Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome in Purleigh, Essex. Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome is Britain’s largest and most complete surviving Royal Flying Corps aerodrome from the first world war. It contains some 24 listed at Grade II*. Around half of the buildings are in need of urgent repairs. This listed building heritage partnership agreement effectively allows agreed consented works for the conservative repair of the 24 listed buildings and structures for a 10-year period. The consented works acknowledge the need for conservative repair, some renewal of component parts of the construction and reinstatement of lost architectural features. The aim is to avoid over-restoration and the wholesale replacement
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 3 of original fabric and details. One of the objectives of the 2010 Penfold Review was to review the legislative framework for non-planning consents (that is, those consents required alongside, but separate to, planning consents – including listed building consent, among others). The aim was to simplify the listed building consent system and reduce the level of information applicants are required to submit. Consequently, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 allowed the secondary legislation required for new regulations to be published (6 April 2014). Heritage online English Heritage has published a history of the National Heritage Collection in a series of eight reports that are free to download online. This is the most in-depth research into the history of the collection ever undertaken. It examines both why and how the state accumulated over 400 historic buildings and sites in England, to be repaired, protected and opened to the public. These properties are now in the care of English Heritage. The research covers the history of the collection between 1882 and 1983. Enter ‘Heritage Collection’ in the title search box at http://research.english-heritage. org.uk. Victorian glasshouse appeal West Dean Gardens has launched an appeal to restore the Victorian glasshouses in the walled kitchen garden. Built by Foster and Pearson between 1891 and 1900, they are some of the few remaining in active use in the UK. It will cost over £30,000 to carry out restoration work on just one of the different types of glasshouses, which range from cucumber and pineapple pits to vine houses. West Dean Estate was bought by William James in 1892. In the early 20th century the James family used theWest Dean Estate as a social centre. Edward VII was a frequent visitor at shooting parties held on the estate. The lifestyle created huge demands on the kitchen garden and the 22 gardeners. The glasshouses were heated by the boiler which was stoked by hand through the night. The era of growing copious varieties of fruit, flowers and vegetables came to an end in 1939 when most of the workforce was called up to fight in the war. Today the glasshouses are heated by a biomass boiler, fuelled by trimmed materials from West Dean’s forestry enterprise. Features of the gardens include a 300-foot Edwardian pergola designed by Harold Peto and 13 restored Victorian glasshouses. Restoration at Compton Verney The national art museum Compton Verney has received £2.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Compton Verney Landscape Restoration Project. The project aims to preserve, restore and celebrate an outstanding Capability Brown park, which includes a rare, Brown-designed, Grade I-listed chapel, which was completed in 1779. War memorials listed Six of England’s most important war memorials have been listed Grade I and II*. They are the Guards Memorial, Horseguards Parade,Westminster (Grade I); Birmingham Hall of Memory (Grade I); the Response War Memorial, Newcastle (Grade I); Port Sunlight War Memorial,Wirral A 1930s railway poster advertising Goodrich Castle, Herefordshire (Photo: English Heritage) A hangar at Stow Maries in 1915 Many of the buildings are in need of repair. Awaiting restoration (Photo:West Dean Gardens)
4 C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 ‘THE DEMOLITION and redesign of a slew of postmodern designs, including the South Street Seaport building, the Cherry Hill landscape in Central Park, and the threat to the Frick Collection’s wonderful entry pavilion and garden, demonstrate the urgency for the Landmarks Commission to designate and protect significant works from the 1970s and 1980s, itself an era of awareness about historic preservation. ‘To complicate matters, many postmodern contributions to the cityscape are frequently additions to previously landmarked buildings. Presently, the Commission lacks a consistent methodology for dealing with the preservation of later modifications, including postmodern additions, to historic buildings, landscapes, and districts.’ Michael Gotkin, a landscape architect and preservation advocate, on NewYork City, quoted in Metropolis Magazine ‘NO NEED to build on greenbelt. If London had population density of Islington, 22 million could live here.’ Mubin Haq (@Mubin) on Twitter ‘MAYBE, BUT that means replacing semi-detached suburbs, scrapping all the conservation areas, surely?’ Michael Edwards (@michaellondonsf) replying to Mubin Haq ‘YOU COULD see all the way from the council chamber to the café so everything that happened was on public display. The council was extremely concerned not to make it like traditional town halls which are designed for councillors and officers. ‘This was for the people, and they used to wander through and have coffee. Officers couldn’t hide away behind closed doors. It was the first building to do this and is a classic for listing.’ Neil Taylor, senior partner at architect Faulkner-Brown HendyWatkinson Stonor, quoted in Building Design on the decision to demolish Chester-le-Street Civic Centre, which he designed (Grade I); Lewes War Memorial, Lewes, East Sussex (Grade II*); and the War Memorial, St Peter’s Street, Norwich (Grade II*). The Guards Memorial commemorates the 14,000 guardsmen who died in the first world war. Fundraising for the memorial began in 1920 and the competition for its design was won by architect Harold Chalton Bradshaw and the sculptor Gilbert Ledward. Five bronze soldiers, each representing a typical soldier from each of the divisions (Grenadiers, Coldstreams, Scots,Welsh and Irish Guards) surround the memorial. The Response memorial in Newcastle sits in the public gardens of the church of St Thomas. It was commissioned and paid for by Sir George Renwick, a local ship owner and MP for Morpeth, to commemorate the rising of the Territorial Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers by the Chamber of Commerce, the safe return of his five sons from the war and his 50 years of business in Newcastle. The Commercials, as they became known, were one of the Pals battalions that formed the backbone of the new British Army formed in late 1914. The memorial, designed by Sir W Goscombe John, was unveiled in 1923. A bronze group consists of dozens of soldiers, some marching in step with two drummer boys, and others to bidding farewell to wives, children and friends. This remembers the massing of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers in April 1915, and their march down the Great North Road and through Newcastle to its Central Station. From lighthouse to cottages One of Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal’s historic buildings has been brought back to life. Bona Lighthouse, designed in 1815 by Caledonian Canal engineer Thomas Telford, was the smallest manned inland lighthouse in Britain, guiding vessels between the waters of Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. The completion of a £497,000 restoration project, undertaken by Scottish Canals in partnership with the Vivat Trust and funding from Historic Scotland, has seen the Category B listed building converted to two holiday cottages. Bona Lighthouse is the latest building to be renovated as part of Scottish Canals’ Canalside Cottages project. The ResponseWar Memorial, Newcastle (Photo: English Heritage) The Guards Memorial, London
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 5 Obituary Chezel Bird, architect and town planner A large autumn gathering, including many IHBC members, met at the iconic Gridshell at the Weald and Downland Museum to celebrate the life of Chezel Bird (1950–2014), who was widely known for her work with the Greater London Council, English Heritage and the Conservation Studio. Chezel was born at Rustington in Sussex. Her father had been brought up in Cornwall, whence her name: ‘Chezel’ is a Cornish corruption of a family name, Chiswell. Chesil Beach has a similar derivation. Chezel tolerated many miss-spellings, but she always regarded ‘Cherryl’ as a step too far. Her grandfather had been an architect at the London County Council. Having studied architecture at Kingston, Chezel joined the GLC working first on new-build at Thamesmead, then on ‘mods and rehab’ for the council’s housing stock before moving into the legendary GLC historic buildings division. There she worked with a range of London boroughs and on the repair and conversion of Covent Garden Market with Darryl Fowler, whose friendly pressure forced her to complete her Part 3 qualification. She clearly had a good 1970s: Covent Garden wine bars and members of Roxy Music feature in her diaries. Always conscious of style, she used to recall having to walk sideways down the ramp at Waterloo Station because her platform boots were so high. Shortly before the GLC was abolished in 1986, Chezel moved to English Heritage’s historic areas division. She worked on casework and grant-aid for conservation areas in the south-east region, which in those days stretched, bizarrely, from Dover to Sheffield. Tributes from conservation officers throughout this area consistently refer to the inspiration that came from the practical approach she took with her advice. Chezel was married twice, first to John Perry, an architect from Kingston days and, second, to Eddie Booth in 1991. She deliberately avoided children, maintaining that she would have been a terrible mother, and she concentrated her affections on a succession of cats instead. In 1994, she left English Heritage and returned to her Sussex roots to set up her practice, the Conservation Studio, in Lewes. The practice moved for a few years to Cirencester and in recent times came back to Midhurst. During this time Chezel was responsible for the large majority of over 500 conservation area appraisals produced by the Conservation Studio. She was also in demand to supply locum services for local authorities from Hastings to South Oxfordshire. Again, her practical approach to problem-solving was highly regarded. Chezel was an active member of the IHBC, and before it the Association of Conservation Officers, serving on the south-east branch committee, but she always held that her unsung contribution was covering for Eddie Booth while he was ‘swanning around’ as chair and president. The onset of a brain tumour last Easter was fast and completely unexpected. Chezel took the news with characteristic fortitude and bravely decided to forego surgery. She died in August. It is a shame that she was not able to celebrate the 21st birthday of the Conservation Studio this year. One of the last things she did was to nominate the Accordia housing scheme in Cambridge as one of the Twentieth Century Society’s ‘100 Buildings 100 years’. By including it in the Brooklands Conservation Area she had turned a Stirling Prize winner into heritage in less than a decade. ‘FAR FROM theWestern Front, 69 Monkmoor Road is the place where Owen began to find his own poetic voice. The house is little altered, and he would still feel at home in his attic bedroom. ‘It was his last real home and is a tangible link to one of one of our greatest war poets.’ Roger Bowdler, English Heritage designation director, on the decision to give Wilfred Owen’s Shrewsbury home Grade II listed building status ‘BY ANY reasonable interpretation of the relevant planning policies, the bridge should be refused. It disrupts protected views of St Paul’s and has a huge impact on the open character of the Thames. It also affects the setting of Somerset House and other heritage assets. The structures where it lands are crude impositions on a conservation area. ‘It is not a tranquil walk in woodlands. It is not a genuinely public place. It is not free. It is not a well-conceived piece of transport infrastructure. It is a crowded and overstyled chunk of heavy engineering garnished with urban parsley.’ Rowan Moore writing in the Observer about the proposed Garden Bridge over the Thames ‘THE MAC really has to be bold because the library was not being used properly in the years running up to the fire.The library was designed for 10 people but they now have 100, so the capacity of the library has been inadequate for some time. ‘It had also been altered since Mackintosh did it, aged 28. For example, glazing on its west side was altered and that had made quite a profound difference. And iron radiators in the library were not original. ‘The institution needs a vision for how the library can become, once again, a symbol of Mackintosh, of the city and of the institution. That involves avoiding simplicity and avoiding the idea of a replica.’ Architect Julian Harrap quoted in the Architects’ Journal on the controversy about how to rebuild the library of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art, destroyed by fire
6 C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 Letters A tribute to the memory From Alison Sinclair,York Paul Stamper (‘Remembrance and the first world war’, Context 136, November 2014) refers to Rowntree Park inYork as having been ‘dedicated as a memorial park after the first world war’. This is quite correct. But the article is accompanied by a photograph captioned ‘Thrapson’s Peace Memorial Park, purchased by public subscription in 1920’. In fact the photograph depicts the Memorial Lych Gate and Dovecote in Rowntree Park, which contains the dedication plaque recording that the park was given to the City of York by Rowntree and Company ‘as a tribute to the memory of those members of the Company’s staff who… served their country in her hour of need’. I have a special interest as chair of the Friends of Rowntree Park during the time of its Lottery-funded restoration from the late 1990s until completion in 2003. Here (above) is a photograph as it is today, in January 2015, from roughly the same position in the park as the image in Context. Alison Sinclair Dismissed as pastiche From Michael Davis, Ochiltree, Ayrshire I was intrigued and amused to read the account by Kate Dickson of the IHBC school visit to view BenTindall’s wings added to Bonnington House (‘Jupiter Artland’, Context 136, September 2014). Dickson reveals that while many aspects of the Tindall extension were found praiseworthy, one aspect seemingly caused difficulties for some of those present: ‘It was only over lunch, after Tindall had left us, that several of the group admitted to finding the scheme overly pastiche, regretting that a more contemporary approach had not been taken, at least to the curved links.’ This comment provides an interesting example of current use of the word ‘pastiche’. Although its textbook meaning refers to the glib, ill-considered and unconvincing use of jumbled historic details and features, it is now generally also applied – by way of a derogatory description – to anything making reference to history in a consistent way.The reaction to Tindall’s work at Bonnington House is a case in point. In this particular instance, the word is applied to a considered and attractive design which took some care to differentiate itself in terms of detailing. While I have no objection to modernist interventions, if well designed, I would suggest that there is, in essence, absolutely no reason why additions to listed buildings can not be in an appropriate revivalist style as much as in contrasting ‘contemporary’ style. The style police are self-appointed, the associations of history are immense, historicism or revivalism will not bring darkness at noon, and no one undertaking the slightest degree of research is likely to be misled – certainly no more than they would be by the Victorian historicist creations which today we so much prize.What matters is not so much whether the style is historicist, revivalist or contemporarymodern in tone, but how it is employed. As a footnote to the intolerance of conservation dogmas founded on faith rather than common sense, it is worth examining a key point in the planning report of 2008 that causedTindall’s proposals initially to be rejected by Edinburgh City Council. ‘If built,’ the report said, ‘the wings would distort the understanding of the current building, misrepresent its architectural integrity and diminish the contribution of the 1858 remodelling that created the finished building that is evident today.’ This paragraph suggests a governance ideology based on the assumption that history is over and completed. Hence, the 1858 remodelling is said to have created the ‘finished’ building. For many of us, who believe that listed buildings have to be alive and to move on in order to stay in use over centuries to come, there should be greater awareness that high quality and sympathetic architectural work of today, in whatever style, is potentially the architectural heritage of tomorrow, just as surely as the 1858 Victorian remodelling of Bonnington, complete with turrets and Jacobeanrevival detailing, is apparently the heritage of today.This was clearly a view taken by the appeal reporter, who advised that Tindall’s approach was a perfectly valid one. I look forward with great delight to any responses describing the moral and intellectual degeneracy of historicism and revivalism, or of deviation from the present orthodoxy. Michael Davis Ben Tindall outlining his work at Bonnington House (Photo: Michael Taylor)
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 7 Periodically As there has been an extended timespan since the last issue and something of a build-up of journals with your reviewer, and much of interest to cover, some of the reports here may be a little brief. The latest issue of the Association of Preservation Technology Bulletin, the Journal of Preservation Technology (Vol XLV, No 4), is wide-ranging in its coverage. It begins with a discussion of the conservation of a truly 20th-century material, dalle-de-verre (slab-of-glass) panels. These were used on the New York Hall of Science for the 1964–65 World’s Fair, one of the few permanent surviving buildings and a landmark of mid-century design. The panels, which number more than 5,000, were of one-inch-thick reinforced concrete with 20 cobalt blue glass polygons of various sizes set within them. It was noted in 2005 that many of these had cracked and spalled. Their conservation is the subject of a paper by Raymond Pepi, Laura Buchner and Christopher Gembinski. The authors describe the original manufacturing process, the characteristics of the pre-cast concrete mix and the characterisation of the panel coatings. They explain how the material deteriorates; the testing and repair process; and, where deterioration had been severe, the production of closely matching replacements. Emulating the original characteristics in the new glass proved difficult as this permits increased light transmission, due to manufacturing limitations. Taking an overall approach demonstrates the need to understand the material thoroughly. Other restorations of delle de verre in the USA have tended to replace panels in epoxy, regardless of whether the original material was concrete or epoxy. Pamela Jerome and Angel Ayón continue the theme of mid-century conservation. As more distinctive postwar buildings are being protected by listing there are increasing concerns about the availability of specific building products, maintenance lifecycles, and questions of sustainability and energy conservation. The authors pose the question: can the 1960s single-glazed curtain wall be saved? A Manhattan case study shows how such structures are inspected and evaluated, and how the facades can be repaired rather than comprehensively re-glazed, particularly where this would be prohibitively expensive. Repair by reinforcement is a subject taken up by Eytan Solomon and Alastair Elliott in describing the refurbishment of wide-span trusses in 19th-century buildings. In the Park Avenue Armory, NewYork, of 1880, one of the city’s largest column-free indoor spaces, the original 11 metal trusses each span 200 feet. At Carnegie Hall of 1891, there are seven steel trusses spanning 110 feet. The article explains how structural and metallurgical tests were conducted, and dead and live loads calculated, for both buildings to form the basis of selective programmes of reinforcement. A more universal concern is the protection of historic buildings from bomb-blasts, as discussed by Timothy Beach and Peggy Van Eepoel. In the wake of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, they look at the basics of designing for shock impacts and the specific challenges of protecting historic buildings. They suggest three approaches: understanding and using existing materials; using appropriate analytical tools; and employing innovative technologies. A case study is used for each approach. Two other papers are of interest. A progress report by Kristal Buckley and Sharon Sullivan explains how valuebased approaches to indigenous cultural heritage are progressing in Australia. This forms an interesting companion piece to the work mentioned in my last review of the Journal of Preservation Technology, where Chris Johnson evaluated issues of social significance and sense of place when engaging with local communities, also in Australia. The final paper looks at sustainability issues regarding the original functional requirements of Anatolian Seljuk and Ottoman hospitals in Turkey from 1205 to 1617. The print version of the Journal of Architectural Conservation has recently been published (although individual papers now appear more quickly online). The latest issue (Vol 20, No 3, November 2014) contains insights into policy and practice in both the UK and abroad, although on this occasion with a more international bias. The paper with perhaps the greatest domestic interest to UK practitioners is one by Tobit Curteis and Naomi Luxford concerning the holistic approach to the conservation of religious
8 C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 and low-relief mystical carvings. These were found in a cave excavated from soft chalk less than a metre below Melbourne Street in the centre of Royston, Hertfordshire. The Royston Cave is listed Grade I and scheduled. The bell-shaped structure, which probably dates from the 14th century, was rediscovered in the 18th. The authors address the issues of the dating and deterioration of the carvings; the problems of the microclimate and the necessary conservation measures required, including the control of water ingress; air exchange and carbon dioxide; traffic vibration from above; and control of the worm population in the compacted soil of the cave floor and openings in the walls. A paper on terrestrial laser scanning for the assessment of building structures demonstrates how this valuable technique can accurately identify geometric deviations in masonry when combined with primary documentary sources, and lead to a better understanding of the behaviour of the building. This technique is described in relation to work carried out on the gothic vaults in the Cathedral of Tortosa, Spain. Other papers include ones on wind catchers, cisterns and ice houses as key structures in the survival of cultural significance in the desert environments of Iran; renewable energy plans and the protection of the historic environment in Greece; and the thermal performance and modernisation of traditional halftimbered houses in Serbia. This last one may be of more than passing interest because of lessons that might be drawn from a comparative evaluation of the thermal upgrading of vernacular dwellings in a country where winters are more severe than in lowland Britain, where so many similar historic buildings survive. Particular attention in the latest issue of the Historic Environment: policy and practice (Vol 5, No 3, November 2014) is drawn to Helen Philips’ paper on mitigation strategies for the possible impact of climate-change on UK world heritage site management. Such strategies have been a requirement since 2006. The paper examines the progress that has been made so far to identify the main challenges. While world heritage site management plans are gradually being updated to include climate-change considerations, this has not always been straightforward and implementation of the plans has proved to be challenging. It is not surprising to note that some of the issues being faced include uncertainty about the nature of the issue; a perceived lack of necessary information; the wide range of specialist skills and knowledge required; differing perceptions of risk; and competing pressures for resources. Another issue with resonance to UK experience is a paper by Suzie Thomas of the University of Helsinki about the theft of architectural fixtures and fittings in Finland, a country with an enviable reputation for good modern design. Many of these items relate to the works of iconic modernist architect Alvar Alto. They are illustrated with case studies. The author discusses the possible causes of this distressing phenomenon, the legal protections available in Finland and possible measures for greater protection. Other articles of interest include one by Michael Heaton, a self-employed archaeologist with 30 years experience, comparing the contracting practices and profits from commercial archaeology with those of the construction industry. Heaton argues that until archaeologists adopt or emulate construction management practices, they will be unable to afford the training required and generate the rewards that stem from continued public support. He concludes with recommendations concerning the gains that the adoption of measured contracts might bring. The two remaining papers contrast conservation in the two Chinas:Taiwan, where community empowerment is promoted in a paper byWensung Den of the University ofYork; and the mainland, where ZijanTang of Jishou University outlines the damaging impact of intensive and inappropriate tourism development caused by the present institution of property rights for heritage.The second author concluded that this can be resolved only by far-reaching, centrally directed reform. Readers of this column with good memories (and an interest in railways) may recall Nicholas Bill’s comprehensive review in February 2014 of the safety record of thousands of mid-19thcentury British timber railway bridges. The author has followed this up with a further paper in the latest issue of the Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings on Engineering History and Heritage (Vol 167, issue EH4, November 2014). This concerns the design and construction deficiencies of timber railway bridges. It sets out to determine if the problems were ones of decay or deficiencies in their design and construction. He argues that many 19th-century timber bridges lasted well beyond their design life, despite decay. Most of the problems affecting their lifespan were the results of erroneous design practices coupled with poor construction and maintenance, rather than inherent material deficiency. Other papers that may interest readers include a short engineering critique by DavidWiggins and Agnieszka Klemm of Glasgow Caledonia University about the need for compatible repairs to stone-built structures; the first railway built in Mexico (completed 1873); and the maintenance process to a significant three-arch road bridge of 1867 inWinchelsea, Victoria, Australia – particularly investigating a reliable way of removing cement mortar and regrouting the voussoirs. Geographical identification protection normally applies to agricultural products such as champagne and
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 9 parmesan cheese. Natural Stone Specialist reported in its October 2014 issue that the Stone Federation was making a case to the European Commission to protect traditional stone names, such as Ancaster, Portland and Purbeck. The aim is to differentiate these from the loose application of the terms to imported or even man-made products. The series examining great British stones continued with the geological history, properties, testing methods and uses of DeLank granite from Cornwall. The November 2014 issue similarly described a specific stone but from the polar opposite end of Britain: Caithness. This durable stone is frequently used for paving in Scottish cities. Mhora Samuel, the director of the Theatres Trust, makes an interesting point in her editorial in the trust’s TM – Theatres Magazine (Issue 42, Winter 2014). She writes of the three accepted cycles to which theatres have to adapt: initial cosmetic changes; subsequent functional changes; and, after a long period, when new theatre styles drive more significant changes to auditoria. She adds that a fourth pressure is to adapt to changes caused by the aging of building materials. Samuel cites the aging of concrete (most recently requiring the replacement of the concrete facade of the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne), and of plaster and hessian materials used in late-19th- and early 20th-century theatres. This is by way of introducing guidance, currently out for consultation from the Association of British Theatre Technicians, on how to deal with suspended fibrous plaster ceilings. Mark White from the ABTT writes about guidance that should help owners and building managers in future with appropriate maintenance and care. I conclude, as I occasionally do, with more publication and research grants likely to lead to books of interest to conservation professionals in the near future, gleaned from the Newsletter of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (Issue 41, January 2015). Among those noted are grants (for publications) to Owen Hopkinson for From the Shadows: the architecture and afterlife of Nicholas Hawksmoor; and Mark Swenarton for Cook’s Camden: the housing programme of the London Borough of Camden under Sydney Cook, 1965–73; and (for research) to Claudia Marx for research on ‘The Restoration of Major Mediaeval Churches in Victorian England andWales’. Bob Kindred MBE Creating the Dorfman RevisitingHampsteadTheatre Guidance on suspendedfibrousplaster ceilings Showcase:Dominion ReopeningDunfermlineAlhambra ISSUE#42WINTER 14 Protecting theatres for everyone From Lectures on Architecture and Painting, delivered in Edinburgh by John Ruskin (1853) About such architecture as is built nowadays, no mortal ever did or could care. You do not feel interested in hearing the same thing over and over again; why do you suppose you can feel interested in seeing the same thing over and over again, were that thing even the best and most beautiful in the world? Now, you all know the kind of window which you usually build in Edinburgh: here is an example of the head of one, a massy lintel of a single stone, laid across from side to side, with bold square-cut jambs – in fact, the simplest form it is possible to build. It is by no means a bad form; on the contrary, it is very manly and vigorous, and has a certain dignity in its utter refusal of ornament. But I cannot say it is entertaining. How many windows precisely of this form do you suppose there are in the New Town of Edinburgh? I have not counted them all through the town, but I counted them this morning along this very Queen Street, in which your Hall is; and on the one side of that street, there are of these windows, absolutely similar to this example, and altogether devoid of any relief by decoration, six hundred and seventy-eight. And your decorations are just as monotonous as your simplicities. How many Corinthian and Doric columns do you think there are in your banks, and post-offices, institutions, and I know not what else, one exactly like another? And yet you expect to be interested! Nay, but, you will answer me again, we see sunrises and sunsets, and violets and roses, over and over again, and we do not tire of them. What! Did you ever see one sunrise like another? Does not God vary His clouds for you every morning and every night?
10 C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 MSc in Sus t a i nab l e B u i l d i n g Conservation Welsh School of Architecture Cardiff University Course commences : October 2015 Contact : Susan Morgans: MorgansS@cardiff.ac.uk T: 029 2087 0922 www.cardiff.ac.uk/archi/msc-sustainable-building-conservation.php cpd@westdean.org.uk www.westdean.org.uk/college West Dean College, Chichester,West Sussex PO18 0QZ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIPLOMA Can be achieved through the successful completion of ten of our Building Conservation Masterclasses and the submission of a 3,000-word essay. Recognised by English Heritage ‘‘Excellent tutors sharing their own work experience ” In Historic Building Conservation and Repair
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 11 Carry on shopping (bookshops selling coffee, coffee shops selling music, supermarkets acting as banks), print on demand (books, and soon products as well), shopping as entertainment, and much more. What will retailing look like in five or 20 years time? We don’t have a clue. All we can be certain of is that the retailers will assure us that they know exactly what is needed and that they should be given their planning permission immediately. Whatever does happen is likely to present both threats and opportunities for the historic environment. If the move out of town is reversed, the decline and neglect of the high street might be reduced too. But the new pressure on high streets and town centres might treat the historic fabric as an obstacle. Retailing is a changing business: retailers tend to want premises that they can refashion every few years, and totally redevelop in only a few years more, if that is what the retail economy demands. It’s up to us to remind the retail sector that the development that they claim today as being essential to economic survival is what they will be demanding to rip out tomorrow. Amid the frenzy of consumption and the hunt for bargains, there are still some other things – buildings and places – that people value. ‘Parisians carry on shopping as mass graves are exhumed below their feet.’ So says today’s newspaper headline. The story is about the archaeologists who are unearthing hundreds of skeletons from eight mass graves under a Paris supermarket, which is extending its basement on a site where the medieval Hôpital de la Croix de la Reine stood. ‘Carry on shopping’: of course, that is what we do. Ours is a culture of consumption, and you can be sure that a few mass graves are not going to put us off. We have grown used to hearing the bought-in planning consultants and legal representatives of supermarket chains arguing at public inquiries that their clients understand the future of retailing in a way that no one else does. So it has come as something as a shock to some people (and a confirmation of what they believed to others) to hear some supermarket chains say in the last few months that their out-of-town-development strategies no longer work, and that some newly built superstores are to be mothballed. The face of retailing is changing. That should be no surprise. For decades we have had one innovation after another: self-service, supermarkets, superstores, mini-supermarkets, online shopping, self-scanning, sector blurring THE CHANGING FACE OF RETAIL
12 C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 TIM BRENNAN The changing face of the high street Changing shopping patterns and the rise of online retailing, combined with the prolonged economic downturn, are changing people’s perceptions of what town centres are for. Recent years have seen a fluctuation in fortunes for the health of historic high streets and town centres, and variations in the issues facing them. English Heritage published Retail Development in Historic Areas in 2005, at a time when the economy was relatively buoyant and market conditions were creating demand for more retail floorspace across the country. The consequent development was often creating pressure on the historic environment and threatening long-established local character.The publication offered advice to developers and planners in how and where to accommodate this extra floorspace. It identified a number of case studies where collaboration between those involved had created successful, attractive and distinctive retail environments. In the period since 2005, the issues that we have all become familiar with have taken their toll on the vitality and health of historic town centres. Out-of-town retail sites, changing shopping patterns and the inexorable rise of online retailing, combined with the prolonged economic downturn, have all had significant implications for footfall and vacancy rates.Add in the rising numbers of buildings such as pubs, post offices and banks that have ceased to be used for their original purpose, and we have seen many historic town centres and high streets struggling to retain a sense of purpose with declining numbers of trading shops, dwindling numbers of shoppers and a decline in the quality of the environment. The changing way in which shoppers and communities use town centres clearly needed to be reflected in any updated publication. In early 2013 English Heritage commissioned Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners to undertake research into retail and town centre trends and their implications for historic places.The resulting report,The Changing Face of the High Street,was published in July 2013. Unsurprisingly, the research did not uncover a heritage magic bullet to address all the challenges facing the high street, but it did identify a series of case studies where imaginative approaches had used local heritage to address relevant issues with some success. Some of these are relatively well known to the heritage sector, either in terms of how new retail development has been integrated with the surrounding historic centre (Liverpool One, Princesshay) or how existing historic character and heritage assets have formed a central component to area-based regeneration works (Whitstable). Others have perhaps a lesser profile – such as the successful reinvention of the listed Brixton market into a hub for world cuisine or street food, or the multifaceted approach taken by Rotherham Council to its high street issues, including refurbishing and bringing back into retail use the historic Imperial Arcade building. Taken together, the report and its case studies demonstrate a number of points, such as the permanence of the structural change that the retail sector (and therefore historic high streets and town centres) are continuing to go through, and the rise of leisure and restaurant uses over recent years. They also show that, with proactive forward planning, there can be cause for optimism with regard to the historic environment. The trend of polarisation of locations is increasingly apparent, with shoppers being prepared to travel further and stay longer in retail destinations that offer a wider range of shops and facilities that create more of an experience.This clearly favours larger conurbations with bigger catchment areas, particularly as many larger retail firms rationalise their property portfolio. But several of the case studies in the report help demonstrate that successfully differentiating a location from its neighbours (accentuating the unique selling point) by utilising the local historic environment can help establish competitive advantage. While partly due to the economic slow-down, there has also been an observable trend towards street-based retail schemes in recent years, and away from the culture of shopping centres or malls. While in some senses this is a win for the historic environment, leading to opportunities for retaining historic street patterns and enabling new development to better respond to the existing urban grain, in others it represents the Steep Hill, Lincoln: today shoppers are prepared to travel further and stay longer in retail destinations that offer a wider range of shops and facilities that create more of an experience. (Photo: English Heritage)
C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 13 transformation of development pressure into another form, with a potentially greater focus on adapting the existing fabric. The case studies in the report help demonstrate what can be achieved where the local historic environment and designated assets have been assessed and integrated in planning for the area. However, on a national basis it is clear that the challenges are far from over, with recent mixed messages about closures, vacancy rates and churn on the high street. Nevertheless, in considering retail trends more broadly for a moment, there are signs that town centre locations may benefit, at least in the short term. The recent decision byTesco to close 43 stores across the UK, while at the same time delaying indefinitely the opening of two completed out-of-town stores, adds to a growing perception that we may have finally reached saturation point in terms of supermarkets. Furthermore, some analysts have also questioned the medium to long-term future of many retail parks that deal in comparison and bulky goods that are likely to be susceptible to the continuing growth in online competition. Additionally, while ‘convenience culture’ perhaps runs counter to what we might regard as the individuality of historic town centres and high streets, it clearly sustains footfall and use of existing buildings, at least for the short term. All of this perhaps points to a potential revival for town centres in terms of their remaining as focal points for local communities. Some of the case studies in The Changing Face of the High Street point to the rise in what might be called a demand for ‘authenticity value’.While the trend towards treating shopping as a leisure activity has been apparent for some time, the growth in such things as farmers markets, locally sourced products and craft beer illustrate an emerging niche among shoppers for activities and a retail experience that is distinctive from (and perhaps a reaction to) the clone-town phenomenon. Clearly, the historic environment offers a highly appropriate setting for this kind of activity. Add in the rapid growth in restaurant and leisure uses, and we have an interesting confluence of trends in terms of historic locations.The huge success of Brixton market (now known as Brixton Village) illustrates the depth of latent demand for this kind of offer within historic settings. However, this type of innovation can clearly be relevant only to a certain type or number of locations. Wider revitalisation of historic high streets and town centres will depend on the historic environment being properly embedded in the relevant local authority’s forward plans and strategies, and on effective national planning policy. The recent report from the Communities and Local Government Select Committee1 was clear in its view that the relatively recent introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) had failed to achieve any improvements in the economic health of high streets, partly due to failings in the application of the sequential test.The committee recommended that further research should be undertaken to ensure that the NPPF is more effective in protecting town centres. The form and function of historic high streets and town centres has always evolved over time. Clearly the motor car had a major impact, while in recent decades fashions in retailing have had implications for urban layout and local character, particularly as the retail sector has stratified into ever smaller target audiences and demographics. Perhaps what is different now is the pace of change, as various trends have converged at the same time as an economic downturn to create a significant over-supply of retail floorspace at the same time as changing people’s perceptions of what town centres are for and how they are used. From a heritage sector point of view, the future may be characterised as a continuing need to acclimatise to continuing evolution. In the pursuit of a strategy to achieve a modern retail district, many local authorities are likely to have to consider how to achieve a coherent and orderly contraction (which is likely to involve change of use). In many cases, the less palatable alternative is the risk of continually having to oppose speculative change of use applications under permitted development rights which are only likely to further undermine the retail core. With an election just a few months away, there is a possibility that the NPPF could undergo some revisions in its aftermath (a factor that no doubt influenced the timing of the select committee report). Were a new government to take this opportunity to look again at planning for town centres, clearly the sector will need to make the case for ensuring that the historic environment is properly referenced and protected. In this respect, understanding the implications of current challenges for historic town centres and high streets and keeping success stories visible remain critically important. 1 House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee (2014) Operation of the National Planning Policy Framework. Tim Brennan works in the government advice team at Historic England, and leads on regeneration issues for the organisation. A significant over-supply of retail floorspace has coincided with changing perceptions of what town centres are for and how they are used.
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