Context 159 - May 2019

C O N T E X T 1 5 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 9 27 Building services While this was a group action of over 40 houses, the planning and listed building con- sent application was partially speculative, and there was only limited funding available to prepare the consents and trial the prototypes. To ensure that the project progressed, a grant was obtained from the Bath World Heritage Site Fund to cover the cost of the tooling for the spinning. All other parties gave their time and expertise for free on the proviso that they would be used as the various suppliers should the work progress. The council also agreed a condition in the consent that the erection of one new overthrow and lantern would result in the consent becoming active for all the build- ings in the estate so long as the same patterns, processes and contractors were used where Rhys Brookes, an accredited conservation architect, is a director of Harrison Brookes Architects. Assembling the design at Iron-Age Forge in Frome possible, thereby controlling the quality and subtlety of the design. The public realm, be it pavements, roads, parks or other open spaces makes up a signifi- cant proportion of our urban spaces, belonging to everybody, yet the responsibility of very few. These spaces so often form the setting for listed buildings yet are often eroded by ill-considered interventions or simply lack of thought. However, when communities, councils and companies work together there is tremendous potential to do great things. In this instance the skills of wood turners, bronze casters, iron found- ers, blacksmiths, lead casters, pattern makers, glass blowers, cold polishers, metal spinners, tin smiths and electricians worked collaboratively to create something special. The cowl takes shape in the Birmingham workshop of metal spinners AMME Ltd.