Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Tom Copp Nigel Crowe Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Andrew McClelland Fiona Newton Gordon Sorensen Jonathan Taylor Michael Taylor (chair) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2022 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 Context on-line archive Past issues of Context can be viewed on the IHBC website. The archive provides a searchable database and reference for key articles. See www.ihbc.org.uk/page55/ context_archive. 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. Context themes and copy deadlines Context is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. The next three themes and copy deadlines are: East Anglian coast, March, issue 175 (13 January) World Heritage Sites, June, issue 176 (7 April) Glass, September, issue 177 (7 July) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 C O N T E X T 1 7 4 : D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 Climate change update John Preston writes: The government’s Energy Security Strategy, published in April, included: ‘Reviewing the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures such as improved glazing, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. This will be completed by the end of 2022 and ensure protection of local amenity and heritage, whilst making it easier to improve energy efficiency.’ This review manifested in four regional DCMS/BEIS/ DLUHC roundtables, focused on building owners. Complaints about lack of representation of the heritage sector led to a late additional roundtable for the Historic Environment Forum. The review is apparently part of a wider review including the NPPF, building regulations and energy performance certificates, among other things, but there was no sense of joining up. It was disconcerting that no sustainability or building control officers took part in the roundtables. The retrofit risks which led to the introduction of PAS 2035 are being ignored in favour of deregulation. The departments still clearly have not grasped the interactions between planning, conservation and building regulations, or the urgent need for freely available, impartial advice. In the roundtable I attended, there were complaints about ‘conservation officers who don’t have zero carbon on their agenda’. There are current widespread perceptions that any perceived value for money from the planning process is massively reduced by the lack of trained and aware planning and conservation (where they exist) staff, compounded by the fees charged Birmingham’s Municipal Bank in Centenary Square, which had lain dormant for 16 years, has been restored for the University of Birmingham. The Grade II-listed bank, designed by T Cecil Howitt and completed in 1933, has been remodelled into the Exchange, a civic hub and a city centre presence for the university. The work has been carried out by Make Architects, in collaboration with conservation specialists Donald Insall Associates and local architect Glancy Nicholls. (Photo: Tom Bird) Briefing
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