50 CONTEXT 175 : MARCH 2023 Vox pop Rebecca Styles Who has been your greatest inspiration? My parents are self-employed and started a rose business when I was eight. From an early age, I learned the value of hard work, loving what you do and being prepared to roll up your sleeves to get a job done – even when there are thorns involved. Their commitment to their business and our family never waivers and motivates me to try my best every day. What has been your best idea? Entering the world of conservation and the planning system through the lens of planning enforcement. Enforcement is a great way to learn and apply the vast amount of planning legislation, formal action and art of negotiation, and it is the key to writing successful conditions. This path led to heritage and design officer roles, and on to working in heritage-led regeneration. Along the way I have been fortunate to work with many incredible colleagues and conservation specialists who have shared their knowledge and experiences with me, for which I have always been grateful. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? If you had asked me at age 10, the answer would be working with dolphins, which would be a conservationist of sorts. More seriously, an architect or a building surveyor, as I love buildings and the stories they tell. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? I project manage a heritage-led regeneration scheme in Lowestoft, now let’s dance! What would you like to be doing in five years’ time? The High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme ends in 2024, but what I love about my current role is being able to see buildings and spaces being conserved and brought back to life, and the value that brings to communities as well as to the heritage assets themselves. So, I would still like to be managing building conservation projects. What is your favourite building? This question is impossible! For my birthday, my wonderful manager gave me an ‘I heart Lowestoft Post Office’ mug, so as the theme of this issue of Context is the east coast, I will say the former Post Office on London Road North, Lowestoft. A building I have come to know intimately over the last few years, it has been sensitively conserved by an incredible group of specialist tradespeople and has a really exciting future. Your favourite place? If architecture is the most accessible form of art, then cities are living public galleries designed to be explored. I have been fortunate to travel to some incredible places over the years and love discovering new places. Boston (MA), Dubrovnik, Ghent, Budapest, Kotor, Zurich, Quebec and San Francisco are all favourites. However, despite my love of buildings and well-designed public spaces, my number one place in the world would have to be Yosemite National Park in California. If ever there was a Buda Castle, Budapest The city walls, Kotor, Montenegro
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