Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Nigel Crowe Aimée Felton Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Duncan McCallum Fiona Newton 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 2024 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 £65.00 Elsewhere £100.00 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: Heating and ventilation, December, issue 182 (11 October) Wellbeing, March, issue 183 (10 January) Infrastructure, June, issue 184 (11 April) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 Briefing Urban housing Reviving the tradition of council housing Saving DH Lawrence’s birthplace A pocket of prefab fabulousness Gentrification in London No 181 September 2024 Institute of Historic Building Conservation Cover: Image by Rob Cowan adapted from JD Simon’s 1875 book The House-Owner’s Estimator. See page 13. Iron-framed pioneer The Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings has received a Europa Nostra Award in the conservation and adaptive reuse category. The award is part of the 2024 European Heritage Awards/Europa Nostra Awards, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The Maltings has been brought back to life as an adaptable workspace, leisure destination and social enterprise hub. The project by Historic England was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, the local enterprise partnership and Shropshire Council, among others. Originally built in 1797, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings was the world’s first iron-framed building, a groundbreaking technology that paved the way for modern skyscrapers. For nearly a century, the site operated as a steam-powered flax mill, later being converted into a maltings and used as a temporary military barracks. Following the closure of the maltings in 1987, the future of the site became increasingly uncertain. Vandalism, poor maintenance and under-investment had left the building fabric in a perilous condition. In 2005, Historic England stepped in as ‘owner of last resort’ to lead a partnership to find a new use for the site. A notable innovation in the project was the development of a new method for strengthening the masonry around the existing iron frame, ensuring that the structure could act as an alternative load path in case of failure. This approach allowed the original iron frame to be retained, and, reinforced with a hidden steel grillage and new columns, it preserves the building’s historical integrity. Visitors can now explore the restored Jubilee Tower and a new exhibition space, the Mill, which highlights the site’s role in the industrial revolution and global architectural history. The upper floors provide flexible office space. Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, the world’s first iron-framed building (Photo: Historic England Archive)
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