Heating and ventilation Sustainable heating for listed buildings New life for Victorian glasshouses In the footsteps of Alec Clifton-Taylor No 182 December 2024 Institute of Historic Building Conservation
We are the original red brick liverpool.ac.uk Find out more at liverpool.ac.uk/sustainable-heritage-management-ma This programme will challenge you to think about the meanings of heritage and frame sustainable heritage management in its architectural, urban, social, political, scientific and economic contexts. The programme is developed and taught by leading heritage academics and practitioners, the interests of whom are extremely diverse and encompass heritage studies and management at all levels and in different regions. The programme outlines a clear career path, offering multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and practice, and facilitating placement opportunities at diverse institutes and locations. For more information about the course, please contact our course director, Dr. Ataa Alsalloum, at Ataa2@liverpool.ac.uk. The programme is fully recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC). Available part-time and full-time. Apply now for September 2025. School of Architecture MA SUSTAINABLE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 1 www.ihbc.org.uk @IHBCtweet Registered as a charity in England and Wales number 1061593, in Scotland number SC041945, and listed in Northern Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England number 3333780 Registered Office: Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA Officers President Mike Brown, president@ihbc.org.uk Vice President Rebecca Thompson, vicepresident@ihbc.org.uk Chair David McDonald, chair@ihbc.org.uk Vice Chair Lone Le Vay, vchair@ihbc.org.uk Secretary Jo Evans, ihbcsecretary@ihbc.org.uk Treasurer Jill Kerry, treasurer@ihbc.org.uk National Office Director Seán O’Reilly, director@ihbc.org.uk Operations Director Fiona Newton, operations@ihbc.org.uk, consultations@ihbc.org.uk Administration Officer Lydia Porter, admin@ihbc.org.uk Education,Training & Application Support Officer Angharad Hart, training@ihbc.org.uk Membership Services Officer Carmen Moran, membershipservices@ihbc.org.uk Professional Services Officer Michael Netter, services@ihbc.org.uk Committee Chairs Policy Roy Lewis, policy@ihbc.org.uk Membership & Ethics Andrew Shepherd, membership@ihbc.org.uk Education Chris Wood, education@ihbc.org.uk Communications & Outreach Dave Chetwyn, communications@ihbc.org.uk Branch Contacts North north@ihbc.org.uk North West northwest@ihbc.org.uk Yorkshire yorkshire@ihbc.org.uk West Midlands westmids@ihbc.org.uk East Midlands eastmids@ihbc.org.uk South south@ihbc.org.uk South West southwest@ihbc.org.uk East Anglia eastanglia@ihbc.org.uk South East southeast@ihbc.org.uk London london@ihbc.org.uk Scotland scotland@ihbc.org.uk Wales wales@ihbc.org.uk Northern Ireland northernireland@ihbc.org.uk Republic of Ireland republicofireland@ihbc.org.uk Rest of the World overseas@ihbc.org.uk 2 Briefing 5 Periodically 7 The writer’s voice 8 Out of context 9 Law and policy update 12 Heritage and Democracy conference 13 Letter 15 Editorial 16 Sustainable heating for listed buildings Jonathan Taylor 21 A people-first approach to retrofit Robyn Pender,Amy Graham and Katie Steele 25 Researching and restoring Abbotsford’s hothouse Esmé Coppock 29 Restoring GreatYarmouth’s Winter Gardens Faye Davies and LawrenceWilliamson 33 In the footsteps of Alec Clifton-Taylor Robert Huxford 40 Catching up on listing Catherine Croft 44 Notes from the chair 45 Director’s cut 47 IHBC Eddie Booth Prize and Gus Astley Student Awards 2024 John Fidler 48 New members 49 New member profile 50 Inter alia 51 Vox pop 53 Book reviews 57 Products and services 60 Specialist suppliers index
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: Wellbeing, March, issue 183 (10 January) Leaders of conservation thought, June, issue 184 (11 April) Technical: roofing, September, issue 185 (11 July) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 Briefing Heating and ventilation Sustainable heating for listed buildings New life for Victorian glasshouses In the footsteps of Alec Clifton-Taylor No 182 December 2024 Institute of Historic Building Conservation Cover: Alec Clifton-Taylor admired the terracotta window-frames at Lower Marney Tower, Essex (c1523). Photo by Robert Huxford (see page 33). Europa Nostra award for Westminster Hall The decade-long conservation of Westminster Hall has received a 2024 Europa Nostra Award. A Grade I-listed building within a world heritage site, Westminster Hall is the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster. In 2006, the UK Parliament decided to establish the hall as the main visitors’ entrance to the palace. Initial work was completed to repair the south steps and level an area of adjacent floor. Between 2010 and 2020, Donald Insall Associates and Alan Baxter conserved the hall’s masonry and timber roof in a three-phase project. The first phase comprised the repair of the masonry to the north wall, including the frieze, the tracery to the north window and the design and installation of the Queen’s Jubilee Window by Reyntiens Glass Studio. The second phase involved the cleaning and conservation of the remaining three walls and windows, the frieze and the niches for the medieval statues. A new ramp was installed to better link the hall to the wider Palace of Westminster. The final phase involved the conservation of the medieval hammer-beam roof, and the extensive repair and recladding of the roof lantern, including rebuilding its fan vaulting and new provision for rainwater drainage. A laser-based fire detection system was also installed. Innovative conservation methods included the use of nano-lime to consolidate medieval carvings, and latex poultices for stone cleaning. Nano-lime, an innovation stemming from an EU-funded project (STONECORE), is a lime that has been transformed into tiny particles, allowing it to penetrate very small spaces, such as the pores of stone. The south steps to St Stephen’s porch at Westminster Hall (Photo: James Newton)
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 3 ‘Great care was spent maintaining the iconic building’s patina,’ the Europa Nostra jury commented, ‘and resulted in a restoration that is imperceptible to the eye.’ Prosecutions data, please Bob Kindred writes: A recent local authority listed building prosecution involving a Grade II building in a world heritage site in the west midlands led to substantial fines, as reported in the media. The case has been added to the online National Database of Listed Building Prosecutions, but the local planning authority did not notify the IHBC, despite the database having been established 26 years ago. Hundreds of case sentences are accessible online at https://www.ihbc.org.uk/resources_ head/index.html and https:// ihbconline.co.uk/prosecutions. If the IHBC is notified directly, it can often obtain some feedback, particularly in cases when the fines imposed were considered low in relation to the seriousness of the offence. We can sometimes establish whether the local planning authority’s legal team and/or the clerks to the courts were aware of the IHBC database, and/or Historic England’s Heritage Crime Guidance for Sentencers (2017), especially as the latter unfortunately does not cross-refer to the former. Councils tell us that when these resources are used, prosecution cases are better served and better placed in context and the penalties may better reflect the seriousness of the offences, compared to when this cumulative data is either not known about or has not been tapped. Please send data of recent cases, or old ones that may have been missed, directly to the IHBC (in the format used online) at government@ihbc.org.uk Skate plans for Bradford The Twentieth Century Society and Ian Chalk Architects have submitted a proposal to Bradford Council and the 2025 City of Culture team to create a new national home for wheel and action sports in Bradford, to be located under the ‘big top’ of the Grade II-listed Richard Dunn Centre. The new facility would be called The Dunn, in honour of the local boxing hero and scaffolder, who fought Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship of the world. An indoor/outdoor skating arena, with climbing walls, a cafe and studio suites would be inserted into the spaces currently occupied by the empty leisure pool, flumes and sports hall, creating a new multi-use facility in the existing building. The UK currently has no permanent international and Olympic-level skate arena that combines both street- and park-style courses, with adequate spectator and competitor facilities. Bradford has the potential to provide all of these. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre, built in 1974–78 by the local authority architects department, was a popular amenity for over 40 years. It is distinguished by its structurally pioneering roof, which drew inspiration from Japanese architect Kenzo Tange’s gymnasium venue for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and the cable-stay structures of architect and structural engineer Frei Otto, such as those for the 1972 Munich Olympics. The site was earmarked for redevelopment by landowners Bradford City Council. The Twentieth Century Society submitted a listing application for the building in late 2021, and in April 2022 it was designated at Grade II by DCMS – one of the first leisure centres of its type to be nationally listed. The centre has since remained empty and fallen prey to vandalism and arson attacks. Unusually, the listing designation excludes the internal structures, presenting an opportunity accommodate new uses underneath the pioneering roof. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre rises dramatically over the nearby Sunny Bank Road allotments, glasshouses and cricket pitch in an illustration by architect Trevor Skempton (1976/78). A signed limited edition print is available from the Twentieth Century Society. The south steps to St Stephen’s porch, with the King’s statues to the right (top), and St Stephen’s porch and the Recording Angel memorial (Photos: James Newton)
4 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 Periodically Regular readers of this column might note that, on relatively rare occasions, the publication dates of reviewed journals do not happily coincide with the writing of this column. This quarter is regrettably one of those occasions. The relationship between professional heritage management and the physical craft repair, alteration and extension of listed buildings is not always quite as seamless as would be desirable. There seems to be a number of heritage professionals who know their way around Section 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework, but who appear not to be conversant with the appropriate repair techniques, traditional materials and sound building construction that would lead to successful implementation. It is therefore worth highlighting the recent report commissioned by Historic England from Harlow Consulting, published in September 2024: Skills Needs Analysis: for the repair, maintenance and retrofit of traditional (pre-1919) buildings in England. This aimed to understand current needs for traditional building skills and identify actions for the future. It should go without saying to readers of this column that traditional buildings make a huge contribution to the character, local distinctiveness and sense of place to communities, and that retaining them is much less carbon intensive than new construction, and thus a vital component in tackling the climate emergency. Repairing, maintaining, restoring, altering and retrofitting traditional buildings therefore requires very specific skills and materials, but there has been longstanding concern about the availability of these skills, last audited over a decade ago. By collating all the available evidence, the current total demand for work on pre-1919 buildings is estimated at around £28 billion per year, of which over £15 billion involves the use of traditional materials and techniques. Meeting this demand is likely to a need a fundamental change of attitude to workforce growth from contractors and sustained development of traditional building skills among the specialist workforce. Currently, 60 per cent of contractors specialising in traditional buildings construction have been in business for more than 20 years and more than 90 per cent report using traditional materials (notably traditional lime mortars). Two thirds largely specialise in pre1919 buildings. They report high levels of confidence in their skills, with 84 per cent reporting that they were ‘very confident’ about working on Grade I buildings. Nevertheless, nearly two thirds of survey respondents reported charging a premium to work on older buildings, especially where this was their main focus. This is something heritage professionals should bear in mind. Unsurprisingly there is high demand for the specialist building contractors. Demand has grown in the last three years and is expected to increase further. This seemingly positive picture does not seem to be backed up by any likelihood of making the changes needed to increase the supply of traditional building skills. Few contractors reported wanting to expand their workforce. Twenty per cent of contractors report skills gaps, particularly with younger employees, and particularly in carpentry and joinery – a pointer for those working on timberframed buildings? Nearly 20 per cent of contractors report turning down work due to skills shortages. Overall, on the supply side, the evidence points to an older workforce (relatively few workers aged 35 or under), with concerns about future capacity and longer-term sustainability of the supply of skilled workers. On the demand side, a fundamental intervention is likely to be required to support workforce growth and sustained development of traditional building skills among the specialist workforce. The English Housing Survey suggests that nearly a third of pre-1919 homes fail to meet the decent homes standard and there is evidence of large backlogs of repair and maintenance, while it was estimated in 2020 that the cost of remedying the defects was around £13 billion. This represented nearly 40 per cent of the outstanding repair liability for all homes, irrespective of the nation’s ambition and need for buildings to help achieve net zero carbon. There is little evidence to suggest that current training provision is adequate enough to sustain the existing level of skills, let alone that required for any major expansion. The recent survey has also highlighted that informal on-the-job training and practical experience were consistently the primary means for gaining specialist traditional building construction skills, with
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 5 word of mouth as the best way of attesting to these. Reliance on training patterns perpetuated by further education colleges and private training providers indicates that little training is provided specific to the needs of traditional buildings construction, repair and maintenance. For contractors most focused on traditional buildings, there are concerns about accessing appropriate formal training and finding suitable recruits due to lack of awareness of the career opportunities provided by the sector. The research found that traditional building contractors lacked confidence in retrofit and had little interest in becoming active in the retrofit market, as this represents on average only two per cent of their turnover, while fewer than 40 per cent are very or quite confident that they have the necessary skills to retrofit older buildings. Readers should note that contractors are also concerned about a lack of consistent, authoritative, readily accessible information about best practice for retrofit. In summary: the sector has established and confident contractors who are responding to current active market demand for work on traditional buildings (with many charging a premium for doing so); but this is nevertheless failing to meet the underlying need for traditional building skills now and in the future. There is a strong reliance on informal training and experience, coupled with insufficient supply and quality of formal training and a lack of capacity (and in some cases appetite) among both contractors and training providers to grow employment and training to meet future demand growth. Without intervention, the future supply of skilled workers to both maintain the country’s traditional buildings and pass down skills and knowledge to the next generation will continue to diminish, putting the workforce – and our heritage – at risk. As a counterpoint to this theme of the perpetuation of traditional building skills, my previous column (Periodically, Context 181, September 2024) similarly highlighted (referring to the Summer 2024 issue of the SPAB Magazine) how crucial the role of a new generation of millwrights will be in the necessarily multi-faceted skills of conserving mills: engineering, surveying, carpentry, bricklaying, blacksmithing, millstone dressing, machining and steeplejacking. There are only 11 full-time professional millwrights in the UK. Millwrighting has been on the Heritage Crafts Association’s Red List of Endangered Crafts since 2019 and is ‘critically endangered’, while mouthblown glass for window glazing is now considered ‘extinct’. SPAB Magazine Continuing the general theme of heritage craft skills and the SPAB’s role in particular in ensuring their future, the SPAB Magazine (Autumn 2024) features heritage skills. It covers the work of the Building Crafts College and upskilling the next generation of craftspeople and its attempt to reach new audiences; it looks at the importance of apprenticeships and discusses the work necessary to support endangered crafts and the promotion of vital craft skills. SPAB has always been at the forefront of heritage skills training and this issue of the magazine provides an excellent counterpoint to the Historic England report. Other articles in the SPAB Magazine include a look at the work of one of the 2022 SPAB Craft Fellows, Daahir Mohamed, who has launched a pilot project to empower underrepresented groups (including refugees and asylum seekers) with building conservation skills. Marlène Lagnado, a 2024 SPAB Craft Fellow, reflects on the threat to the traditional skills she has witnessed as part of her fellowship. ASCHB Transactions It is a pleasure to welcome the latest set of ASCHB Transactions (Volume 45, 2024), which has arrived a little later in the year than has been customary. As I have written on numerous occasions, the content of the Transactions is always of great interest, with much for heritage management professionals to draw on. It makes for a very persuasive reason for joining the association. There are six papers, each of which deals with a particular aspect of heritage management in the UK. Perhaps the one with the greatest general application is that by Steve Emery, formerly the national fire officer for English Heritage and Historic England, and subsequently fire officer for Oxford University, before becoming an independent fire advisor with Heritage Fire Consultancy. In ‘Causes and Effects of Roof Space Fires’ Emery gives a thorough explanation of the various weaknesses and fire solutions to reduce the probability of fires starting and spreading from elsewhere in the building. Once a fire makes itself visible through the roof of a building, the probability of successful extinguishment becomes very low. The main danger is the collapse of burning roof timbers through ceilings or vaulting below (adding to the weight of combustibles
6 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 on the upper floor). He gives some excellent, well-illustrated examples, including historic town centres where fire has spread from one building to another, usually through the roof spaces. He references the Eastgate Arch fire, Totnes; the Bridge Street fire, Chester; and the Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter, as illuminating examples of the issues involved. On the subject of skills, there is a helpful summary by Matthew Slocombe of the SPAB’s Old House project in Kent, highlighting the opportunities for training research, volunteer participation and commuting engagement in the gradual repair (for sale) of a Grade II*-listed building at risk. The approach is a somewhat different model to that of a conventional building preservation trust. The SPAB expects to complete the project by the end of 2024. Also of interest is a paper by Lee Prosser and Liam Podbury regarding the discovery of an almost pristine domestic wall painting at Old Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and the challenges in planning and conservation. This particularly helpful analysis provides lessons for other cases where protecting such discoveries is becoming increasingly problematic in properties already subdivided and converted to residential use. The paper traces the discovery of the painting. It examines the process by which decisive action by the local conservation officer and cooperation with the developer was underpinned by an astute understanding of historic fabric, ensuring that this highly significant discovery was not destroyed. This paper is well worth seeking out. Papers about under-regarded buildings are always of interest for what they show about careful methodical evaluation and repair. No 31a Grove End Road, St John’s Wood, London, is a small but remarkable building hidden away behind early-19th-century villas. It was designed by a leading Edwardian architect Thomas Tait for a leading sculptor Sir William Reid Dick as a studio. It was later remodelled as a home but has now adapted once again, turning the main space back into a studio for its new artist owner. Reid Dick greatly benefited from the unprecedented demand for memorial sculpture in the aftermath of the first world war; among other works he produced the huge lion surmounting the Menin Gate, Ypres. The conservation work has included the removal of certain later features which were not themselves of significance (this sometimes-contentious aspect may be particularly of interest to heritage practitioners). The recent work has added a layer of new interest to a building that has architectural, historical and associative value, fully justifying its status is a listed building. In a long and eclectically illustrated paper, Robyn Pender (see page 21 of this issue of Context) examines how energy availability has impacted buildings and what it tells us about the causes of the climate emergency and its solutions. Although this current column has tended to concentrate on craft skills rather than professional development, a paper by Roger France is interesting for the historical perspective it gives on the early post-war courses in architectural conservation. Two of them failed to become established, while others were more successful, including those at York and Edinburgh. France describes the role of a number of important figures involved between 1946 and 1996. Bob Kindred MBE aschb transactions volume 44: 2022 ASSOCIATION FOR STUDIES INTHE CONSERVATION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS Patterned brickwork at Chequers, in Rye, where the Flemish bond is picked out in grey headers – see page 37. (Photo: Robert Huxford)
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 7 From ‘Venice’, a lecture by Sir Ashley Clarke, reported in Ancient Monuments Society’s Transactions (1983) I often hear people refer to Venice as ‘unique’. Well, it is and it is not. It is not unique in being situated in a very humid environment nor in being supported deep down in its subsoil by cushions of water (aquifers). In these respects, London has much in common with Venice. Where Venice is well-nigh unique is in the degree of environmental humidity with which the city has to contend and, very important, that it has to cope not only with fresh water from the skies but also with seawater from below. This penetrates all porous material and, rising by capillary action, leaves in it saline deposits which in turn attract further humidity. This is why from the start Venetians used Istrian stone at the base of all important buildings standing in or near a canal, Istrian stone being a very dense, almost 100 per cent non-porous, limestone. In fact, the overwhelming majority of buildings in Venice consist basically of two materials, brick and Istrian stone. Istrian stone literally comes from the Istrian peninsula, just south of Trieste and now in Yugoslav territory, where the quarries are still active. Marble is fairly frequent, too, but as a rule only used decoratively, not structurally as in Athens. The choice by the earliest Venetian builders of Istrian stone for both structural and decorative purposes was one of the happiest that could have been made because only its skin is vulnerable to water. It is certainly one of the major reasons for the almost miraculous survival of such a wealth of historic architecture. The piles have in the most remarkable manner survived the centuries and, so long as they remain damp, they maintain their consistency. When, for some special operation of repair, these wooden piles have to be pulled out, within an hour they turn to powder. Nowadays, it is generally considered wrong in principle to remove mosaics from the wall in order to restore them, as they did in S Apollinare in Classe at Ravenna some years ago. The reason for this is that the liveliness of a wall mosaic is in large measure due to the way in which the light strikes it. Since each tessera, or cube, is inserted by hand into the bedding of mortar which holds it in position and itself adheres to the wall and since the craftsman is careful not to flatten each surface as he completes it, the result is a great variety of angles at which light is reflected. Whereas, if you remove to the laboratory the area to be restored, it is almost impossible, when the time comes to replace it, to reproduce the original diversity of surface. Mosaics in St Mark’s Basilica, Venice (Photo: Derbrauni, Wikimedia)
8 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 ‘JUST BEFORE the election, the now deputy prime minister Angela Rayner revealed new visions of today’s towns of the future, renderings apparently created using AI that showed mistily nostalgic Edwardian-style, red-brick mansion blocks, treelined streets and pavement cafes. Rayner, whose ministerial brief covers housing, suggested that only “attractive” homes would be built… ‘The historicism of those machine hallucinations is a revealing echo of lingering British anxieties over style and modernity. The nation (or at least its developers) proved a little resistant to modernism in the early 20th century, its public buildings veering between neoGeorgian or art deco, and its housing dominated by artsycraftsy, half-timbered semis with the occasional stab at a more “continental” modernism.’ Edwin Heathcote writing in the Financial Times ‘THE INCREASE in annual rainfall in Scotland over the past 10 years has intensified the challenge for traditional fabric – particularly when this fabric has been compromised by the use of modern materials and the loss of traditional detailing. ‘It has exposed the fundamental flaw in fashion-driven removal of lime harling coats and limewashes, both of which were essential components of traditional building technology. Both – in all of their porosity – were designed to keep buildings dry… ‘While surface finishes might be seen by many as aesthetic,… it is their functional performance – their effective porosity and high capillarity – that made them universal in the past, and that their like-for-like reinstatement is essential in meeting the challenges of the growing climate emergency. ‘You would not remove half the notes from a Beethoven sonata in the hope that someone who can’t play the piano can perform it.’ Nigel Copsey reporting on the Building Limes Forum Gathering in Stirling ‘HERE, for one hallucinogenic moment, the Thames becomes the Nile. It is as if Kenneth Grahame had decided to set The Wind in the Willows in Luxor.’ Hugh Pearman, chair of the Twentieth Century Society, celebrating Sphinx Hill in Oxfordshire, ‘the gleefully polychromatic neo-Egyptian house’ designed by the architect John Outram, becoming Britain’s youngest listed building. ‘IF THE Twentieth Century Society got £0.01p for every tourist or TikToker who takes a selfie in front of a phone box we have got listed, we’d never have to fundraise again!’ Phineas Harper writing in X @ PhinHarper after the the latest phone box listing: a 1935 K6 Jubilee kiosk in Sheffield, notable for its proximity to a rare 1928 police box, both now designated Grade II. ‘INFURIATINGLY, when I ask council officers what more they are going to do to stop listed buildings from rotting away to the point of collapse, they say that it is the responsibility of the building’s owners. ‘The council should be much more proactive in using its statutory planning powers, such as urgent works notices and listed building repairs notices, to prevent further decline, rather than just mopping up the mess once buildings have collapsed. ‘The council does seem to be more trigger-happy in serving dangerous buildings notices, however. No sooner than a planning application for student flats was submitted for the former ABC venue last month, the council bypassed the normal process for demolition of a listed building by ordering the total demolition of the historic venue’s facade… ‘It is unacceptable that councils can exploit dangerous buildings notices to fully demolish listed buildings without first presenting evidence from conservationaccredited engineers to demonstrate that there is no alternative to demolition.’ Paul Sweeney writing in the Glasgow Times after the city council ordered the demolition of a facade that had stood on Sauchiehall Street since the venue was gutted by the second Glasgow School of Art fire in 2018. Glasgow’s former ABC venue (Photo: Fraydattheedges, Wikimedia)
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 9 Law and policy update Alexandra Fairclough writes: England At the time of writing, recent planning discussions in the media have included densifying cities to address the housing shortages and the emergence of a new London Plan in 2025. A new private member’s Permitted Development Rights (Extension) Bill had its first reading in September. The bill would extend permitted development rights to allow householders to improve and extend their residential properties and for connected purposes. It includes provision for increased roof and eaves heights, larger side and rear extensions to dwellings, and taller buildings in town centres. It provides for air-source heat‑pumps; solar panels that do not rise more than 0.15 metres above the roof finish surface, and electric vehicle charging points. These proposed changes will have a significant impact on heritage assets. Northern Ireland The Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024 (SR 176). The Department of Infrastructure has introduced legislation for councils to bring forward checklists to support the validation process. This means that checklists would have to be adhered to for an application to be valid. Wales The Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 came into force on 4 November 2024. Scotland In September, Historic Environment Scotland released its delivery framework, ‘Our Past Our Future’, a national strategy for the historic environment. This and other documents outline the position of the historic environment sector, and its role and potential in communities and the economy in Scotland in the future. In October, Historic Environment Scotland announced plans for a dedicated national centre to champion the retrofit of traditional buildings to improve energy efficiency and play a key role in achieving national net zero targets. Consultations The Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government has published an online survey on ‘Demolition and Retrofit in National Planning Policy’. The survey seeks the views of stakeholders about whether the government should update national planning policy and guidance regarding the demolition and redevelopment or retrofit of buildings. The new Historic England Advice Note ‘Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency’, dated July 2024, may require an update. This document helps decision makers to be consistent in their approach to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in relation to heritage assets, and to ensure that the heritage significance is maintained. It provides detailed advice on permissions and consents, and examples of common climate-change adaptations. Case law: Stonehenge R (on the application of Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport and Others [2024] EWCA Civ 1227 In 2023, SAVE Stonehenge World Heritage Site issued another claim for judicial review. Although the government announced that it was not going to go ahead with the project in July 2024, a decision was taken to continue the case to judgement as the development consent order (DCO) remains extant. This challenge was to review whether the decision for a development consent order had been lawfully made. Five main issues arose. The Court of Appeal concluded: • the redetermination process was conducted properly and fairly, and the DCO was awarded legally • the ministerial briefing given to the secretary of state was legally adequate, the website links were legally adequate and the secretary of state did not fail to consider matters he ought to have considered • the secretary of state’s view on the scheme’s compliance with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was legally sound • the risk of the world heritage site being delisted and the likely impact of delisting was adequately considered • the secretary of state’s consideration of the then current review of the National Policy Statement for National Networks in the light of the UK’s net zero commitment was legally adequate. Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused. Although the decision did not go into the environmental or societal merits of the development proposed or assess the decision From Stonehenge to D-Day
10 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 maker’s exercise of planning judgement, it did include an interesting discussion on both the World Heritage Convention and the World Heritage Committee. Case law: departing from officer recommendations Tesco Stores Limited v Reigate and Banstead Borough Council [2024] EWHC 2327 (Admin.) Tesco Stores challenged a grant of planning permission for a Lidl store on the basis that (1) the council failed to comply with Section 66 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to give great weight to the preservation of the setting of a Grade II-listed building, and that (2) no adequate reasons were given in terms of the public benefits that should outweigh the harm of the proposed development. Although the claim was dismissed by Judge James Strachan KC, this decision provides a good summary of the main legal principles of Section 66 of the act and the appropriate standard of reasons if a committee departs from a council’s officers’ recommendation. Fines for breach of condition (No citation information available) In September 2024, a company and its director were prosecuted for failing to comply with two breach of condition notices secured by Telford and Wrekin Council, concerning work carried out on a Grade II-listed building within a Unesco World Heritage Site. Telford Magistrates Court ordered Millenium Enterprises, and its sole director Amratpal Singh, to pay £76,120 in fines and court costs after the company failed to comply with planning conditions aimed at protecting the architectural and historical significance of a listed pub. In 2014 and 2015, permission and consent were granted for works to convert the former Crown Inn to apartments, alongside the construction of additional dwellings on adjacent land within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. The world heritage site is described by Unesco as being ‘known throughout the world as the symbol of the industrial revolution’. In 2020, a breach of condition notice was served on the basis that the developer did not submit samples of material prior to the commencement of works, did not undertake works in accordance with the approved drawings, and that landscape details had been breached. Telford Magistrates Court identified that such breaches would create a significant precedent for future developments, in this world heritage site and others. The fines were imposed to ensure that developers understood that non-compliance of planning conditions within a sensitive and historically significant area, a world heritage site, was seriously damaging and that adherence to imposed planning conditions was essential to safeguard Telford’s heritage. Planning appeals Rebuilding a non-designated heritage asset (Ref 3343408) This appeal related to the reconstruction of an altered farmhouse dating back to the 18th century. The proposal intended to reuse as much of the existing materials as possible but it would also result in the loss of traditionally laid stonework and the patina accumulated over previous centuries. Although some development had already been approved, the inspector considered that the act of demolishing and rebuilding the remaining elements would further undermine the integrity of the farmhouse, making it effectively a replica, thereby diminishing its architectural and historic interest. The inspector considered that the proposal would cause a high degree of harm to the non-designated heritage asset (NDHA) and its significance, and apportioned a substantial negative weight. The inspector gave a significant positive weight to the need to support energy efficiency and low-carbon heating improvements, as required by Paragraph 164 of the National Planning Policy Framework. However, the inspector concluded that the proposal would have an adverse effect on the farmhouse as a NDHA that would not be outweighed by its benefits and would conflict with the local development plan, and with the similar requirements of Paragraph 209 of the NPPF. The appeal was dismissed. Solar panel array on a church roof (Ref 3344153) This appeal related to the installation of a 28-panel array of solar PV panels with a battery installation and associated control accessories on a Grade II-listed church in the Lake District National Park. The church, dating from 1743 and unchanged, is a fine example of a rural place of worship from this mid-Georgian period. The panels would sit on top of the roof on rails fixed to timber rafters, with the associated battery installation placed within the tower. The panels would obscure the roof and mask the visibility of its traditional, natural Westmorland slate, with its inherent uneven and weathered appearance. The inspector considered that the solid expanse of uniform panels with an engineered and artificial appearance would cause harm. Compelling benefits were put forward, including lessening the environmental impact of the church by an 86 per cent reduction in energy use. That would support government aspirations set out in the NPPF and help the Church of England achieve net zero by 2030. While it was argued that the work’s reversibility could mitigate the degree of harm, the expected life of more than 20 years was considered a significant period of time over which the harm to the integrity of this important designated heritage asset would be readily apparent, creating a significant degree of visual intrusion.
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 11 Weighing the suggested benefits against the presumption against harm to designated heritage assets, both the listed building and to a lesser degree the Lake District World Heritage Site, the inspector concluded that the scheme would erode the visual coherence of the southern elevation of the church, a key aspect of the special interest and significance of the building, and a focal point for the village in which it was situated. Although less than substantial harm was identified, it would represent serious harm to the listed building and a little harm to the world heritage site. The public benefits when taken together would be of some significance, particularly locally, but these would not outweigh the harm to the designated heritage assets. The appeal was dismissed. Subterranean annexe to a listed building (Ref 3339696) This appeal related to an underground extension, which would be visible, at Rats Castle, a two-storey, timber-framed dwelling in Linchmere, West Sussex, dating from the 16th or 17th century. The Grade II-listed building is associated with a previous occupier, the engineer Robert Lochner, who worked on the Mulberry Harbour floating breakwaters used in the D-Day landings in 1944. The inspector indicated that the proposed works would require significant excavation beneath the historic part of the building, including beneath a side wall, and that the submitted details were unclear. He concluded that there would still be a significant risk of damage to historic fabric in this part of the building. Although it would potentially affect only a small part of the historic fabric, the harm to the listed building would be less than substantial. The inspector described this as ‘nevertheless of considerable importance and weight’, and there were no public benefits to outweigh the harm. The inspector described the garden as sizeable and sloping, incorporating a pond, which is understood to have been used by Lochner in preparing for the D-Day landings. The inspector stated that the size and appearance of the proposed extension would not respond positively to the form, scale and architectural style of the existing building. While it would not be prominent in public views, it would nevertheless detract from the appearance of the existing building and its setting within the site. The appeal was dismissed. Lack of technical detail justifying works to a listed building (Ref LBA-230-2276) This appeal related to the nondetermination of an application to convert a 19th-century, derelict listed warehouse in Leith, Edinburgh to 36 student residential units. The proposal included the demolition of a front elevation, but there was no supporting structural report to justify the demolition and the drawings did not provide sufficient details. The reporter indicated that the proposals did not align with Historic Environment Scotland’s guidance. The council’s archaeologist argued that ‘the building was an important surviving element of Leith’s Georgian industrial/maritime past’, and that the works could lead to its delisting. The appeal was dismissed. Alexandra Fairclough is a member of the IHBC law panel and a barrister. She is a local authority conservation officer and she teaches heritage law at Manchester School of Architecture as a visiting tutor. Parts of a Mulberry Harbour awaiting D-Day in 1944 (Photo: Imperial War Museum)
12 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 With its multi-layered and sometimes conflicted history, Coventry proved a highly appropriate setting for this conference about heritage and democracy. For an English delegate, the event was a valuable opportunity to see heritage management through the lens of a different culture and set of concerns. The event was the annual conference of the German-based AKTLD (Arbeitskreis Theorie und Lehre der Denkmalpflege, Working Group for Theory and Education in Heritage Conservation). It brought together speakers from Germany with UK contributors and case studies from other countries, including Kazakhstan, Turkey, South Korea and Iran. The diverse contributions can only be covered selectively here. Opening the conference, Sabine Coady Schäbitz of Coventry University set the scene with a powerful defence of the value of the intangible heritage of democracy, which she and speakers to come saw as being challenged throughout Europe. Michael Grass from Erfurt (formerly resident in Coventry) used as one of his case studies an episode from the 1960s TV drama The Avengers, in which a representation of Coventry’s Precinct stood in for a dystopian underground city. For Grass, heritage values were inherently political and therefore a public concern. The relationship between heritage and democracy is complex. Temirlan Nurpeissov of Munich saw public defence of Sovietera architecture in Kazakhstan, despite some very dark aspects of the history of the country in the Soviet era, as a stimulus to democratic engagement. For veteran Birmingham architect and campaigner, Joe Holyoak, the picture was less positive. The local democratic process had resulted in the impending loss of Smallbrook Ringway, one the few local examples of integration of a new highway with a liveable street. Heritage is a carrier of identity. Once again, the relationship is multi-faceted and sometimes problematic. Mark Woods and Mike Gardom explained the delicate balance required in interpreting Caernarvon Castle: presenting King Edward I as the builder of the castle along with an acknowledgement of his very negative image for many Welsh people. In a contribution from Berlinbased Nammyoung Hong, the heritage threshold was as recent as 1980, when the Gwangjiu Uprising had begun the foundation of the modern state of South Korea. Buildings associated with the events of that time, and subsequently altered, had been restored to their 1980 appearance. There were also German examples, of course. The Hambacher Schloss in Pfalz was the subject of a paper by Georg Maybaum of Hildesheim. A patriotic rally at the castle in 1832 had been a landmark in the movement for German unification and saw the first use of the black, red and gold colours of the German flag. The tradition of a march up the steep hill to the castle continues today, and is exploited both for commercial reasons and by nationalists. The uneasy Heritage and Democracy conference: St Mary’s Guildhall, Coventry, 3–6 October 2024 A delicate balance Hambacher Schloss: an uneasy relationship between heritage and potentially anti-democratic forces (Photo: Friedrich Haag, Wikimedia)
CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 13 Letter The urban mix From John Fidler, Marina Del Rey, California, and Stockport I cannot disagree with most of Colin Thom’s sentiments (‘Gentrification in London’, Context 181, September 2024), especially regarding the ridiculous security guard wastelands in inner west London. But I want to point him, and others interested in the subject of avoiding the worst of ‘gentrification’, to the achievements in postwar Islington in north London. Here, after valiant efforts of lobbying and persuasion by early conservation advocates, the council invested wholeheartedly in a process of urban regeneration by compulsory purchasing decaying terraces and converting mostly plain but interesting Regency and Victorian townhouses into variously sized council-rented apartments. They were later joined in this by the early housing associations. The borough bought bombdamaged sites and built some of the finest 1960s–70s local authority low-rise housing on the gap sites to complement the mass of Victorian terraced accommodation. I used to live on one side of Barnsbury Street there, in longlease and freehold private-sector flats and single-family dwellings, while neighbours opposite in identical accommodation enjoyed low-rent council curatorship. The mixed social experience worked remarkably well until Thatcher’s dismantling of the welfare estate under right-to-buy legislation drove low-income renters out. In east London in the late 1970s and 1980s, Jonathan Balkind and others in the Greater London Council’s historic buildings division attempted to save the Spitalfields area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Massive heritage grants, corporate and private donations, and grand fee-paying events helped to stave off decay at Hawksmoor’s great Christchurch. A few of the early 18th-century Huguenot weaver townhouses were saved, becoming elegant middleclass homes for architectural historian Dan Cruickshank and his pioneering colleagues. But the rest of the historic terraced housing stock remained a dilapidated mess, part derelict, and abandoned as banana warehouses for the local veg market. To foster a good social mix and to help save these (as yet) unlisted terraces, we recommended that Tower Hamlets use its compulsory purchase powers under housing legislation to acquire the premises and follow Islington’s example by converting the buildings into multi-occupation as council house dwellings, the finer Huguenot residences remaining as single dwellings for families of larger size. Alas, Tower Hamlets refused to act, with the result that the ‘gentry’ moved in. One final point: mixed social use of decayed and part-abandoned town and city centres will be vital to restoring small-scale retail operations and social welfare facilities (including clinics and schools) in and around abandoned high streets. Low-income groups alone will not muster the money or political clout to demand better urban facilities. Many hands and all sizes of wallet and purse will be required. John Fidler relationship between heritage and potentially anti-democratic forces was also explored by Claudia Marx of Dresden in her paper on sites commemorating Bismarck. A third session dealt with heritage structures and law. Bori Oluwole-Ojo from Birmingham described a comparative study of heritage administration in England and Kenya. He concluded that Kenya had a more bottom-up system, encouraging greater popular participation. Each German state has its own system of heritage protection and management. In the last formal paper, Lisa Mari Selitz from Münster outlined the development of the system of heritage protection in North Rhine Westphalia. When fully working, this has some aspects in common with the British system. Earlier Johanna Blocker from Cottbus had spoken about the ‘heritageisation’ of democracy in Germany: the promotion of sites related to the development of a democratic country as a source of positive memory with the goal of promoting democracy as a way of life. Heritage has stories to tell and these can be integrated into wider narratives. Many speakers were worried about the use of heritage to promote possibly anti-democratic movements. But the final conclusion in Coventry, after a lively panel discussion, was an optimistic one. Sabine Coady Schäbitz closed the event by emphasising the positive role that heritage and its protection could play: a move from heritage and democracy to heritage for democracy. Michael Taylor, editorial co-ordinator for Context
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