CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 49 New member profile Eva Papakonstantinou From a rather young age I started developing a passion for heritage. I was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, a very historic city. I grew up surrounded by standing monuments and archaeological remains, though often heritage assets would appear damaged, neglected, concealed or isolated, the original setting having been extensively replaced by a forest of modern, dull, concrete buildings. Soon I realised that a chasm had developed over the last century between past and present in our built environment. A lost balance or dialogue needed to be restored. As a child I was also exposed to a range of family trips around Europe, exploring historic places, which must have contributed to my feeling an attraction to places deeply instilled with history. With my mother being an architect herself, I decided to follow the same path and studied architecture at the Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki (AUTh). Conservation was one of the mandatory modules all students had to attend for a semester, which highlighted all the complexities of the sector. I embraced the challenge and, following a notvery-successful jobhunting period after acquiring the diploma, I decided to further my passion in heritage by enrolling in the MSc interdisciplinary postgraduate course in building conservation at the same university. This consolidated my original instinct that my destiny lay in conservation. In 2010 I came to the UK with some valuable experience already gained in conservation from Greece (including a study for the reuse of a round Byzantine Tower and its implementation, a survey and recording of a derelict medieval castle and repairs to monastic buildings on Mount Athos). However, finding a conservation job in the UK did not prove easy, so I decided to enhance my chances by attaining a UK qualification through the MA course in cultural heritage management in the University of York. That opened the way to getting my first job in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2013 as a project architect at Hawkes Edwards, a practice heavily focused on conservation. I have been practicing in the sector ever since and, with the experience of two more different work settings (PPIY in York and now CBP in Nottingham), working with very supportive and inspiring directors. There, I have been lucky to experience a great variety of conservation projects in various scales, periods and grades of significance, ranging from residential extensions, refurbishments and alterations, conversions of agricultural buildings and shopfront improvements to more major works such as ecclesiastical repairs and reordering schemes to listed churches, and works to historic bridges, medieval walls and other scheduled monuments. My relationship with the IHBC started very soon after coming to the UK, when I registered as an affiliate member in 2011 to keep myself informed and to help in finding a relevant job. It has always been a dream to achieve full membership. I knew that this would be a lengthy procedure to gain the right experience, hone my skills and demonstrate them through a range of conservation projects. As the years passed, I realised that I could not progress my career further without an accreditation in conservation. I was finally in a position to submit my application for full IHBC membership last December and I was over the moon when I learnt the great news that I had been successful. Having the IHBC letters after my name gives me great satisfaction, demonstrating both my focus and expertise in the sector. At the same time, IHBC accreditation provides reassurance to clients and professionals that I am suitably equipped with the skills to provide creative solutions in line with conservation principles. In the years ahead I look forward to all the challenging heritage assets that I will help once again become thriving places for the local and wider community, always with respect to their historic fabric, heritage values and wider context. Eva Papakonstantinou is a new full member of the IHBC.
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