6 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 a number of aspects required to understand the heritage impact of flooding; reports on how climatechange analysis modelling is being used; and discusses the impact of supersaturation of structures, and how this can lead to failures. An instructive case example is given by Ed Morton, an eminent CARE structural engineer, involving the Grade I Lincoln Castle, whose banks are designated as a scheduled ancient monument. Morton discusses how problems of water saturation can be mitigated. A further article looks at protecting and adapting historic buildings for 21st-century levels of rainfall, noting that there are equal and opposite problems arising from prolonged periods of dry weather. Journal of Architectural Conservation The Journal of Architectural Conservation (Vol 30, Nos 2–3, July–November 2024) has two papers of particular note. The first, by five joint authors from The School of Architecture, Tampere University, looks at climate-change mitigation potential in building conservation. It compares the carbon dioxide performance of four refurbishment alternatives to new construction, using a locally listed modernist 1950s school building in Finland. Four scenarios are examined, representing different approaches towards repair needs, cost implications, the time horizon of refurbishment and conserving the building’s architectural interest. These are compared with a similar contemporary new-build case study building completed in 2018. The two differ by the materials of their structural frame: concrete or cross-laminated timber. The former is described as ‘businessas-usual’, while the latter represents a competing low-carbon technology. The study is based in Finland, with a cold continental climate, where operational energy consumption is significant for a building’s carbon footprint. The second paper, by four joint authors at Durham University, looks at electrical resistivity tomography applied to the Grade I listed masonry Prebends Bridge (and scheduled ancient monument) in Durham. The purpose is to examine water ingress using non-invasive imaging methods to inform the proposed conservation of the structure. The methodology used is clearly explained and the paper sets out the basic principles behind the measurement technique. Previous use of electrical surveying for assessing historic masonry is also described. The paper concludes that geophysical electrical imaging has the potential to be a powerful tool in monitoring water-induced deterioration of heritage masonry bridges, informing intervention strategies and testing the effectiveness of the application. The Georgian In The Georgian (Issue 2, 2024), the magazine of the Georgian Group, outgoing director David Adshead discusses the longstanding and controversial approach to repairs following the disastrous fire that swept through the National Trust’s country house, Clandon Park, in 2015. The initial approach to reinstatement and repair, from what the Georgian Group considered a flawed brief, amounted partly to ‘reimagining’. This was thoroughly contentious, leading to the rejection in 2017 of a radical scheme prepared by architects Allies and Morrison. A countervailing argument was that Clandon’s interiors, including secondary spaces of lesser significance, should be completely restored and not denatured by what Adshead describes as something ‘zeitgeisty’. Proposals are now the subject of significant redirection on which the Georgian Group had been consulted on a pre-application basis. Adshead concludes that the case of Clandon highlights the fact, as is now all too apparent in almost every sphere of life, that we cannot all agree on everything on every occasion, but we can disagree agreeably. There is much to learn from the question of the appropriateness of irreversible The Georgian The Magazine of The Georgian Group | Issue 2 | 2024 Georgian Group Architectural Awards 7424_00_COVER_v4.indd 3 03/12/2024 10:23 An oriel window at Lincoln Castle (Photo: Rodw, Wikimedia)
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