Old buildings have been altered by so many hands over so many years that reading them properly is itself an acquired skill: knowing which repairs came when, which interventions were wisely conceived and which are compounding the original issues, which fabric is original and which came later, and whether what replaced it was an improvement. This layered biography is part of what makes historic buildings significant. It's also part of what makes them demanding, and fascinating, to advise on.
I advise across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, from a base in North Norfolk.
What this covers
- I survey condition and investigate defects on listed and historic buildings: condition surveys and defect diagnosis.
- I specify traditional and appropriate repairs.
- I oversee specialist contractors.
- I deal with planning authorities and conservation officers.
- I advise on the long-term stewardship of building fabric.
I have experience across all listed building grades and with Scheduled Ancient Monuments, including eight and a half years working to the National Trust's standards for the care of significant buildings.
Who this is for
Owners of listed buildings with work in mind, who want to know what is possible before committing to a design. People already part-way into a disagreement with a conservation officer. Estates and trusts holding fabric that will need decisions made about it for years to come. Architects and contractors who want the building understood before they specify against it.
What appropriate repair means
A good deal of the damage I see in old buildings was done by the repair. A solid wall built to breathe, then rendered in cement, holds water against the fabric it was meant to shed. Gypsum plaster over the same wall does it indoors. A chemical damp course injected into a building that never had rising damp treats nothing, and the real route stays open.
Appropriate repair means matching the material and its movement to what is already there, doing the smallest thing that solves the problem, and leaving whoever comes next able to undo it. Where a modern material performs better and does no harm, I will say so.
Consent, and what I do about it
I advise on what a proposal will need consent for, where the building's significance actually lies, and what a conservation officer is likely to accept, and I deal with them directly on your behalf.
Where a scheme needs a formal heritage statement or a planning agent, I will say so and point you to the right person.
Fees
I quote per commission, because advice on a single window detail and a programme spanning a whole building are different pieces of work. Tell me the building and what you are trying to achieve, and I will come back with a figure and a scope in writing before you commit to anything.