Historic Expertise

“We are passionate about historic buildings and how best to maintain, restore and conserve their architectural heritage.”

Surveys & Building Pathology

For any building type of any age it is paramount that the make-up and construction detail is known and understood. This is particularly vital in the context of historic buildings. Solving a defect that has manifested requires the surveyor tasked with resolving the said defect to understand how a building has been constructed, the known common and / or likely problems with a particular older building and the do’s and don’ts of effecting any repairs. The very nature and behaviour of historic buildings is different to their modern equivalents. Adopting a scientific and structured approach to building pathology and site investigations ensures that our surveyors can use their knowledge and expertise to make the right judgements on what is best for the building (and its occupiers).

Repairs & Restoration Objectives

The objective of repair is to reduce the long-term deterioration of a building’s fabric by remedying the cause of any defects. This in turn sustains the significance of the building. For historic buildings, a conservative approach is fundamental to good conservation. Accordingly, and in order to achieve this objective we advise:

Retain as much of the significant historic fabric as possible.
Understand how the building works.
Understand nature and condition of the buildings materials.
Understand the causes / processes of decay.
Keep changes to a minimum.

Repairs & Restoration Approaches

When renovating historic buildings, we very often adopt a more holistic approach. The headline factors and considerations below provide a guide.

Only techniques and materials proven to be appropriate to the fabric should be considered. These will normally be the same as the original or parent material.
Where a material or product is no longer available or appropriate, any alternative must have compatible properties to the original material, both technically and aesthetically.
Interventions should maximise the life expectancy of significant building fabric consistent with sustaining its significance.
Interventions should be reversible (if technically feasible and practicable) or retreatable and should not prejudice future interventions when these become necessary.
Details of all works should be adequately recorded for future reference.
Interventions should contribute to or at least not compromise the sustainability of future management and maintenance of the building in question.

Scheduling

Scheduling can be required for a number of reasons. This might include recording existing conditions before restoration works are carried out, recording defects, the highlighting of specific architectural details and / or the recording for future historic referencing purposes. Very often our schedules are used to support a specification or schedule of work as part of a tender package ahead of a renovation or restoration contract.

In the context of historic buildings it is imperative that the detail and accuracy of the scheduling is carried out to exacting standards. Having the knowledge and experience and ability to record with a high degree of accuracy is a must, but this needs to be matched with high quality presentation and reporting output.

Alterations & Statutory Consents

Any work to a historic building which involves alterations should be carried out in accordance with the objectives, approaches and rationale that we have highlighted under “Objectives” and “Approaches”. We would also recommend references be made to other publications including BS7913:2013 Guide To The Conservation of Historic Buildings and other best practice guides produced by Historic England.

Internal alterations and refurbishment will very often require careful integration of modern services and lifestyle and layout requirements with minimal intervention of the original fabric. Specifically, satisfying modern statute (relating to fire escape, detection and alarm, building regulations and issues of accessibility) can be the toughest of conundrums to solve.

Where alterations are more significant, are external in nature and / or where buildings are of relative significant historic interest (in addition to compliance with Building Regulations) the works will require one or all of the following:

Listed Building Consent
Conservation Area Consent
Planning Consent

We have the experience of working with heritage officers, building inspectors and risk assessors to find workable and sustainable solutions. We have experience of seeking approvals for a number of schemes of listed buildings where significant alterations were required including window replacements, extensions, office to residential conversions, layout reconfiguration and re-building with modern-equivalent materials.

Project Management

The project management and contract administration of major renovation projects or even small scale repairs requires putting the right people in the best positions to deliver success. Setting out and complying with the objectives and adopting the right approach will ensure that all works carried out to an historic building start off on the right foot. The execution of these works will also require a detailed approach to contract (and contractor) choice and procurement delivery. For example, there is a marked difference between a painting and decorating firm and a specialist renovation contractor and likewise the choice of surveyor will be critical to ensuring that the correct approach and advice is adopted and their knowledge, experience and expertise marry up with the requirements of the historic building in question.

At Harris Associates we spend a lot of time investing in the pre-contract processes and works preparations which in turn gives us the best possible chance of contract administrating and project managing the project through to a successful conclusion. Once works have commenced, a regime of detailed scheduling, precise monitoring, transparent valuation and structured works sign off allows us to control and direct on-site operations. By working closely with the site contractor and other specialist teams, we are able to set in motion a dynamic, flexible and proven approach to delivering quality.