Free Telephone Helpline: Exper tise on responsibilities plus buying, insurance and legal issues. Free Conservation & Planning Advice: Access to our in-house conservation advisors. Suppliers Directory: Hundreds of nationwide specialist companies, from architects to lime plastering, surveyors to window restorers. Listed Heritage Magazine: Our exclusive 150 page bi-monthly publication providing practical information, news and guidance on listed property ownership. The Listed Property Shows: Meet the biggest collection of listed building suppliers and experts under one roof. 21 September 2019 Bristol, The Passenger Shed 26 October 2019 Edinburgh, Assembly Rooms 8 & 9 February 2020 London, Olympia Specialist Insurance: Personal service, specialist advice and access to dedicated cover for listed buildings including those undergoing renovation or conversion. Lobbying government Our political campaign for the reduction of VAT to 5% on repairs and approved alterations to listed buildings and the Discounted Listed Property plaques Our unique lead plaques are just £120 for LPOC members, non-member price £150. HELPING OWNERS CARE FOR LISTED BUILDINGS SINCE 1993 Promoting good building conservation FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 01795 844939 ORVISIT WWW.LPOC.CO.UK Specialist Advice | Financial Savings | Peace of Mind surveyance, VAT, energy, efficiency, simplification of the planning process. Left: Internally, skylights with a frameless finish will also help to replicate the single glazing panels that were part of the original building Right: Building products, including skylights, should be specified to replicate the building’s original features Energy efficiency in listed buildings Why compromise on thermal performance in this day and age? Despite rumours that planning officers are more relaxed when conserving our built heritage, a survey conducted by the Rooflight Company has found the opposite to be true, with over 75% of respondents disagreeing that ‘planners are less strict than they used to be’. The architects surveyed believed that ‘gaining planning approval’ is the number one priority for owners of heritage buildings, with ‘achieving an authentic’ look closely behind. Interestingly, thermal efficiency was seen as 6/7 in the order of impor tance to clients. There are indications that when it comes to listed proper ties, planning officers stipulate that replacement building products must exactly match the original aesthetically.What this could mean in terms of a rooflight is a single glazed skylight that has a poor thermal performance. There’s good news, however, as it is possible to source building products which are faithful to their heritage whilst performing to modern building standards. In the case of the Conservation Rooflight®, traditional features such as the glazing bar, silicone putty, glazing clips and low-profile are retained, whilst the window achieves a U-Value of 1.5Wm2K.This results in a roof window that meets the planning officer’s expectations of a skylight that is true to the original design of the building whilst also performing to modern building standards thermally.There is therefore no need to compromise on thermal efficiency in today’s age. Budgetary frustrations were also uncovered in the same survey, whilst architects agreed that achieving an authentic appearance was only superseded by gaining planning approval, friction with their clients over the expenditure on authentic materials often leads to building products being substituted in what the architects surveyed felt is a ‘principle threat to preserving our historic buildings for the future’. The research found that architects felt they were often having to ‘balance cost with authenticity’ and this led to a challenging scenario of trying to justify their specification of materials to both the planning officer and their client. Investing in building materials that are true to the building’s heritage at the outset of a project should be given serious consideration to ensure that, in the long term, elements of the build do not need replacing again and the appearance of the building is not compromised by cheaper substandard materials. Choosing building materials, including roof windows, for the refurbishment of a listed proper ty should be a onetime decision for the envelope of the building. Modern alternatives may meet shor t term expectations but when the building in question has been given impor tant status within the UK Heritage world, authentic materials should be the only building products considered for future generations to enjoy.What’s very positive to note is that it is possible to balance authentic materials with thermal performance. In an extract from a quote from the research carried out by the Rooflight Company, Dr Sean O’Reilly, Director of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, comments ‘And though cost can be a factor in the shor t term, the long term effects of a lack of investment in care, maintenance and improvement always means that the bills only increase, as we see in the huge charges attached to refurbishing many private and public buildings.’ If you would like to read the full Conservation Report carried out by the Rooflight Company, it can be downloaded from www.therooflightcompany.co.uk/ conservation-report-2015 or email tomarketing@therooflightcompany.co.uk to request a copy. Main image: Low-profile double glazed skylights will please planning officers looking for a single glazed replica of the original glazing Gaining planning approval is the number one priority for owners of heritage buildings LH108-RooflightCo.indd A4 V 18/08/2016 09:25 Listed Heritage Magazine September/October 2016 57 Listed Heritage Magazine September/October 2016 56 s e s c e n e 49 Swan Street Although my career path took me down the road of Design Engineering, I have retained this interest in medieval architectu re and when this same Tudor house came up for sale a few years ago I felt that this was a once in a lifetime oppor tunity to do some thing that I had always longed to do and also to leave some sor t of legacy in the village. The house was in a very poor stat e of repair and needed an extensive refurbish ment. The previous owner had recently died after spending many years carrying out work on the house, much of which was not to the standards now set out by planners and historic building officers. The purchase was completed in 2 013 and that is when the realisation set in of the magnitude of what was needed to bring the h ouse back to life. I spent a lot of time seeking advice from exper ts and people who had done this before. I joined the LPOC and read as mu ch as I could on the refurbishment of medieval buildings. The process of planning approval was complex and tor tuous. An external view of 49 Swan Street in 2013 Dry ice cleaning and the finished result I t was over fifty years ago that Brian Day first became aware of the old timberframed house in the village of Sible Hedingham, Essex. His experience of passing the building every day on the way to school and wondering why it had been left to deteriorate sparked an interest in architecture that even inspired him to take a GCE in History of Architecture. Here Brian tells us how his childhood interest became his grown-up labour of love. LH108(107)-BrianDay.indd 2 18/08/2016 09:32 49 Swan Street an old postcard from about 1920 What was then clear was the cost of purchase, added to the potential refurbishment, far outweighed the finished value. For tunately, the garden area was large enough to consider additional development, but the in itial response from the planners was not favoura ble. Historic building officers do not like develo pment in the cur tilage of listed buildings. 49 Swan Street was listed many years ago and car ries a Grade II listing. I had to sell the project to all stake holders: the local district planners, the parish co uncil, the villagers and the historic building o fficer. I engaged the services of architect s Andrew Stevenson Associates of Great Du nmow. Andy Stevenson has extensive kno wledge and relevant experience and he put to gether a scheme that included building two detached houses in the grounds that were s ympathetic to the listed building.We engaged the services of many exper ts to suppor t the d esign and access statement.This included hig hways, ecological, bat and owl, topograph ical, conservation and contamination surveys. I had an initial meeting with the lo cal parish council and they gave it their over whelming suppor t. An open day for villagers to see the building in its raw state raised over £600 that was donated to a local club for the elderly. Negotiations with the historic buil dings officer were protracted and more work was needed to gain the suppor t n eeded to convince the planners at Braintree District Council to give the application app roval and listed building consent. It was clear that without the additional two ne w build proper ties, the whole project was unviable, and this was recognised by the pla nners.We all had one thing in common: we a ll wanted to see this building saved. It was on th e point of being put on the Buildings at Risk Register. The whole process took over a ye ar, but in 2015 we were delighted to gain p lanning Left: Over 10km of oak lath was used Right: New oak timber to replace the rot Continued >> I joined the LPOC and read as much as I could on the refurbishment of medieval buildings. LH108(107)-BrianDay.indd 3 18/08/2016 09:32 Listed Heritage Magazine September/October 2016 65 Listed Heritage Magazine September/October 2016 64 is a s e ISSUE 108 SEPT/OCT 2016 THE LISTED PROPERTY OWNERS CLUB MAGAZINE HERITAGE LISTED DOORS & WINDOWS HEATING INSULATION DAMP & DRY ROT STAINED GLASS Listed Heritage Magazine
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