6 CONTEXT 189 : SEPTEMBER 2026 CONTEXT 186 : DECEMBER 2025 Periodically The Historic Environment In another wide-ranging, 170-page issue of The Historic Environment: policy and practice (Vol 16, No 2, 2025), of particular interest is a paper by Xiaohan Lu of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art. Lu focuses on group value in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, using case studies from the Merchant City, Glasgow. He highlights an issue regarding some properties in the Merchant City not qualifying for listed status in the past but then being protected shortly after they had been restored. This somewhat controversial phenomenon is seen as reflecting tensions inherent in legislation on the one hand with appropriate and sympathetic rehabilitation on the other. The paper defines existing heritage policy applied to some specific cases in order to identify what the associated key concept of group value actually involves, while also noting the limitations of the current listing system. There seems to have been little recent analysis or review where the concept of harmonious or homogeneous context has been applied to townscape, other than to accept it unquestioningly. The paper provides both a theoretical and practical understanding of the opportunities that recognition of group value creates in the adaption of historic buildings. Lu identifies the emergence of the concept of group value from the passing of the Civic Amenities Act 1967, with its shift of focus from individual buildings to a broad-based area approach, looking more widely at the merits inherent in the character and appearance of townscapes. While it became common practice in the last third of the 20th century to define precise sequences of buildings contributing to group value in statutory list descriptions, this is no longer exercised, in order to define the contribution new listings play as part of an existing larger townscape group. As the Glasgow Merchant City is invoked, the relevant regulation in Scotland stems from the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997, but only with an indirect legislative exposition of the concept. The recent city block-based adaptations and conversions of buildings in Glasgow, together with sensitive infilling, have received a positive response for their contribution to regeneration, enhanced quality of the public and semi-public realm and the demonstration of economically viable uses for former commercial buildings. The notable contributions to area regeneration have thus raised the perceptions of special architectural or historical interest and its recognition for statutory protection. Lu identifies a widening debate stemming from conflict within the context of innercity regeneration. This is where the redefinition of historic urban spaces can extend the concept of historic area management beyond the principle that preservation is merely maintenance of historic fabric when it may encompass much needed revitalisation. The paper may reinvigorate discussion about mediating change in historic areas, and about whether historic building and area management are about preservation or conservation. When it is the latter, that appears to have become widely accepted for many years, despite not necessarily being reflected in the criteria for statutory protection. Journals with an international remit seem currently to be dominated by papers from China and Turkey, and The Historic Environment seems to be no exception. Merve Akyaziki and Sirma Turgut of the city planning department of Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, present their systematic review of the effectiveness of international cultural heritage law, highlighting the uncertainties and complexities of heritage impact assessment (a term unrelated to that used in UK heritage management) under the 1972 Unesco World Heritage Convention. They explore broader challenges, looking at the subject areas of published papers, their research methods, the number of papers published and their country of origin. The authors conclude that while the integration of SPAB Magazine The shrinking numbers of building conservation specialists in local authorities in recent years has been well documented and publicised, not least by the IHBC, and there is continued uncertainty due to proposed council mergers and amalgamations. So it is pleasing to see publicity for the excellent work of five conservation officers across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, promoted in the Summer 2026 issue of the SPAB Magazine. Three are full IHBC members: Cheryl Roberts-Nairn at Aberdeenshire Council, Megan Hainsworth at Lancaster City Council and Ashleigh Murray at Cork City Council. These specialists explain their background, their current roles and the challenges they face, and they describe a recent case that exemplifies the positive nature of their work. They also explain the particular challenges they currently face and their involvement with the SPAB. While some aspects may be familiar to those still working in the public sector, the article will also be illuminating to those working in private practice, and to all the SPAB members with a more general interest who are not professionally engaged in the sector, but who are engaged with heritage issues, or are involved with heritage property management in some form. The issue, which also reviews the fluctuating status of planning, contains a useful guide for the society’s members in England living in a listed building on how to make a good listed building consent application, based on the experience of the SPAB’s casework team. The current issue also considers the differences between the Irish and UK architectural heritage systems, and the role of the SPAB’s Technical Advice Line (0207 456 0916), where the use of lime mortars and resolution of dampness problems are particularly popular topics with callers. Technical Advice Line operates on weekdays between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm. SPAB members can pre-book 9:15 am consultations in advance via the members’ area of the website. The Georgian The Georgian, the magazine of the Georgian Group (Issue 1, 2026), continues to highlight the importance of appropriate heritage protection. Frederick HerveyBathurst reflects on the outstanding merit of both the Grade I Rousham House, Oxfordshire, and its fine Grade I landscaped park by William Kent (after 1738), and numerous other Grade II monuments and structures, warning that its setting is threatened by a proposal to build 9,000 houses in the vicinity. Following the promotion and celebration of the significant tercentenaries of St Christopher Wren in 2023 and Sir John Vanbrugh this year (with an interesting article in the current issue about conservation of the latter’s work at Blenheim), another tercentenary is coming hot on their heels, with the magazine introducing that of Robert Adam in 2028. Prefiguring this is an informative illustrated article by Frances Sands (curator of drawings and books at Sir John Soane’s Museum), highlighting a previously unknown drawing by Adam discovered at the Grade I listed Saltram in Devon. The magazine also poses the intriguing question of the (generally positive) impact of the ‘Bridgerton effect’ as an American alternative Regency history on 18th-century studies and publications. This issue continues the longrunning series of articles by Charles Brookings looking at the design and development of Georgian and Regency architectural details, currently internal door
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