Aimée L Felton 2012

13 minimum intervention.Through all the international charters and documents, conservation literature has inferred to the importance of maintenance, emphasising the pivotal role that preventative techniques contribute to protecting the historic fabric and cultural significance of buildings. Conservation literature, generated by the international charters and national statutory bodies tends to define maintenance as a holistic process. ‘Do as much as necessary to care for the place and to make it useable, but otherwise change it as little as possible so that its cultural significance is retained’ ICOMOS, Burra Charter, 1987, Article 1.5 Where the Burra Charter differs from the British Standard guidelines is the gradual evolution of the term, moving away from a regimented 19 th century ethos, becoming more inclusive in order to allow some allocation of repair to infiltrate the philosophical approach of minimum intervention. However, this increased flexibility and inclusivity to the definition is open to interpretation. Allowing a more imaginative and creative approach to regeneration and adaptive re-use of structures is positive, but has the potential for causing permanent damage to the fabric of a building, which is important in itself not just for the function it performs, but because the fabric has the imbedded cultural significance- without it the building is just an artefact (Dann, N and Cantell, T. 2007, as cited in Forsyth, M. 2007:p188). ONE Chapter One - Introduction Aimee Felton