IHBC Day School & Virtual School

Friday 14 June 2024

Rebecca joined St Paul’s Cathedral as Director of Property in August 2023. Prior to taking on this role, Rebecca was the Senior Estate Manager for English Heritage, looking after all properties in the North of England. Rebecca is an ambassador for our historic environment, sustainability and climate resilience, and heritage craft skills. She is a Fellow of the CIOB and Past President 2017 - 2018. She is a member and Vice President of IHBC; the Merchant Adventurers of the City of York; the Worshipful Company of Constructors.

Dr Alan Forster
Heriot Watt University
Dr Alan Forster is an Associate Professor in Building Conservation, Low Carbon & Traditional Materials, & Architectural Technology at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He has been a research active academic for over 20 years and has published extensively on a wide range of topics including historic building survey – traditional and digital applications, technical fabric repair and materials science, building conservation philosophy and built environment higher education. Before becoming and academic he served an apprenticeship and subsequently became a building surveyor. He is an SPAB scholar and a member of the IHBC technical committee.

Will has over 35 years’ experience in the conservation and management of heritage assets. He joined Purcell in 2016 as an Associate and Senior Heritage Consultant, and now leads their Surveying Team.

Before joining Purcell, Will worked for Historic England (formerly English Heritage) for over 18 years, where he led the Government Historic Estates Unit, managing a team of architects and inspectors. At Purcell he is involved in a broad range of work ranging from condition surveys, planning issues as well as conservation management plans and heritage impact assessments. Much of his work is concerned with public-sector property, including MOD sites, courts, prisons and hospitals.

Sarah Khan writes: I am an Architect Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC), as well as accredited with the RIBA as a Specialist Conservation Architect. I have worked at Roger Mears Architects (RMA) since 2007 and have been a Practice Partner since 2015. RMA has a strong track record of working in Conservation, something I am deeply passionate about. I am a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) as well as a past SPAB Guardian as part of their Technical and Research Committee, a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and a past member of the RIBA Conservation Group. I am on the London Diocese, Southwark, Peterborough, Chelmsford and St Albans Diocese lists of Quinquennial Inspecting Architects, and the Church Architect for various Grade I and II listed in London. I also work with many community and grant-aided projects, as well as buildings on the Historic England Heritage-at-risk register. I am also currently leading the Practice’s research project into sustainable upgrading of historic buildings.

I am very keen to put my experience, knowledge and skills to best use. Through my experience, I have developed some necessary key skills, including:

• analysing and resolving complicated structural issues
• care and repair of dilapidated buildings, rot and damp issues
• project management, site inspections, cost control issues - sustainable thermal upgrading of buildings of traditional construction
• working with teams of consultants and specialists
• negotiating with planning authorities, conservation officers and English Heritage
• historic research and building investigations in order to understand the building, its significance and the problems faced to arrive at better solutions.

I have developed a personal approach in working with clients: I understand the importance of unsaid as well as expressed needs and marrying those needs with those of the building. My philosophy is to treat the building as a second client, ensuring that its needs are also met and that it not only survives but continues to thrive into the future.

The existing buildings I work with are sometimes in a dilapidated state. It is my job to see the potential in them worth fighting for, and to work to the best of my abilities to deliver the care these buildings need.