2016 Natural Stone Awards
Great Britain has a fantastic tradition, especially within the heritage building sector, of using stone local to a project. Hundreds of churches, cathedrals and historic monuments up and down the British Isles were created from stone quarried close to the site, helping create a unique local aesthetic, something commented on by The Right Honourable Michael Portillo in his address at the 2016 Natural Stone Awards. This tradition is one that has been continued as these buildings require repair or maintenance work and heritage architects endeavour to use the original stone or an alternative quarried close by.
Stone Federation’s technical helpline receives a large number of enquiries from architects and clients looking to source stone similar to the original as, in some cases, the quarries are no longer in operation. What is encouraging is that in almost all cases, these queries lead to the use of an alternative British stone, thus continuing the tradition and supporting our indigenous quarries. Through a well-established network of industry experts, the British stone industry has, on the whole, managed to avoid losing these projects to imported, and arguably, unsuitable alternative stones.
It was encouraging to see Historic England as one of the main sponsors for the 2016 Natural Stone Awards. Clara Willett, Senior Architectural Conservator at Historic England commented at the Awards that “Historic England feel its really important to support events like The Natural Stone Awards because the quality of craftsmanship, the care in selecting natural, indigenous stones and selecting suitable replacement stone is so important in supporting and looking after our historic buildings.“
The Natural Stone Awards are also a good indicator of the state of the industry and it was encouraging to see that in the 2016 awards, 100% of the stone used on the winning, highly commended and commended projects in the Repair and Restoration category was British stone. The winning project, the Wimpole Gothic Tower project in Cambridgeshire saw the structure repaired and stabilised for the next 200 years while maintaining the weathered beauty of the tower. The choice of stone, namely Barrington Clunch, came as a result of research undertaken by the principal stone contactor and English Heritage. The Awards judges felt that this was “…an exemplary way to carry out this kind of restoration.”
2017 will see one of the Federation’s other sector focussed initiatives, Stone Heritage, launched to the sector. This group will have strong links with the Quarry Forum thanks to the significant part British stone has to play in the repair, restoration and conservation of our island’s historic buildings and monuments.
If you’re undertaking a heritage project and want to explore the options that British stone can provide you with, take a look at the stone sourcing tool on the Stone federation website: http://bit.ly/BritStone.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
IHBC NewsBlog
Historic England’s ‘21 Fascinating Places Listed in 2019’
Over 500 historic places have been added to the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) in 2019 and Historic England (HE) has showcased 21 highlights.
UK’s iconic first red public telephone box upgraded to GII*
The K2 prototype telephone box situated outside the Royal Academy in London – built as part of the 1924 competition that gave rise to the iconic design and first listed at Grade II in 1986 – has had its listing upgraded to Grade II*.
Historic England publishes guidance on BIM for Heritage
The second in a series focusses on developing the Asset Information Model (AIM).
High Streets Face a Bleak Future Without Rethinking Regeneration Strategies
Reflecting issues that will be encountered across the IHBC’s June 2020 Brighton School, think tank Centre for Cities argues for High Street success.
Take a look inside the first flat in the iconic Battersea Power Station
City A.M took a tour of the first apartment to be completed within the original grade II*-listed power station with designer Tim Boyd of Michaelis Boyd – which also designed the interiors for Soho House and the Groucho Club – and Battersea Power Station’s UK sales director Georgia Siri.
Retrofit scheme named World Building of the Year at WAF 2019
A conversion of a locomotive hangar into a public library is the first retrofit to win the top prize at the World Architecture Festival (WAF).
Historic England Updates Technical Conservation Guidance and Research Doc
New guidance and research includes: Lightning Protection, Church Roof Replacement using Terne-coated SS, the conservation of Fibrous Plaster, and more.
Heritage Declares launched to urge more quick and effective response to climate change
The non-affiliated group aims to galvanise climate action in the heritage sector.
Methodology for Moisture Investigations in Traditional Buildings agreed
A ‘Methodology for Moisture Investigations in Traditional Buildings ‘ has been agreed between RICS, Historic England and the service provider PCA, a trade body, which should help raise professional standards and consumer confidence.
Drinkers toast the future after historic Leeds pub granted GII listed heritage status
The Templar Hotel on Vicar Lane has been listed at Grade II by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
Housing Minister announces new champion for modern ‘MMC’ housebuilding
Government has announced a new Champion for Modern Methods of Construction as part of the government’s drive to make the UK the global leader in housing standards.
RTPI on ‘Why planning needs better outcome measurement’
Planning is about so much more than the number of applications approved and the speed of processing them so the RTPI is commissioning research aimed at producing a toolkit that can demonstrate a wider range of outcomes.