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Long serving members of H+R staff were intrigued to return to 78 St James’s Street in London.  H+R undertook a wide range of investigative consultancy on the building back in 2001 when the old Conservative Club of 1844 by Sidney Smirke was converted for HSBC private banking.  Squire and Partners www.squireandpartners.com retained our services after an interregnum of nearly 20 years to undertake an overall risk management survey prior to conversion for new occupants.  We were pleased to see that…

As the temperatures rose so did H+R’s workload with a wide variety of new project work Martello Tower No. 4 in Folkstone which is being refurbished as a private home was investigated for moisture management.  A remedial strategy has been developed taking into account the wish to have fair faced brickwork exposed to the interior.  The last Martello tower investigated by H+R was 20 years ago in Suffolk Also relating to damp penetration issues, the fine double-height vaulted basement structure…

H+R experienced an exceptional month in June working on some of the most prestigious conservation projects in the country.  Hanging over this achievement has been the devasting news of another catastrophic fire at Glasgow School of Art.  H+R dedicated a great deal of time and effort through 2016 and 2017 contributing to the first post fire refurbishment.  It appears that our work has now come to naught and that of all the other professionals and contractors.  It seems extremely doubtful…

Quaker Tapestry Museum Kendall H+R were called in to investigate the roof structure at the Quaker Tapestry Museum and Meeting House in Kendall where current fundraising seeks to carry out much needed repairs to the roof.  The Meeting House, which has recently celebrated its 200th anniversary exhibits 77 vibrant embroidered panels made by 4,000 men, women and children from 15 countries between 1981 and 1996.  Further surveys in Cumbria included the former Ulverston Town Hall that was recently declared surplus…

Projects of interest in the month have included forensic investigations of problems at the interface of old and new construction at the Swedish Embassy and also at HMP Lewes.  H+R’s experience in working in highly security conscious environments paid dividends in both cases. The inmates at Lewes were predictably wary of one of the H+R Rothounds! A technically challenging project in the month concerned the investigation of apparent failure to wood stain finishes to oak window units on a prestigious…

More focus on fewer but larger projects summarised the month. In addition, two new surveying staff joined the team. Andrew Ellis had a training as a conservation carpenter and timber framer before completing his MSc in Building Conservation at West Dean and York University. Matthew Wellesley-Smith has joined H+R from Natural Building Technologies and has specialist knowledge in the field of insulation and condensation risk management which are key elements of H+R’s offer. Matt has just completed his MSc at…

The Beast from the East brought some challenges to the South Office, much derided by colleagues in the North-West and North-East Offices. Nonetheless good photo opportunities were gained with sparkling snow and blue skies on projects in Cambridge and Blenheim Work in Whitehall has gathered pace and non-disclosure agreements were signed on a variety of projects. Extensive surveys at Great Scotland Yard were completed In Scotland, the major project in the month was a comprehensive condition survey of the external…

Fresh into the new year H+R combined a survey of Duff House in Aberdeenshire for Historic Environment Scotland with an inspection of Category ‘A’ listed Ramsay Gardens, a collection of villas adjacent to Edinburgh Castle on their return leg.  Heavy snowfall had caused major disruption as wintry conditions swept across the region and for a moment the surveyors anticipated spending the night stuck on Beattock Summit, Rothound and all.  Fortunately, the hard work of the gritters meant that waking up…

During the month, H+R staff have been maintaining outreach and a presence at conferences and seminars.  Lectures have been presented to Masters students at Portsmouth University and collaborative research work continues at University College London and Oxford Brookes.  Lectures have also been presented by Matt Smith at the IHBC South East Region Day School and David Watt at UCL.  Jenny Brown also contributed to the Bats in Churches conference in London Project work of interest has included the magnificent early…

The imminent re-opening of Decimus Burton’s The Temperate House at Kew Gardens after five years of painstaking refurbishment is of much satisfaction to H+R.  This huge glazed structure, the length of Selfridge’s in Oxford Street is part of only four world heritage sites in London together with the Royal Greenwich Observatory and National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, Tower of London and Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey.  H+R have now undertaken specialist investigations at all of then.  Poor original detailing…

The lead-in to Christmas revealed the latest in a long line of impressive decorated 25-foot trees in the main hall of H+R’s offices.  Every year, the staff are mobilised to make the process quite a tradition With much anticipated various First World War anniversaries in 2017, H+R have felt privileged to play a part in perpetuating the memory of those fallen.  Our work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has developed with a full scale and detailed investigation of penetrating…

H+R North Office were delighted to undertake a detailed damp and timber decay investigation of Storeton Hall in the Wirral to support the planning application by P J Livesey Group.  The 14th century medieval hall is a designated Grade II* Scheduled Monument but incredibly currently serves as stabling!  The hall is set to be transformed into two unique homes and in so doing be removed from the ‘Heritage at Risk’ register http://www.pjlivesey-group.co.uk/storeton-hall/ Following a preliminary Rothound survey in 2016, H+R…