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Some truly impressive project work came H+R’s way in August despite it being a classic holiday month. Specialist timber condition and service life investigations were undertaken at Buckingham Palace and Leeds Castle in Kent. In addition, the rare dovecote at Tendring Park in Suffolk was surveyed as part of the overall Natural England scheme for the estate which is being project managed by H+R An H+R surveyor was amused to come across a resident urban fox that had taken up…

The usual and wide range of buildings were encountered during the month covering a mansion in Mayfair and several impressive country houses including penetrating damp investigations at the aptly named Saltmarshe Hall in East Yorkshire and also on a row of thatched cottages in Cambridgeshire. What made a difference to the month was being appointed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to assess damp penetration and retained moisture issues with one of their Lutyens designed memorials. We were also appointed…

Chosen from many suggestions, the new 10-week-old Rothound sprocker puppy has been named Pip and she has started her initial training with Orian Hutton. Pip has already shown herself to be a confident, intelligent and calm pup which are essential pre-requisites for her life to come H+R have started extensive investigations at Athlone House on Hampstead Heath which forms part of the ‘true life’ back story to the newly released film ‘Hampstead’ starring Diane Keaton. H+R have also been undertaking…

H+R carried out a damp and timber decay survey of the derelict Rutland Mills complex of approximately 100,000 sq ft that will form the Wakefield Waterfront mixed-use redevelopment H+R were also called out to a Grade I listed church in West Yorkshire following a resurgence of dry rot to a suspended timber floor shortly after a series of repairs.  Perhaps it was not so surprising to find a human Humerus bone beneath a light peppering of dry rot spores H+R…

H+R’s month has been exceptionally busy handling enquiries from developers and getting ‘boots on the ground’ on sites where there is a critical need for investigative consultancy and a clear remediation strategy. Some of the buildings in question are on the Historic England Buildings at Risk Register and as a result H+R have been closely engaged with Planners and Conservation Officers on behalf of our clients. A new Rothound has been recruited in the guise of a ten-week-old Sprocker puppy….

H+R’s media profile increased again in the month with a feature on the BBC ‘The One Show’ focusing on the fire damaged Glasgow School of Art and our involvement. H+R’s project workload in the month has been fairly typical with the usual wide range of fascinating buildings to investigate all over the country. In particular, Local Authorities and institutions are increasingly turning to H+R recognising the ‘value-added’ that H+R’s investigative consultancy invariably provides. H+R have been fortunate to undertake difficult…

Further to media interest in H+R activities raised in March, an article on H+R’s Rothounds appeared in The Times on 24 March and BBC Countryfile have been in contact looking to film later in the year. Projects of special interest in the month included the Queen Anne ‘Bushy House’, HQ and museum of the National Physical Laboratory where dry rot was found to be prevalent. Additional building defect surveys were undertaken at the London Business School and also for the…

H+R have been invited to appear on TV again courtesy this time of Sam the Rothound. Filming took place at Glasgow School of Art. The transmission date will be in the next couple of months as part of The One Show programme on BBC one. Furthering H+R connections with London Boroughs, H+R undertook a series of specialist surveys covering ground and surface drainage, condensation risk analysis, retained moisture management and timber condition at the oldest building in Southall which is…

A Happy New Year to all those interested in H+R! January has proved to be more of a retrospective month in relation to project work. While new enquiries and discussions about prospective schemes have been incessant, there has been time to catch up with outstanding investigative consultancy around the country. Input has ranged geographically from updating environmental monitoring systems at Bodmin Town Hall, to an overall wood boring insect infestation risk management report on a Jacobean mansion outside Dorking to…

Netley’s annual Christmas Tree ritual was observed with all hands helping to erect a 24-foot specimen from a neighbouring estate.  It now acts as a splendid focal point for the whole office. Extensive investigations and consultancy concerning persistent damp related problems have commenced for the National Trust at Ham House and Osterley Park.  This follows similar involvement for them at Wimpole Hall and Blickling Hall in previous years.  The surveys will utilise a wide range of analytical and monitoring techniques. …

H+R Northern team have been pleased to assist our clients Muse Developments, the structural engineers, Clancy Consulting, the main contractors Eric Wright and the project managers Morgan Sindall with the successful rehabilitation of approximately forty timber-framed waterside dwellings at Islington Wharf in Ancotes Manchester http://www.islingtonwharf-locks.co.uk/. Islington Wharf is an innovative 21st Century canal-side development project which adds to H+R’s already fulsome portfolio of involvement with strategically important canal-side building regeneration projects radiating from Manchester’s Piccadilly Basin spanning over some two decades. The 1806 Carver’s Warehouse on Dale St is…

Dr David Watt (Associate Director) provided consultancy services to Binham Parochial Church Council for works to the Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross at Binham in Norfolk during 2016. The remaining nave of what was a cruciform building with central crossing tower forms the parish church and the remains of the claustral buildings are in the guardianship of English Heritage. The west front of the church dates from between 1226 and 1244 and its window is considered…