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The month of November saw the annual return of H+R to the Historic Houses Association AGM and exhibition. It was an opportunity for new members of staff recruited in the year to meet the wider conservation community and the H+R stand featured Wilson the Rothound, the uprated drone and presentations on newly developed survey techniques. H+R would like to congratulate the winners in various categories of the Building Awards 2016, announced in the month. We are fortunate to work with…

Of note in the month was the drawing to a close of H+R’s six year involvement on the huge King’s Cross Basin redevelopment reporting to Argent as the developer and BAM as the contractor. It has been a privilege to witness the complete regeneration of what was until relatively recently, a very run-down and dilapidated part of London. Over the years, H+R have undertaken specialist investigations and consulted on many buildings on the project, the principal ones being: Granary Square…

A wider range of project work was undertaken in September with H+R’s specialist advice being sought on remediation of damp and mould issues affecting a severely fire damaged building for Bristol University. This involvement partners our on-going project work for Bristol City Council at the fire damaged Ashton Court An appointment early in the month to undertake a Stage 1 overall risk management survey for retained moisture and structural timber condition in Grosvenor Crescent, London has now meant that an…

Wythenshawe Hall an Elizabethan Hall besieged by Cromwell’s Parliamentarian troops in the winter of 1643 (and more recently by an arsonist) suffered a major fire in March. Resultant water penetration from the badly damaged roof threatened the historic timber structures, the panelled rooms and fine plaster ceilings. The properties of the ancient English Oak used in the main hall have not surprisingly proved robust. H+R Rothound Sam was deployed on site in July and will probably revisit later in the…

There has been no apparent let up in the flow of enquiries received during the holiday month of August and counter-intuitively during the current heatwave, much of H+R’s project work has revolved around damp issues, principally in London. Specialist damp investigations for commercial property managers have been undertaken in Oxford Street, St, James’ Street, North Audley Street, Eaton Terrace, King’s Cross, Pelham Crescent, Marylebone High Street, Wells Street and Acton High Street H+R’s growing involvement in providing consultancy and specialist…

The month has witnessed a renewed recruitment drive with the appointment of additional administrative staff for the Southern and North-Western offices. Interviews and trial days for professionals interested in working for H+R continue and new appointments are anticipated over the next few weeks Survey work has started at the re-development of the Old Post Office and Telephone Exchange in the centre of Kingston-upon-Thames and H+R have been appointed to work for a materials testing house on a large listed hotel…

The Brexit vote result has encouragingly resulted in a significant upswing in new enquiries from corporate and commercial clients who had been delaying decision making over the last month. The market view appears to be settling on the fact that ‘bricks and mortar’ are a relatively secure investment that the UK needs more housing whatever happens and that the devaluation of sterling will heighten the interest of overseas clients. In addition, there is the continuing imperative to care for our…

The month began and ended with significant private commissions in Worcestershire and Staffordshire illustrating H+R’s geographical reach into the Midlands. The agents for both properties required risk management and QS information so as to give greater cost certainty on refurbishment and purchase Projects in the month ranged in size from a 1900s timber framed hut for a small Christian community in Twickenham up to Dover Town Hall. The client team on the latter project also required H+R to provide a…

April showers, sun and snow have made site conditions both pleasant and challenging on various H+R projects during the month High winds made cherrypicker deployment questionable in relation to the timber condition investigations at the most important and spectacular Thai Buddhist temple in the UK located in Wimbledon. The highly decorated and gilded finishes to the vertiginous timber gables demanded a great deal of discretion when deploying micro-bore drills More project work in Scotland included damp and decay risk management…

The month ended with a bang as one of the veteran Beech trees at Netley succumbed to Storm Katie. H+R’s in-house team soon had the air singing with the sound of chainsaws as the entrance drive was cleared. The tree in question would have been a young sapling when Netley itself was gutted by fire in the 1850s Significant investment in the month included a handheld 3D scanner, a new specialist vehicle for Rothound transport, an upgrading of the website…

A shorter month has not meant any let up in activity with principal survey work focused on our Grade I listed projects at Brocket Hall, where H+R are reporting to two project management firms, and also completion of investigations, at the Temperate House in Kew, at Glasgow School of Art and Apothecaries Hall in the City of London. Our usual heavy involvement in Belgravia continued with new projects at Nos. 2 and 33 Belgrave Square and at South Molton Street…

During the month, project work has necessitated H+R survey teams staying away from their offices for protracted periods. This included Cardiff where the Royal Infirmary refurbishment required another extensive range of surveys including deployment of H+R’s 3D laser scanner. In addition, a team spent several days on the Isle of Man developing a programme of environmental monitoring and condition assessments of the historic boat ‘Peggy’ and also for Castle Rushen High profile work in the month included appointment to investigate…