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In December, H+R attended the former Birkdale Deaf School in Southport to undertake a preliminary investigation of masonry damp and timber condition.  Winworth Construction Ltd have been granted planning permission by Sefton Council to redevelop the Grade II listed building and surrounding site into a retirement community.  Originally built as a private boarding school for Terra Nova school in 1904, the site was purchased by the Liverpool School for the partially deaf in 1948 and used up until its closure…

After undertaking specialist building investigations over several years in the Kings Cross Quarter for Argent which started with the Old Granary Building in 2007 which has become the new Central Saint Martins, H+R have been coincidentally commissioned to survey the Lethaby Building in Holborn which was purpose built in 1908 for the original Central St Martins College of Art and Design Elsewhere the Southern office has been working on Electra House in the City of London on an overall de-risking…

Of interest in the month has been extensive work to the chapel within the active prison at HMP Wandsworth. Such work is very time consuming due to the environment and the unsurprising limits on the use of ladders and drones! More refreshing, but a challenge logistically, was having a large team on site at York House in Penzance for a week supporting a developer trying to refurbish a fire damaged building. More straightforward project work included a return to Kenwood…

More adventures for staff at the Southern office took place in the month with the first volunteer group exploring deep underground into the Dorking Caves, a complex of tunnels excavated into the sandstone as far back as the 16th century to serve a variety of purposes ranging from storage to meeting places for persecuted religious groups and secret societies. Coincidentally survey work started at the same time on twenty lock-up railway arches in Kilburn! Work was undertaken on many other…

The annual tradition of setting up the Christmas tree at Netley was more easily accomplished this year despite its height of 26 feet.  The process shares some similarities with the spectacle of the old Royal Tournament Field Gun Race for those of a certain age Part of the month was dedicated to preparation for new largescale heritage project work planned for early 2022 at the British Museum, Palace of Westminster and Manchester Art Gallery.  H+R’s increasing investigative consultancy work on…

Some team building activities occurred in the month including haymaking!  Two of the surveyor teams joined up to harvest the front lawn at Netley House.  The seed laced hay is then moved to a property belonging to the National Trust to help propagate a wild flower meadow Another connection with the National Trust was the appointment in the month to undertake a detailed timber condition survey and measured drawing of Alfriston ‘Clergy House’.  This is the very first property acquired…

In June, H+R returned to Princess Street in central Manchester to conduct an updated timber decay investigation.  Winnington Investments Ltd. have been granted planning permission to convert the Grade II listed, late 19th century former shipping warehouse into modern office suites.  Although access had been improved by the removal of internal finishes, H+R found that timber decay had not dramatically progressed since the first survey undertaken in 2019 H+R have been appointed by Bowmer and Kirkland Limited to provide specialist…

During the month, work started on the extensive refurbishment of the porch structure at Netley House where H+R’s South of England and overall main office is based.  Pesvner described Netley House in un-glowing terms as ‘heavily and gloomily classical’!  The porch was added in the 1890s and has been slowly detaching itself ever since.  The Portland stone steps within the porch were replaced in 2008 and now it is the turn of the render and ironwork.  This will necessitate the…

H+R undertake a significant amount of investigative work on ecclesiastical buildings all over the UK and are members of the National Churches Trust amongst other similar bodies. https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/.  As such, it was gratifying to see that the Friends’ Vote in 2021 selected several of the churches that H+R are familiar with and the 2020 winner, St Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen, was the subject of a detailed phase of investigation by H+R back in 2019 In July, the remaining centre block…

Further project work was undertaken in June for the Royal Household Property Section in relation to tower and roof structures in London With the renewal of security clearances for Parliamentary Estate work, investigations will shortly resume in various specialist areas.  Elsewhere in London extensive private project work on substantial single occupancy residences gathers pace reflecting renewed market interest in the super prime sector.  Projects include 112 Eaton Square, 17 Paddington Green, 55 Cumberland Place and 17 Buckingham Gate The investigative…

In March, H+R returned to Edinburgh to update our 2019 survey of the Powderhall, this time to investigate the moisture contents of masonry which was providing the conditions for progressive timber decay.  The 1890’s refuse depot and stable block has been granted planning consent for conversion to affordable housing, including a combination of work and event spaces. The project, headed by Collective Architecture, is the recipient of grants from the Scottish government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and Edinburgh City Council’s…

The range of work has been particularly varied in the month which has kept all the teams fully engaged.  The increasing controversy regarding the future of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry has occupied minds at H+R as we undertook a range of initial surveys back in 2018 when the recently abandoned furnaces were still warm to the touch. There was an indescribable and evocative atmosphere with tools arranged on the benches as if work had just ceased H+R have returned to…