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Two major projects for H+R have started in the month which keep the survey teams from the Manchester and Guilford offices on their toes.  The first is Tunstall Town Hall where H+R have been commissioned to undertake a very wide range of specialist investigations covering the external envelope and also the internal structures.  The building is in a very dilapidated condition and is now subject to an extensive Local Authority backed complete refurbishment to be re-purposed as a Library  The…

During the month, H+R undertook its first survey of a market stall! Nothing could better illustrate the range of structures H+R work on and, for H+R surveyors to experience over a short period, the challenges and focus of working on Palaces as well as humble temporary structures, provides an excellent perspective. The client for the market stall was Kingston Council where there were concerns about the performance of the plywood sourced for the roofs. Back in 1989 H+R surveyed the…

In January, H+R returned to Wakefield’s Victorian Rutland Mills complex to update our timber decay survey of March 2017 in support of our client’s purchase from the Local Authority.  The multi-million redevelopment of the former industrial mill buildings is part of the larger Wakefield Waterfront development which is expected to be complete by the end of 2022.  The site neighbours The Hepworth Wakefield where world-renowned garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith is currently transforming a patch of wasteland between the two sites…

As mentioned in the January news review, a specialist H+R team returned to the Temple Bridge on the higher reaches of the Thames to complete condition and service life investigations of the very complex timber structures.  Gantry systems were deployed by H+R and surveyors lowered through the deck of the bridge on harnesses.  At the same time safety boats were manned and deployed 25 feet beneath.  All tasks were completed and performed in text book fashion as far as Health…

The year has started very actively with an interesting large scale challenge for the Royal Collections Trust and subsequently for other heritage sector clients ranging from English Heritage at the consolidated ruin of the Royal Garrison Church in Portsmouth (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/royal-garrison-church-portsmouth/), where only the roofed chancel remains as a result of WWII bombing.  Apart from investigating the timber roof structure by the renowned Victorian architect G.E. Street, H+R were tasked to plan and achieve access to the hitherto inaccessible stone spire…

Change seems to have been the dominant theme over the past year. The heritage sector has seen its own shake-ups, including the recent genesis of the National Lottery Heritage Fund (from the former Heritage Lottery Fund), and uncertainties remain for those with responsibilities for historic buildings and sites. H+R East Office director, David Watt, has seen growing demand in the past 12 months for detailed investigations to identify defects and provide recommendations for practical remedial solutions, environmental assessments and monitoring,…

Christmas at H+R’s head office at Netley House was the usual festive sight with a 26-foot tree in the hall and the decorations and lights up.  Fires in the grates added to the atmosphere and it was a wrench for the surveyors to get out and about.  Despite the political uncertainty, the lead up to the end of the year was perhaps even busier than usual in relation to enquires for H+R’s services Further involvement at Blenheim Palace, but without…

Works are ongoing at Capital & Centric’s £250m Kampus development in Manchester city centre, and H+R were commissioned to carry out masonry moisture profiling and façade condition surveys of two former 19th century canal warehouse buildings on site: the Minto & Turner building and Minshull House, both of which are being re-purposed for residential and commercial use.  The accurate quantification of moisture in masonry masses, the plotting of moisture distribution and the location of hygroscopic salts enables the project team…

The highlight for the month of November every year is the Historic Houses Association AGM and exhibition.  This is the only event in the year that H+R exhibit and the star attraction was the debut of Pip the latest Rothound.  Pip is a 2 year old Sprocker spaniel and is now sufficiently trained to be deployed on ‘active duty’ and has already completed over twenty searches including at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst During November, the usual fascinating range of…

The property pages have been notably full of recent launches by H+R’s clients with one Sunday supplement featuring no less than four.  In no particular order these were The Apsley at Ancaster Gate in Richmond (London Square), Wilderness House in Sevenoaks (Pegasus Life), Floral Street in Covent Garden (Capco) and Gasholders in King’s Cross (Argent) The month saw the twentieth anniversary of the Heritage at Risk Register.  Historic England started the list in 1998 with 1930 buildings which had increased…

During the month the national nominees for the Building magazine award ‘Refurbishment of the Year’ were announced and H+R are proud that, out of the seven entrants, they have been very closely involved in three.  Our best wishes go to Royal Academy of Arts – David Chipperfield Architects https://davidchipperfield.com/, The Piece Hall – LDN https://www.ldn.co.uk/ and Temperate House Kew – Donald Insall Associates https://www.donaldinsallassociates.co.uk/.  In addition, Building’s ‘Project of the Year’ award highlighted the Gasholders in London – Wilkinson Eyre…

With a skyline engulfed by cranes, the significance of the transformation that Manchester is undergoing speaks for itself, and it’s no wonder that an ever-increasing volume of H+R’s work is close to home in the city centre.  In close proximity to the proposed HS2 platform at Manchester Piccadilly, we were recently appointed by Capital + Centric to undertake a range of specialist surveys at their Crusader Works mill complex.  Currently at an early stage of the works, the site is…