An account of what visitors found when being shown round the half-completed building by its architect Alfred Waterhouse in 1876 has been featured anew by Building.
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- IHBC takes key step forward in Parliamentary ‘5 Commitments’ delivery, joining National Federation of Builders’ National Heritage Skills Forum 10/11/2026
- IHBC Marsh Awards OPEN: Nominate your ‘Successful learner’ (in Heritage Skills) or ‘Retired member’ (Community Contributions), to close 15 December 2026 10/11/2026
- Save the Date for #IHBCBristolBath2027 – Accessible, Certified CPD on ‘Climate Change & Significance’, June 10-12 2027: IHBC’s Annual School, with online options, free pre-conference webinars & more… 10/11/2026
- Bursaries now open for IHBC Annual School 2027: Accessible, certified CPD on Climate Change & Significance 10/11/2026
- IHBC’s ‘Research’ CPD signpost: Deregulated housing conversions linked to poor health and wellbeing, from UCL 10/11/2026
- IHBC HESPR’s ‘News from the Sector’: The Guardian on Clifton Suspension Bridge… ‘A big responsibility’ 10/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Back on track as Leas Lift carriages return home 10/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: New Visitor Levy fund to help futureproof Edinburgh’s cultural and heritage buildings 10/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: National Railway Museum celebrates start of construction on… the Porterbrook gallery 10/11/2026
- Nominate a building for the 20th edition of the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings list, before 4 January 10/11/2026
- National Trust: ‘Landmark act of generosity secures home of London’s oldest restaurant for the future’ 10/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the Global doorstep’: ‘Preserving Legacies Climate Heritage Cohort Program’, open to 8 January, ‘…work with a place that is culturally significant to your community’ 10/11/2026
- IHBC offers advice and support in roll out of ‘Historic Environment Policy for Northern Ireland’ 06/11/2026
- IHBC’s November CPD Circular: Your user-friendly ‘What’s on’ guide to heritage learning, networking and experiences, from Branches to ‘CPD Providers’ & beyond… 06/11/2026
- IHBC Marsh Awards OPEN: Nominate your ‘Successful learner’ (in Heritage Skills) or ‘Retired member’ (Community Contributions), to close 15 December 2026 06/11/2026
- Bursaries now open for IHBC Annual School 2027: Accessible, certified CPD on Climate Change & Significance 06/11/2026
- IHBC’s ‘Research’ CPD signpost: RICHeS Access Fund 2nd call opens, to £20K & 15/12, to access ‘cutting-edge equipment, collections & expertise’, for charities, social enterprises, commercial companies etc. 06/11/2026
- IHBC Director’s top pick from HESPR’s £68M+ works: BID seeks multidisciplinary team to study local retail areas, to 20/11 and £40K 06/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the (builders) doorstep’: Budget measures welcomed, but much more work left to do – industry warns 06/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Castle Eden bridge demolition plans withdrawn by Stockton Borough Council 06/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Westminster honours engineer who helped inspire the world of James Bond 06/11/2026
- Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2029 06/11/2026
- Local History Hub launches new School & Heritage Consultancy pilot 06/11/2026
- AHF awards new grants through the Heritage Revival Fund 06/11/2026
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the Global doorstep’: First Joint Transnational Call of the ‘Resilient Cultural Heritage Partnership’ to 11 January 2027 06/11/2026
IHBC Signpost to Health and Safety, from an old Building: Dodging falling bricks at the Natural History Museum construction, 1876
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IHBC’s 5th Council update, 30 March: Busy meeting concludes as new IHBC Vice President elected and School & charter petition consultation launched – #IHBCPetitionforCharter
The IHBC’s Council, the Institute’s inclusive member-only advisory and training body held its fifth online meeting on 30 March, as advertised HERE, with the election of a new Vice President – Rebecca Thompson – and the launch of a consultation on the IHBC petitioning for a Royal Charter among its highlights.
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IHBC 2023 School launched: #IHBCSwansea2023 booking opens for ‘Climate Change and the Historic Environment; Resilience and Performance’, in-person and online, 21-24 June 2023
IHBC’s Council on 30 March saw the booking open for our 2023 Annual School, #IHBCSwansea2023, examining ‘Climate Change and the Historic Environment’, offering current thinking on addressing climate change in the historic environment, with up to 4 days of IHBC-recognised CPD in person and online.
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IHBC Signpost: DB Wiki article feature on ‘Revised Building Regulations Part F, a reminder of what and why’, from CIAT
Designing Buildings (DB) – host and partner to the IHBC’s Conservation Wiki – has posted Paul Williams article for CIAT: ‘Revised Building Regulations Part F: What you should be doing differently and why’.
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IHBC’s HESPR ‘Special Interest News’: Building, on the Forth Bridge construction (1873-1890)
IHBC’s heritage business register HESPR – our Historic Environment Service Providers Recognition quality assurance scheme for heritage services – emails members weekly ‘News and Tender Alerts’, and this week features more from the archives of Building in its anniversary year, now on the construction of the Forth Bridge.
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the (nation’s) doorstep’: Plymouth tree felling… call for independent inquiry
Plymouth City Council is facing calls for an independent inquiry into the decisions behind the night-time felling of 110 trees in the city centre for a regeneration project.
image: for illustration – Plymouth as seen from the Wheel of Plymouth by Christine Matthews, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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England’s Heritage Open Days 2023: How to get involved
To join the network of local organisers across the country, register online for Heritage Open Days 2023: 8-17 September.
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C20 launches 2023 ‘Risk List’ campaign
The Twentieth Century Society has launched its latest campaign, ‘The Risk List’, to highlight the top 10 buildings most at risk of demolition, redevelopment or neglect in 2023.
image: C20 – credit: James O Davies
Continue reading
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British Ecological Society informs House of Lords’ inquiry on reaching the 30×30 target for protected areas
Prof. Rick Stafford and Prof. Jane Hill have summarised the key findings of the British Ecological Society (BES) report on protected areas for the House of Lords’ Environment and Climate Change Committee inquiry into protected areas.
image: for illustration – Peter Badcock
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HES: £2M available to help safeguard Scotland’s historic environment, supporting ‘express grants and interim works’
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has announced the launch of the new Historic Environment Grant fun, which makes express grants and interim works for heritage assets available to communities for the first time.
image: HES
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Task Force study calls on councils to prioritise place leadership: ‘Place Leadership in English Local Authorities’
The High Streets Task Force has released a new report, ‘Place Leadership in English Local Authorities: a critical success factor in vital and viable high streets’, drawing on the experience of successful place leaders.
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Thousands more treasures to be saved for the nation as rules about discoveries are changed
Recent Government changes the legal definition of treasure, with the expansion of the definition set out in the Treasure Act, mean that more new discoveries can go on public display.
image: Open Government Licence v3.0
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IHBC 2023 School launched: #IHBCSwansea2023 booking opens for ‘Climate Change and the Historic Environment; Resilience and Performance’, in-person and online, 21-24 June 2023
IHBC’s Council on 30 March saw the booking open for our 2023 Annual School, #IHBCSwansea2023, examining ‘Climate Change and the Historic Environment’, offering current thinking on addressing climate change in the historic environment, with up to 4 days of IHBC-recognised CPD in person and online.
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IHBC’s Toolbox update on LA conservation jobs in England: ‘Market Intelligence’ Research Note from IHBC’s 2022 ‘Jobs etc.’ posts
The IHBC’s first Research Note (RN) for 2023 (RN2023/1) has been posted on the IHBC’s ToolBox, offering our annual update of ‘Market Intelligence’ on England’s local authority (LA) conservation-related jobs, based on our ‘IHBC Jobs etc.’ service.
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IHBC’s HESPR pick ‘double up’ from £815K costed works: Lighthouse-linked improvements and fire safety upgrade in London icon, £250K total
The IHBC’s heritage business register HESPR – our Historic Environment Service Providers Recognition quality assurance service – emails members weekly ‘News and Tender Alerts’, and the IHBC Director’s pick for this week features a double-up call on a fire safety upgrade in a London modernist icon and lighthouse-related service improvements, due various dates, £250K total.
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter could get a farm, café & community space on a car park roof
Birmingham Live reports on a proposal that could see Slow Food Birmingham build a farm on the Vyse Street car park.
image: for illustration only – By JimmyGuano – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34431206
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City of London says: ‘Consider green alternatives to demolition’
Developers in the City of London will be asked to consider alternatives to demolition at the earliest stage of the planning process – in a ‘pioneering’ scheme aimed at reducing the Square Mile’s carbon footprint.
image: for illustration – © User:Colin and Kim Hansen / Wikimedia Commons
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DCMS: Now recruiting DCMS Departmental Non-Executive Board Members, closing 7/04
DCMS seeks Non-Executive Board Members (including a Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee), for 20 day(s) @ £15K to £20K p.a., closing 7 April.
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Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, conservation architect and past president of the RIAS has died
Scotland’s most renowned conservation architect of recent times, Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, has died at the age of 96.
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Richard Rogers’ Channel 4 HQ listed GII
Richard Rogers’ Channel 4 Headquarters building in Westminster has been granted Grade II-listed status amid concerns for the future of the 1990s high-tech building.
image: for illustration – By Tim Benedict Pou – Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56639883
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Reshuffle at the Construction Leadership Council (CLC)
The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has reorganised its leadership, putting the man in charge of building the controversial Lower Thames Crossing in charge of ecology and environmental issues.
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ARB consultation on ‘Tomorrow’s Architects’: On ‘…comprehensive reforms to the education and training’, closing 10/05
The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has launched a consultation on comprehensive reforms to the education and training of architects, closing on Wednesday 10 May 2023.
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Seven theatres awarded funding to improve environmental sustainability
The latest round of the Theatre Improvement Scheme in association with the Wolfson Foundation has awarded a total of £124,000 in grants to seven theatres.
image: for illustration – The Theatres Trust
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The Prince’s Foundation opens applications to new Building Crafts Programme, from July 2023, closes 3/04
Applications are open now for The Prince’s Foundation Building Craft Programme’s new course, to commence in July, and close on 3 April.
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IHBC Director features recent CPP APPG Inquiry Report on BEFS Blog
In a blog on BEFS’ Bulletin, IHBC Director Sean O’Reilly has offered his own take on the progress, relevance and application to BEFS and other national networks of the IHBC-supported and UK-wide All Party Parliamentary Group for Conservation Places and People (CPP APPG).
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