IHBC NewsBlogs

The IHBC’s annual Gus Astley Student Award celebrates relevant coursework from ANY UK taught course – history, planning, design, enhancement and more– so just submit your coursework online for a chance to receive up to a £500 cash prize and participate in the IHBC’s next Annual School, #IHBCBrighton2021.

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The IHBC has welcomed the launch by Building People and Designing Buildings Wiki (DBW) – host platform for the IHBC’s Conservation Wiki – of a new support service, ‘People Wiki’, a free, open access knowledge sharing platform for diversity and inclusion.

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The 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’, with notices from across the development sector’s publications, and this week features Designing Buildings Wiki (DBW) – host platform for the IHBC’s Conservation Wiki– on ‘Spacesaving in US homes – the History of ‘Pocket Doors’.

image: DBW

A pocket door is a sliding door that disappears completely into a space that has been created in the adjacent wall.

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Historic England (HE) has awarded £250,000 towards the restoration of the world’s oldest operational vehicular suspension bridge, reports The Berwick Advertiser.

“This bridge means so much to so many people….”

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The history Irish conservation complements beautifully that of the UK, so if your knowledge needs a boost then UCD Assistant Professor Arthur Parkinson’s feature from issue 163 of Context. on historic building conservation in Ireland, explains its development and context, including the formation of key Irish agencies such as An Taisce (1948) and the Irish Georgian Society (1958), as well as core legislation.

…the historic built environment was for many years not valued to the same degree as in many other western European countries.

image: Context 163, p14 – Arthur Parkinson

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Judges in the fifth year of the IHBC Marsh Awards – for Successful Learning in Heritage Skills and Community Contribution (Retired Member) – are delighted to announce the 2020 IHBC Marsh Awards, including certificates and cash awards up to £500, to:

• David Lovie, IHBC’s late Past President and North Branch member, for Community Contributions by a Retired Member of the IHBC

• Paula Baron, Successful Learning in Heritage Skills, at the Canal & River Trust (CRT)

• Andy Barrow from the Building Crafts College (BCC) in London, ‘Highly Commended’ under the same award.

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The IHBC’s annual Gus Astley Student Award celebrates relevant coursework from ANY UK taught course – history, planning, design, enhancement and more– so just submit your coursework online for a chance to receive up to a £500 cash prize and participate in the IHBC’s next Annual School, #IHBCBrighton2021.

Closes 31 August 2020!

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The Victorian Society (Vic Soc) is offering the chance to hear leading historians, authors, architects and curators speak on a wide range of topics in new online lectures, hosted on Crowdcast, with current topics ranging from wallpapers to pubs!

…take the opportunity to find some low-cost CPD.

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The IHBC’s heritage business register HESPR – our Historic Environment Service Providers Recognition quality assurance scheme for heritage services working to the IHBC’s standards – emails its members weekly ‘News and Tender Alerts’, and the IHBC Director’s top pick this week features an English Borough Council (BC) seeking a Town Centre Masterplan ‘emphasising the need for investment and regeneration’, closing 14 September and valued £160-200K.

The IHBC Director’s pick …. this week features an English BC seeking a Town Centre Masterplan…

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The construction of Birmingham’s second-tallest skyscraper has been cast into doubt after a High Court judge granted permission for a judicial review into the project, reports Birmingham Live, as the High Court said that not enough weight had been given to the concerns raised over heritage considerations.

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Conservation ethics lies at the heart of the IHBC’s CPD, and we all must question how much we really know about the differences between ‘restoration’ and ‘repair’ and their histories, so the new story of Henry Cotton and James Graves in Ireland – the first highlight of the Victorian debate about the hazards of restoration caused by those tempted to make architectural improvements – is a ground-breaking update, recounted in issue 163 of Context by one of Ireland’s most distinguished architectural historians.

image: Context 163, p22 – Frederick O’Dwyer

Curiously the practice of differentiating replacement stones had been in use in Ireland since….1848/49….

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