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The winner of the IHBC Gus Astley Student Award for 2022 has been selected by guest judge Clara Arokiasamy, President of ICOMOS-UK, as Caitlin Osborne, from Birmingham City University’s IHBC-recognised MA course, for her dissertation, while Martin Whelehan of the Building Crafts College (BCC) is \u2018Highly Commended\u2019 and Catherine Jack, also of BCU, securing the IHBC Bird-Booth Award for a Conservation Management Plan.<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Bob Kindred, IHBC\u2019s lead adviser on the Institute\u2019s Annual Gus Astley Student Award<\/a>s<\/u>, said: \u2018This will be the fifteenth year we have run these prestigious conservation awards and we are very pleased yet again to have received submissions to an impressively high standard.\u2019<\/p>\n Caitlin Osborne\u2019s dissertation – ‘By people, for people, meaningful public engagement & participation in heritage conservation’ \u2013 also secured a distinction on the BCU course.\u00a0 For the IHBC\u2019s Gus Astley Award she receives a \u00a3500 cheque, a certificate, and a free place at the IHBC\u2019s Annual School 2023 to be held in Swansea on 22-24 June.<\/p>\n Judge for the 2022 Awards, Clara Arokiasamy, ICOMOS-UK Chair, said: \u2018Caitlin Osbourn\u2019s study is a timely critical exploration of this issue and provides some clear examples of the differences and benefits between the two models here and abroad. More importantly, she provides a matrix to measure success and offers recommendations for the future for funders and all involved in small and\/or largescale building conservation.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Her research promotes a holistic approach to conservation which takes account of the people who inhabit the settings as much as the buildings located within those places and recommends local people\u2019s involvement in high level decisions as much as in conservation work and stewardship which is key to the sustainability of buildings and achieving value for the money that is invested in them.\u2019<\/p>\n BCU Course Director Katriona Byrne said: \u2018I am delighted that one of our recent students has been awarded the Gus Astley Prize for 2023. Caitlin tackled the issues of community engagement in heritage conservation, particularly in relation to the iconic Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings which lay on her doorstep. She investigated what type of engagement activities were carried out by English Heritage\/Historic England and The Friends of the Flaxmill, how they were received and what people felt at the end of them and about the redevelopment of this ancestor of the skyscraper.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018There are big questions here – how do we reach out to people and how do we ensure that the engagement is meaningful and is taken on board.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Caitlin now works for TDR Heritage, a heritage consultancy based in Shropshire that provides consultancy support on heritage statements, conservation area appraisals, grant applications and the regeneration of historic high streets\u2019.<\/p>\n Caitlin said: \u2018I am so grateful and honoured to have won the IHBC Gus Astley Student Award, and I’m excited to have been given the opportunity to attend the IHBC Annual School in Swansea later this year.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018My dissertation explored what meaningful community engagement with heritage conservation looked like, comparing case studies such as the Rehabilitation of Birzeit in Palestine to the Jubiliee Colliery in Oldham.\u00a0 \u2018This allowed me to fully evaluate and assess Historic England’s approach to community engagement with their flagship project, the Ditherington Flaxmill Maltings in Shrewsbury.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018The dissertation concluded that despite the status and money involved with the Flaxmills conservation, meaningful community engagement and participation was often lacking, and, when it did exist, it was the community volunteer group The Friends of the Flaxmill who truly provided it.\u00a0 Of course, I am indebted to Katriona Byrne and Tim Lewis for their enduring support and belief in me throughout my research and time on my MA at Birmingham City University.\u2019<\/p>\n Martin Whelehan secured a \u2018Highly Commended\u2019 citation on the Gus Astley Award for his Elective Project on the Building Crafts College (BCC) course, Historic Building Conservation.\u00a0 Entitled \u2018Research Through Making – Medieval Inlaid Tiles run by Building Craft College, Stratford\u2019, the citation brings with it a \u00a3200 cheque, a certificate, and a free place at the Annual School 2023 to be held in Swansea on 22-24 June.<\/p>\n BCC Foundation Building Conservation Course Director Steve Houchin said: \u2018Martin’s work \u2013 an in-depth study of the practicalities of recreating medieval inlaid tiles \u2013 was a masterful demonstration of the power and impact of a Research Through Making project.\u00a0 The methodical and meticulous account of the process of identifying and sourcing appropriate materials and of the manufacturing techniques required to reproduce inlaid tiles was exemplary.\u00a0 Above all, Martin’s work provides a paradigm for the specification of materials.\u2019<\/p>\n Martin Whelehan said: \u2018It was a very pleasant surprise to receive the news that I had obtained Highly Commended on the IHBC\u2019s Gus Astley Awards programme\u00a0 for my second-year project.\u00a0 I considered medieval two-colour inlaid floor tiles and incorporated both practical and written elements.\u00a0 The hands-on experience of producing a set of tiles was an enriching process that enhanced my learning and gave me a better understanding of the complexity of tile making, demonstrating to me just how skilled medieval floor tile makers actually were.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Undertaking the Foundation Course in Historic Building Conservation at the Buildings Crafts College, Stratford was a rewarding, enjoyable, and enriching experience. I would like to thank my course leader Steve Houchin and all my other tutors for their help, encouragement, and enthusiasm. I have since gone on to complete a BSc (Hons) in Historic Building Conservation at Kingston University.\u2019<\/p>\n Catherine Jack, also of BCU, won the IHBC Booth-Bird Student Award for a Conservation Management Plan (CMP), an award offered through the Gus Astley Student Award programme.\u00a0 Catherine\u2019s \u2018Conservation Management Plan for New Mill’, was also recognised with a Special Merit citation under the BCU\u2019s Conservation of the Historic Environment PGDip.\u00a0 Her success with the IHBC\u2019s student awards programme brings with it a \u00a3200 cheque, a certificate, and a free place at the IHBC\u2019s Annual School 2023 to be held in Swansea on 22-24 June.<\/p>\n Bob Kindred said: \u2018This submission was very thorough & comprehensive, while operating to established CMP methodology.\u00a0 I thought this was exemplary so I\u2019m delighted it has been identified for special merit in this relatively new IHBC Student Award category.\u2019<\/p>\n Catherine\u2019s Course Director Katriona Byrne said: \u2018I am particularly pleased that one of our current students has been awarded the IHBC\u2019s Booth-Bird Award for a Conservation Management Plan. Catherine Jack looked at the Cross in Hand Windmill, East Sussex. It is a post mill dating to around 1806 and is on the Heritage at Risk register because of its bad and deteriorating internal and external condition. Its significance lies principally in its remarkably complete interior and surviving machinery. Through extensive research including engagement with key stakeholders and Mills specialists and a visit to a similar, but restored, mill she considered hypothetical options for its reuse, including restoration to working order with a heritage skills centre and holiday accommodation. A comprehensive set of policies was compiled to safeguard its significance and sustainably manage it.\u2019<\/p>\n Catherine said: \u2018I am so pleased to have been awarded the Booth-Bird Award for a Conservation Management Plan in this year’s Gus Astley Student Awards.\u00a0 This assignment gave me an enjoyable opportunity to research the mill\u2019s fascinating history and consider its heritage significance in-depth, as well as to explore different ways in which a redundant industrial building such as this might be conserved and brought back into use.\u2019<\/p>\n See more on the Gus Astley Student Award<\/a>, with the next round of submissions closing 31 August 2023<\/p>\n See more background<\/a> to the previous Awards<\/p>\n See more on submitting online<\/a><\/p>\n For more on the IHBC\u2019s Annual Schools HERE<\/a> and on the 2023 Swansea School HERE<\/a><\/p>\n See more on ICOMOS-UK<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The winner of the IHBC Gus Astley Student Award for 2022 has been selected by guest judge Clara Arokiasamy, President of ICOMOS-UK, as Caitlin Osborne, from Birmingham City University’s IHBC-recognised MA course, for her dissertation, while Martin Whelehan of the … Continue reading \u2026 a timely critical exploration\u2026. More importantly, she provides a matrix to measure success and offers recommendations for the future\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n
\u2026 excited to have been given the opportunity to attend the IHBC Annual School\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n
\u2026 masterful demonstration of the power and impact of a Research Through Making project\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n