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News Release from: TPS | Subject: Steve Child On Heritage Projects
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 October 2004
Giving The Past A Future Is Child's Play
Steve Child, director of project management at TPS Schal, reviews some challenging heritage projects in the UK.
This country is renowned the world over for its heritage With a long history, many of its cities are enriched by examples of superbly designed and constructed buildings and public areas, some dating from hundreds of years ago, and others more recent
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 19 Aug 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Many are now being listed and protected, but that was not always the case, through a combination of more enlightened public interest, more skillful conversion techniques and more public money earmarked for preservation.
Some of the most exciting and challenging heritage projects in the UK have been managed by TPS Schal.
These have ranged from refurbishment of New Wing (1780) Somerset House, remodelling Trafalgar Square and programme of work at Osborne House, to construction of the new Royal Opera House and redevelopment of the Tate Modern.
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Steve Child, director of project management at TPS Schal, has seen a change in the way historic buildings are now being treated.
In the not-so-distant past, older buildings were seen as being far too difficult to modernise, being simply demolished to make way for glass and concrete replacements: "Today far more buildings are being restored and converted.
A classic example of this is the Foreign and Commonwealth building on Whitehall, designed by George Gilbert Scott and Matthew Digby Wyatt, and built between 1861 and 1875.
Back in the 1970s, there were plans to demolish this magnificent building and replace it with a modern purpose-built office for central government.
But in 1984 work started on the project, which by 1997 was finished with the complete restoration of the whole complex.
"Not only were we able to retain the historic elements but we created a 20 per cent increase in usable office space, thus keeping our heritage but with a modern improvement.
Now the building is also open to the public on selected days of the year - a hidden jewel that we can now at least get a glimpse of." Even buildings not really thought of as being architectural masterpieces, but still of great importance, are being retained.
"Who would have thought even 15 years ago that we would be celebrating the conversion of a redundant power station into a major museum of modern art?," continued Steve Child.
The change of attitude results from far greater awareness by the public of the importance of these buildings.
There has also been an increase in funding availability, especially through the Heritage Lottery Fund, and an increase in innovation to find new uses for these historic and important buildings.
However, this change has resulted in these projects becoming far more complex.
Special consideration and skills are required for restoration and conversions for modern uses.
Historic palaces, and even Victorian buildings, were not designed to accommodate modern building services, technology or even electricity.
"I am in a very privileged position," Steve Child confided.
"Many of our clients have buildings that are of historic importance.
These need careful treatment if we are to retain a sense of the past, but at the same time create a future viable use.
"The Ministry of Defence has a major historic estate and its own in-house historic specialists.
At RAF Chicksands, we were able to work with them and English Heritage to convert Chicksands Priory, long abandoned and disused, into a useful and very interesting new military accommodation building.
With elements from the 12th century right up to the 1940s, and a Grade 1 Scheduled Ancient Monument, the Priory has a fascinating past and now for the first time in over 50 years has a future too." At Osborne House, Queen Victoria's retreat on the Isle of Wight, TPS Schal was the project manager for English Heritage on a programme of works to further improve the visitor experience.
Whilst it was already a major tourist attraction, this did not stop the work of restoration and changes for the future.
The latest additions included the reopening of the walled garden and, for the first time, access to the lower floors.
Another project which required both considerable restorative expertise and project management skills was the remodelling of Trafalgar Square in London.
Work was completed last summer to make London's premier tourist attraction more accessible to pedestrians, improve the general environment and lighting around the square, and reconfigure the traffic routes.
"This was a very complex project," explained Steve Child: "The square is surrounded by the greatest concentration of listed buildings in the UK.
The work involved almost 130 consultative bodies, and included some of the busiest thoroughfares in London, both for traffic and pedestrians, all of which had to remain open throughout the works." St George's Hall in Liverpool is a well-known landmark, one of the finest neo-classicalbuildings in the country, and is a typical example of a complex historic building project.
Built in 1854, it is central to the cultural heart of Liverpool.
After years of partial use, a project with the aim to open up a major part of the building for public use was started.
It had multiple funders, with a mixture of new and existing uses, which required both conservation of the old and modernisation to conform to fire and disabled access regulations.
"These are just some of the management issues we face today as project managers, many even before building work starts," continued Steve Child.
"A project manager's job is to take the project from conception to completion - anticipating problems, planning the next move, helping to match aspirations with practical reality." The number of projects involving historic or important buildings is likely to continue to increase.
Dealing with the complexity and reality of these projects will continue to be an essential, if rare, skill.
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