Perceptibility of barriers and threats to successful and sustainable restoration of Heritage Buildings. A perspective of UK’s heritage practitioners

Purpose of this paper The research set out to examine whether, among heritage practitioners, there is unanimity as well as notable discrepancies in what they perceive as the barriers and threats to the successful and sustainable restoration of heritage buildings. Design/methodology/approach The study collected data from 87 practitioners. These included professional building surveyors, conservation officers, designers, main heritage as well as specialist heritage subcontractors. This heterogeneous sample was subject to the same research instrument. The data generated was chiefly non-parametric. Findings Principally, the notable barriers explored are ‘Prognosis–intervention barriers’. These are represented by a lack of knowledge about the principles of conservation and repair; followed by inconsistent repair standards. Even among the most dexterous heritage practitioners, the study noted a marked variation in the prognosis of structural failure as well as routine inconsistencies in the defects diagnosis methods. These challenges are contemporaneous within the sector as the likes of Historical England, (as custodians of Ancient Monuments) are continually seeking long term, and in some cases imminent interventional solutions. It is worrisome, however, to note that the custodians themselves are trapped in paralysis as the cycle between episodes of intervention become longer. The corollary is that, throughout the UK, most grade 1, grade II* and Ancient Monument structures are making the ‘risk register’: too many buildings, face the threat of being lost foreover. Research limitations The study concludes that a wider UK sample will be needed. This is because some of the applied technologies, preferred by practictioners, are not widely practised, especially in a sector where planning consent and wholesome depature from established principles, the local siginifcance attached to buildings are not only inimitable but demand solutions which are intagible and incomparable. Practical implications Within the heritage sector, the ongoing concerns about the slow rate of sustainable restoration merits considerable attention. Likewise, the challenges intrisic in the technical heritage doctrines such as ‘reversibility’ should in turn, be embraced as offering sustainable low carbon retrofit solutions. Indeed, by putting emphasis on the ‘reversibility’ ethos, a multi-perspective analysis unveils the fact that among practitioners, a sense of optimism is generally lacking. The study concludes that the sector lacks ‘can-do’ attitudes. As a result, it is diffuclt to innovate and to find solutions to the inexorable cycle of disrepair and the enormous restoration bill, currently estimated to run into several billions of Pound sterling. Sadly, locked-in with this, is the enormous high carbon foot print due to the ensuing restoration and repair activity.