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This publication on traditional windows covers both timber and metal windows and is aimed at building professionals and property owners. It sets out to challenge some common perceptions about traditional windows and to demonstrate their significance by charting their history over centuries of technical development and fashion. Detailed technical advice is then provided on their maintenance, repair and thermal upgrading as well as on their restoration.

When historic buildings are left vacant they are at a greatly increased risk of damage and decay as well as being a potential blight on their locality. The best way to protect a building is to keep it occupied, even if the use is on a temporary or partial basis. It is inevitable that some historic buildings will struggle to find any use, especially in areas where the property market is weak and the opportunities for sale or re-use are limited. However, such buildings may become centrepieces of f...

The contributions to this book consider recent developments in the protection and care of twentieth-century buildings and examines the philosophical, methodological and practical problems associated with conserving our recent past. Part I discusses philosophy, protection and management. Part II investigates the progress that has been made in dealing with the practical issues of conserving modern buildings, with special attention given to common materials such as concrete and metal windows. A sel...

The conference entitled 'Where Conservation Meets Conservation', held at De Montfort University, Leicester on 9 September 2002 provided the opportunity to explore the interface between historic buildings and their contents by recognizing the interrelationships between architectural and object conservation. Within this, consideration was given to the role of conservation science and technology in achieving appropriate and sustainable solutions. The emphasis of the conference was on raising awaren...

Few people today have ever heard of him, but in the early years of the twentieth century, Samuel Untermyer took on the rich, the entrenched establishment, the robber barons, and the most powerful corporations in America. He also turned his estate into one of the most extensive and ambitious gardens of the Gilded Age. Located on the banks of the Hudson, it boasted extravagant structures based on Greek models, 60 greenhouses, and a staff of 60 gardeners. After Untermyer’s death, the garden went in...

Presented in a straightforward and highly readable style, these two volumes offer an in-depth guide to all aspects of brickwork and bricklaying practice. Gerard Lynch has put together these comprehensive and instructive volumes linking past knowledge and practices with modern skills and materials, so that both can be fully examined and understood. Volume 1 begins with a background to the historical development of the brick, the craft of bricklaying and of brickwork from the 13th century to the p...

This authoritative book offers contributions from leading practitioners and scholars presenting an assessment of the current state of conservation in the UK. It raises concerns about the ambivalence within government towards heritage protection. It considers the need for a clear understanding of the value of architectural heritage; the importance of training; adequate funding for maintenance, and support at a local and community level. It also discusses the role of the amenity societies and prov...

This study examines the various processes and the methods of determining urban stone decay. The contributions include coverage of: spatial variability of dissolution on a limestone surface; ageing of consolidated stone; and techniques for making contemporary copies of stone antiquities.

William Millar's classic book "Plastering Plain and Decorative" is universally referred to as the 'Plasterer's Bible'. It was first published in 1897 and was clearly a great success, with a second edition following a couple of years later in 1899 and a third edition in 1905 (a reprint of the first edition is available from Donhead). In 1927 the publishers, B. T. Batsford Ltd, decided that it was time to republish Millar's 'magnus opus', but that the fourth edition should be revised and updated....

Developments in the use of paint analysis techniques for researching the painted interiors and exteriors of our most prestigious historic buildings has been extremely important in helping to maintain the integrity of historic structures while they are being conserved. It has given a broader dimension to architectural study, in many cases by showing how particular buildings and rooms were used, and also offering a better appreciation of the nature and constituents of historic paint. Paul Hasluck'...

Sir Roger Pratt's "Rules for the Guidance of Architects", written on 7 December 1665, included the following statements which embody succinctly the principles of the specification of building works and indeed of contract administration, and are as true today as they were nearly 350 years ago: To determine anything without due premeditation is rashness. Not to come to any determination in a convenient time is an effect either of ignorance or sloth. To wittingly omit to do that at the first, which...

Since the adoption of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, the notion that cultural and natural heritage need to be protected and properly utilized has gained popularity. Over time, however, such utilization concepts were less focused on ideas of sustainability and became increasingly influenced by commercial interests. For the first time, this publication attempts to elaborate the development of the World Heritage Convention, the Convention itself in its different facets and how it evolved in...

Some 40 percent of North Americans live in homes built prior to 1940, and when it comes time to remodel or restore our older homes, homeowners and contractors can find themselves lost in a morass of wildly divergent information and opinion. With Green Restorations, author Aaron Lubeck brings his expertise as a restoration contractor and preservation consultant to this first-of-its-kind guide, leading the reader through the steps for restoring historic buildings using sustainable practices and gr...

This volume offers valuable insights into the nature of decay processes and the factors that control them. It presents several studies on the impact of pollution on stonework in urban environments. Important methodological contributions cover: the mapping of facades to explain rates of decay associated with conservation actions; the laboratory simulation of corrosion in polluted atmospheres; the quantification of colour change through a study of the artificial ageing of building stone. The effec...