Heritage & Culture

Our experience in Heritage & Cultue 

Many companies avoid working with historic buildings because of the difficulties they present. But we love it — we have a passion for preserving our heritage. Our heritage team has over 25 years’ experience developing the specialist skills needed in this sensitive environment.

Preserving heritage

People come to us for help on a variety of projects. In fact 80% of our business is from repeat customers. This includes historic and cultural buildings, new buildings near historic sites, and adapting or altering iconic and listed late 20th Century buildings.

Restoring and preserving listed buildings presents a range of unique challenges. The work often involves:

• Projects with multiple stakeholders
• Obtaining listed building consents
• Conservation plans
• The sourcing of materials
• The need for specialist trades
• The risk of unexpected costs

A key factor is the need for specialist knowledge in traditional crafts, materials and skills. Projects often involve the use of stone masonry, flint work, historic joinery and ironwork, and the use of rare local materials. 

Attention to detail

There’s something very special about this kind of work. In these types of projects considerable emotions are often involved. We work sensitively to balance maintaining the authenticity and integrity of buildings with new uses and alterations that can prolong their useful life.

We understand and support the key conservation principles of minimum intervention and reversibility.

Managing costs

Heritage work can be complex. Our experience of listed buildings, specialist building techniques and procurement knowledge enables our experts to evaluate risk, set realistic programmes and establish sound budgets.