Educational Buildings – Protecting our heritage for the minds of tomorrow
Stonewest NewsBy Andy Ball, Business Development & Technical Director
Commitment to training and continuous learning & development is at the very heart of our business. So, it will be no surprise to learn that Stonewest has a long-standing association with the education sector, from protecting and conserving heritage school buildings, to restoring and ensuring the longevity of existing structures and creating new educational centres.
Importance of Built Heritage in Education
Built heritage in the education sector is of great importance and interest; these buildings are often steeped in history of our countries development and are also of great architectural, aesthetic, social and cultural value. In some cases these buildings have scientific value where higher education centres have been at the centre of innovation and discovery which have had a positive effect on human development. As such, these structures deserve protection and conservation to ensure their survival, and allowing them to serve future generations of students for years to come.
Our Expertise & Experience
As a Built Heritage Contractor in Conservation, Restoration and New Build Traditional Masonry operating as both Principal and Specialist Contractor, Stonewest is perfectly positioned to provide our range of services in support of our education sector Clients and their professional teams. We have broad experience delivering packages of conservation and restoration work within an educational setting, working in and around the daily activities of schools, colleges and universities.
We understand and appreciate the needs of the educational settings we work in and ensure our services do not disturb the educators and students we support with our project work. We have long standing associations with many well-known education establishments, and this is due to our care and consideration for the needs of these places. We can offer the following services to support project development and delivery.
- Consultancy
- Facade Cleaning & Restoration
- Special Works & Term Maintenance
- Conservation
- New Build Masonry
- Internal Finishes
- Hard Landscaping
- Alteration & Intervention
- Principal Contracting
Trends & Driving Change
We have noticed that many educational centres are increasingly looking toward future maintenance and assurance of budgets for the ongoing needs of their built assets. More and more Schools, Universities and Colleges are taking a proactive approach to identifying and planning the upkeep of their building stock and the extent of our consultancy work for them has increased in recent years.
We are often asked to identify the needs of the historic fabric in terms of planned intervention and maintenance. Work identified may range from a very light touch scheme of conservation work to more invasive work involving structural intervention and possibly localised re-building. All work identified being planned out over a 10-year period and categorised by importance based on levels of observed deterioration and or health and safety issues.
Reviving Heritage for Contemporary Use
It has been said by many, that the most sustainable building is an existing one, and we couldn’t agree more. Sustainability sits at the heart of what we do as a business, which is why adaptive reuse and preservation of heritage buildings in an educational setting is so important.
There is no doubt that embodied carbon, released during a building’s lifecycle, can be dramatically reduced by avoiding demolition, and supporting restoration, alteration and retrofit in its place.
Stonewest has worked on several important heritage projects where listed buildings have been revived for contemporary use. A few years ago, we carried out a project for London Business School, previously the Old Marylebone Town Hall, which incorporated a major retrofit process and redevelopment work. This was a fantastic example of how, through careful alteration and intervention, we were able to help transform a magnificent Grade II listed building into a modern, state-of-the-art education centre. The project created seminar and lecture rooms, study areas and social space, increasing teaching areas by 70%.
Pride in our Projects
The Old Palace School in Croydon
A real characterful school with diverse architectural history. We produced this 10-year plan of conservation work using a very gentle approach to the Grade I listed fabric. The buildings making up the school are steeped in history with the involvement of former Archbishops of the Church of England as well as our well-known historical monarchs. The school wanted to have a close look at the condition of their building stock and plan for sustainable measures for maintenance and up-keep. We started the process by procuring otho-mosaic elevation images and detailed CAD building drawings on which to base the rest of our assessment. The BIM model produced as part of this work allowed the school to be able to plan for any future invasive work within a measured digital setting. See more information about this project here.
Carew Academy School
The school had historically undergone cyclical maintenance with inappropriate mortars to the high-level masonry. The initial phase of planned maintenance of our 10-year plan required the identification of materials that were de-bonded and or loose and where these could be safely removed without damaging the historic parent material.
The survey work over a period of weeks was memorable as it was mostly accessed via carefully chosen mobile access equipment to reach the hi-level masonry. The recording and investigation work also coincided with the wettest month on record and the surveyors had to ensure their records and their resolve stood up to the test of the harsh weather. We don’t always get to choose the weather we work in unfortunately but that doesn’t stop the progress of our project work.
Our involvement in the greater Carew Manor park area is currently ongoing with our Special Works Team carrying out the conservation, support and stabilisation of sections of the estate walls. Further details can be found here.
Other notable project examples can be found below:
Carew Manor, image source: https://wandlevalleypark.co.uk/locations/sutton/carew-manor/
