CONSERVATION V RESTORATION

What is the difference? Simply put, conservation in general terms aims to keep the original as it is, using only era-appropriate traditional finishes and materials, usually carefully cleaning and preventing further deterioration rather than repairing or re-finishing in any way. Restoring involves any process that will make the original look good and function again.

In the case of a building such as a church or castle, we quite often are tasked to repair and restore the property to make it functional again. We do so guided by the principles of conservation.

CONSERVATION PRINCIPLES

In all our work we aim to abide by the principles of conservation and best practice which are:

to respect the property and its part in our heritage
to be familiar with the philosophy of conserving and restoring built heritage
to be familiar with legislation specific to conservation and restoration in addition to standard legislation relating to construction
to perform adequate investigation in advance of commencing any project
to minimise intervention to any part of the property
to support preventive conservation
to respect the principle of reversibility
to use matching materials wherever possible
to appoint experienced specialists as required
to record all our work from start to finish
to ensure appropriate professional supervision is provided by our team