Reversible Installation architecture in an historic setting
— 24 May 2021
A weighty title, but one that is pretty self-explanatory. For anyone who owns or is contemplating buying a historic property, they will know that it is less about ownership and more about being a custodian; taking on a property which has developed over time and taking it onto its next phase of life. This may or may not include converting to another use or adapting to include modern facilities. A reversible installation can allow a historic building to move forward without losing the character gained from its previous phases of development. How can this be put into practice?
- Bespoke Solutions individually tailored to your specific listed building
- Permission for uses that would not normally be allowed in a listed setting
- Bringing modern services and technologies into historic buildings without impacting in historic fabric
- Retaining the beauty and elegance of the artefact
- Modern legible interventions
- Installation as architecture
- Beneficial modern use of listed buildings
In its broadest form this is the bold obviously modern addition to the Grade II listed thatched and cob Farmers Arms Pub in Woolsery.
The new structure is a modern intervention but references vernacular north Devon village buildings. Inspired by rusty corrugated roofs seen in nearly every Devon farmyard the Corten steel roof is a striking and uniform iron oxide covering that sits very comfortably in the village setting and is a striking counterpoint to the thatch and slate of the historic buildings.
On a smaller scale the extension to this Grade II listed Regency Manor is externally ‘in keeping’ with the historic building, however the larder it houses is modern and industrial in style. Burnished wrought iron balustrading and a cast iron mezzanine are in stark contrast to the Regency style of the manor, but high quality finishes allow the new structures to sit harmoniously alongside elegant history.
We will be writing more on this subject in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for more.