April’s CIOB virtual event showcased the best in thinking around heritage issues
April’s CIOB Conservation Conference was a success, with more than 300 people joining the virtual event.
The conference, on the theme of Balancing Heritage and Sustainability, explored achievements in sustainable construction in the heritage sector and the future of environmental performance of heritage and traditional building stock. Speakers from different fields showcased best practice, retrofit standards, science and the latest research.
Sarah Staniforth CBE, president emeritus at the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and an English Heritage Trustee, showed how the impact of climate change can be hard to anticipate.
She discussed how heritage organisations have shifted from a focus on protection from fires to a focus on flood events, and reflected that recent experiences are, however, seen as learning opportunities, rather than losses or disasters.
Rob Woodside, conservation and estates director at English Heritage, said that it feels like English Heritage is in the eye of the storm with the recent collapse of part of the wall of Hurst Castle near Lymington, Hampshire, built in Tudor times by Henry VIII.
Charlotte Morley, sustainability manager at Sir Robert McAlpine, the event’s sponsor, gave an overview of some of the challenges and positives of working on historic buildings and heritage refurbishments, while also picking up on how it can be part of a package of best practice.
