taking the past into the future

       

Have you ever wondered how other institutional users cope with their ageing historic buildings bursting at the seams and  sometimes seemingly impossible to adapt to 21st century standards?

 

Scratched your head over where to get the right materials and craftsmen who know how to use them?

 

Battled with the local authority over altering your stately pile to suit the school's needs, or adding new buildings to complement what you already have?

 

Lost sleep over leaking rooves, dry rot and draughty windows?

 

Want to do the right thing but need some pointers on where to start and, just as importantly, how to carry on?
 
You're not alone.

 

 

Over eight hundred historic houses in England were taken into educational use in the 20th century, mostly after each of the two World Wars. More than five hundred are still in use as schools, colleges and universities- if you're reading this, you're probably one of them. And now your infrastructure is creaking. Services are wearing out and need replacing, pupils and students need heating, electricity, privacy and wifi. Buildings need to be made more secure, more accessible and fire-resistant. And the burden of compliance with standards such as NMSBS, DDA and HMOs doesn't, unfortunately, get any lighter. Day to day maintenance is a challenge, with small repairs requiring specialist craftsmen and materials which seem to be impossible to get.

In the present economic conditions, you may be taking a long hard look at your most expensive and most valuable assets. Are you really getting value for money? Could you be using them more effectively and generating more income?

 

Instead of raising funds for new buildings, do you have redundant historic buildings on the estate which could be converted to some other use within the organisation or even disposed of to raise funds for other purposes- like repairs and alterations to key buildings elsewhere?

 

How far do you have to go to satisfy listed buildings rules and regulations? How can you engineer some flexibility into them?

 

Are you fighting a never-ending battle of repair and maintenance? What will happen if you leave that slipped roof tile/rattling window/damp patch until some future time when funds might be less tight?