Planning permission, especially regarding listed buildings is quite a complex area to say the least! Increasingly so and ever more demanding. Controlling authorities have less and less time and often struggle with the amount of resource they have available. That all makes for a difficult process that takes skill and knowledge to smoothly negotiate. Heritage architects specialise in finding clever ways through this myriad of complexities and difficulties to achieve results that are acceptable to the authorities and provide a solution that offers the property owner the best result.
Listed building planning approvals may involve Historic England or local area authorities Conservation Officers. Regardless a good heritage architect works skilfully with the guidelines and subjective rules to result in innovative and excellent solutions that achieve listed building consent. Sometimes adaptation or extra information is required, but perseverance results in a solution suitable to all.
Listed buildings are not museums where nothing about them can change. The proper heritage architect can sometimes get listed building planning approved for many changes and interventions; however, changes must follow guidelines and be executed in a controlled way that minimises any effect on what is important. If possible the new must fit to the old, they may be subservient, reversible, and clearly differentiated as not original.
The best way to view it is that the building is the patient, not the owner. A good heritage architect understands the owner’s needs and finds a way to meet them that benefits the “patient” the building without causing harm. This approach ensures the proposal is acceptable for listed building consent and offers the owner a viable solution.
Heritage architects must be prepared to stand their ground with owners, some of whom are accustomed to getting their way and may struggle to understand why they can’t have exactly what they want. A skilled heritage architect explains the significance of the building’s features and why they should be preserved, while working to propose alternative solutions that meet the owner’s needs without compromising the building’s heritage value.
Heritage Architects Specialising in Listed Building Planning
