City & Country launch SOAL with TV’s ‘Restoration Man’
To coincide with the publication of English Heritage’s 2011 Heritage at Risk Register, City & Country Group and architect George Clarke have launched a joint campaign – Save Our Architectural Legacy (SOAL). With over 5,000 of England’s most important Grade I and II* listed buildings shown to be at risk*, the Essex-based restoration experts are working with TV’s ‘Restoration Man’ to raise awareness of the country’s collection of historic assets and urging people to recognise the importance of protecting them.
Launched at a time when the public sector faces difficult choices about how to fulfil their responsibilities with reduced resources, forcing many to look at their estates management and dispose of buildings that they either no longer require or cannot afford to maintain, the SOAL campaign is particularly designed to highlight that in the wrong hands these civic properties could be demolished, damaged irrevocably or left to go to ruin.
George Clarke comments: “We decided to launched the SOAL campaign because across the country, thousands of old buildings lie forgotten and neglected, tangled up by red tape and development restrictions; this has particularly come into focus since the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, which has resulted in Council’s selling off civic buildings across the country. Many of these properties are steeped in history and are of outstanding architectural interest, yet are being forgotten about. We wanted to raise the profile of these important buildings and get people talking about how we can save them.”
While George’s ‘The Restoration Man’ programme is billed as featuring “buildings that no other sane developer would touch with a bargepole”; rather than shying away from complex conservation projects, City & Country Group embraces them, and has developed an outstanding reputation as ‘best in class’ for the sensitive restoration and conversion of neglected historic buildings and delivering the heritage-led regeneration associated with these projects. Working together since May 2011, both George and City & Country Group think alike when it comes to the UK’s historic buildings.
Helen Moore, Residential Managing Director at City & Country Group, comments: “This country is blessed by an architectural legacy of truly exceptional buildings, but sadly many of these have been neglected or spoilt by very insensitive additions over the years. We recognise the plight of these historic assets and as responsible developers we work closely with local authorities and English Heritage to ensure that the some of the best examples of architecture are restored to their former glory. By giving these buildings a totally new lease of life and converting them into unique and sought-after homes we can secure their long term future.”
Helen continues: “For all the successes, the outlook for buildings at risk is worrying. The current economic climate is making it difficult for many other developers and self-builders to secure the investment needed to breathe new life into neglected buildings. There is always a particular type of challenge when restoring historic buildings. We work with the historic grain of the building to find imaginative and viable solutions to ensure that we can bring buildings back into valuable use. Our highly trained craftsmen use traditional skills to ensure that the building is authentically restored.”
George concludes: “The plight of Britain's architectural heritage is a cause that is close to my heart and through the SOAL campaign, I hope that we can make more people aware of the fantastic architectural legacy we have just sitting there redundant and at risk of being lost forever.”
You can join the debate now about what needs saving plus upload your images to City & Country Group’s Flickr Group at flickr.com/groups/soal or the SOAL page at soal.org.uk. City & Country will be selecting one photo weekly as our ‘SOAL Building of the Week’ and George Clarke will be highlighting a photo each month.
All of City & Country’s developments fuse the architecture of the past, with the best of contemporary design. City & Country Group’s developments include Old Saint Michaels in Braintree, a former Victorian workhouse, The Galleries in Brentwood, an early Victorian Hospital and Balls Park, a landmark 17th century mansion, on the outskirts of Hertford built circa 1648. City & Country is also creating exclusive homes and ensuring the delivery of a museum for the Battle of Britain Trust in the historically significant 17th century mansion house at RAF Bentley Priory, one of the most important buildings of the Battle of Britain and the Second World War.
For further information, on any of City & Country Group’s developments, visit cityandcountry.co.uk.
