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General Information
Conjecture
Restoration and reconstruction aim at revealing cultural and historical values and should have authenticity as their base. Ideally, conjecture should not play a part in the process. However, in pragmatic terms, there may be occasions when educated conclusions can be implemented in order to ensure the viability of the whole project.
Identification of new work
All significant new work should be recorded, and identifiable, by documentation or photographic processes and be visually identifiable where appropriate. Reversibility Where any intervention in an historic building is planned, the concept of reversibility should be applied where possible. The endeavour should be that no work is undertaken which precludes the possibility of return to the original state. Major intervention may be required to enable a building to survive, particularly as a result of a new usage. In all conversions the work should be limited to essentials and the approach should be that as little damage as possible is done to the building, and that all good architectural detail is retained. Any element of significance, unavoidably removed, should be kept safely, so that reinstatement is possible in the future.
Sustainable conservation
The process of conservation is an attempt to ensure the long term survival of our heritage. Part of this process involves finding appropriate uses for historic buildings, encouraging building owners to carry out proper maintenance and repair and promoting the purchase of buildings which have been abandoned.
Modern Solutions
In setting out the above principles, ingenuity in providing modern solutions to facilitate a change of use in a building, should not be ruled out, as the survival of the building may depend on such solutions.
