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Heritage across Europe: how each country treats what it has inherited — Part 4: The Netherlands Amsterdam is built on a swamp. That is not a metaphor. The historic city centre sits on reclaimed marshland, and the canal houses that line its famous waterways — some of the most recognisable domestic architecture in the world […]

A craftsman’s guide to working alongside nature on historic facades You’re up on the scaffold. The work is going well. You open up a joint, start removing a section of failed render, or lift a loose tile from a cornice — and something moves. A bat. A swift. A kestrel looking back at you from

Heritage across Europe: how each country treats what it has inherited — Part 3: Spain Every city in this series has its own particular heritage challenge. Porto’s is scale — too many azulejo façades, too few people who know how to repair them. Bamberg’s is complexity — the half-timbered house as a multi-trade restoration problem

Heritage across Europe: how each country treats what it has inherited — Part 2: Germany Germany takes its heritage seriously. Perhaps more seriously, in certain respects, than any other country in Europe — and with good reason. The destruction wrought by the Second World War gave an entire generation a visceral understanding of what it

Heritage across Europe: how each country treats what it has inherited — Part 1: Portugal This is the first in a series of posts that will travel across Europe, city by city, looking at how different countries approach the restoration and preservation of their historic built heritage. Not from a tourist’s perspective — from a

Part of the series: Joints, Mortar and the Art of Repointing Historic Facades In the previous post in this series, we looked at mortar — what goes into it, what to leave out, and why getting the mix right is the foundation of everything that follows. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s worth starting

Part of the series: Joints, Mortar and the Art of Repointing Historic Facades Before we talk about joint styles — and there are more than most people realise — we need to talk about what goes into them. Mortar. It sounds simple. Sand and something to bind it. But the choice of binder, the ratio

A personal story and an open question to the Guild There’s a technique that’s been showing up more and more in restoration circles lately —tuckpointing. Clean lines, sharp results, unmistakably precise. If you’ve seen it done well, you understand why people are talking about it. But the first time I came across something similar, it

An opinion, an invitation, and an open discussion for the Guild Once the preparation is done properly — and if you haven’t read the previous post on metallising and 2K paint, start there — the question that remains is one that divides craftspeople more than almost any other. What colour do you paint it? For

A technical discussion for the Guild — and anyone who owns an Art Nouveau façade There’s a conversation that doesn’t happen often enough in restoration circles. Notabout what colour to paint historic ironwork. Not about which style to preserve or how toapproach the decorative details. It’s about what happens before any of that. The preparation.