A craftsman’s approach to historic timber on façades — Part 1 of 4 Wood is honest. More honest than stone, more honest than render. It tells you everything about what it has been through — if you know how to read it. Before you open a tin of paint, before you pick up a brush […]

Après un BAC en comptabilité-gestion, Frédéric débute dans le bâtiment comme manœuvre, avant d’apprendre la taille de pierre en compagnonnage pendant cinq ans. En 2008, il fonde son propre atelier : Les Pierres du Temps, à Prayssas. Aujourd’hui certifié Qualibat 2183 pour la restauration de pierre de taille et maçonnerie du patrimoine ancien, son atelier

Understanding the logic of maintenance before it becomes restoration There is a principle built into every well-designed historic facade that most owners never think about — and that most people who work on buildings have never had explained to them clearly. It is the principle of the sacrificial layer. A historic facade is not a

A practical guide for craftspeople and owners of historic buildings Summer is the season when facade cleaning gets planned. The scaffold is up, the weather cooperates, and the building finally looks like it needs attention. Before any cleaning begins — before a single nozzle is pointed at a historic wall — the question that matters

Diplômé en arts appliqués, Pierre a d’abord exercé dix ans comme graphiste à Paris avant de revenir vers la peinture sur verre. Il obtient son certificat de maître verrier en 2016, puis fonde l’Atelier ST en 2019. En 2023, il reçoit le titre de Meilleur Ouvrier de France en Vitraux d’Art, catégorie Cartonnier/Maquettiste — l’une

A technique almost lost, a craft almost forgotten — and a Guild question about who still knows how There are techniques in historic facade restoration that most people have heard of. Stone indents. Consolidation. Buon Fresco. Lead flashing. Moisture mapping.. Lime render. Masonry stitching.Tuckpointing. These words circulate in the profession, appear in heritage documents, and

A growing problem across Europe — and how different countries are handling it You have seen it. Everyone who cares about historic buildings has seen it. A carefully restored 19th century facade. Original stonework, period ironwork, authentic render — everything considered, everything right. And then, screwed directly into the facade at first floor level, a

Maître-verrière installée sur l’Île de Nantes. Formée en architecture puis auprès d’un maître verrier, Hélène exerce son art depuis 2001 — dessinant elle-même ses modèles et façonnant chaque vitrail dans son atelier. Son travail de restauration s’étend au patrimoine protégé : de la chapelle du Carmel apostolique Notre-Dame de Béthléem, à une rosace du XIXe

Heritage across Europe: how each country treats what it has inherited — Part 14: Sweden Every country in this series has its defining material. Portugal has ceramic tile. Germany has sandstone and timber frame. The Netherlands has dense fired brick. Vienna has ornate lime stucco. Prague has Art Nouveau render and unique Cubist geometry. Sweden

Heritage across Europe: how each country treats what it has inherited — Part 13: Czech Republic Prague is, by any measure, one of the most architecturally extraordinary cities in Europe. The medieval Old Town, the Baroque Lesser Town, the Gothic cathedral, the Art Nouveau municipal buildings, the unique Czech Cubist architecture found nowhere else in