The Design Process for Conservation Work

When working on old buildings a straight line is a rarity. Historic structures wobble, are out of plumb and are curved by the hands that made them.

The trick, when undertaking conservation work is to not fight this. Going with the fact the building is out of square keeps your intervention to a minimum and makes for a more authentic result. We took this approach for this Grade II listed Devonshire Linhay we worked on a few years ago and these pencil drawings we produced as part of the design process show how wonky some parts of the building were. All part of the charm.