Our Associate Architect Amy Redman is back from a hands-on working party in Alstonefield, Staffordshire. Organised by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) it was also her chance to catch up with Scholars on the 2024 SPAB programme, including a former colleague, Sarika Jhawar.
The SPAB’s scholarship programme is a nine-months travelling scholarship awarded to three or four candidates each year. It takes Scholars to the far corners of the British Isles and sometimes further, to learn about building conservation in the most practical sense.
The practice has four Scholars, Directors Paul Crosby and Chloe Granger, Associate Amy Redman and fellow architect James Innerdale. We are very lucky to have this community of brilliant people within, and out of, our practice to collaborate with. Sarika’s has four months left of hers which she is thoroughly enjoying.
As part of our heritage consultancy service, we provide advice on the maintenance, conservation and renovation of ancient buildings so a SPAB scholarship education is invaluable to our practice. It also means we are linked to other Scholars and SPAB Fellows across the country, which benefits clients and keeps us up to date on the latest approaches.
Learning by doing on working parties
The SPAB believes that the best way to learn traditional building skills is through hands-on experience and we agree. The working parties offer a unique opportunity to learn from some of the country’s leading craftspeople. It’s also an opportunity to share our skills and knowledge with others and to further support the SPAB in their mission to protect and conserve old buildings.
Workstations at July’s working party included lime pointing and tending, lime plastering, re-roofing in Staffordshire Blue tiles, banker masonry and stone carving. There was also drystone walling, carpentry and structural timber repairs, conservation cleaning, stained and plain glass conservation, limewashing and lime burning.
