Contemporary Solutions to Age-Old Problems

Held at STEAM, Swindon on 26 November 2009

The UK has as many historic buildings as in all the countries in Europe put together and we are rightly proud of our architectural heritage. But are we trying to preserve these buildings at the expense of the environment?

Many aspects of historic building preservation are compatible with the principles of sustainable design – making use of local, low impact materials, employing natural, unprocessed materials and using passive solar gain – but there are others that are in apparent opposition.

Approaches can differ radically and this conference sought to explore these challenges using case studies to illustrate where collaboration.

Featured RIBA President Ruth Reed, Kevin McCloud, RIBA South West chair Mark Kemp, Duncan McCallum (English Heritage), Chris Pound RIBA/RTPI, Chris Curtis (National Trust), Jackie Gillespie (Gillespie Yunnie Architects), John Willoughby and Paul King (UK Green Building Council).

Key presentations: