Building Conservation Strategies

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle AND REMOVE

Building conservation is important for contemporary architects and designers as they renovate, overhaul, and/or restore spaces. The idea of preserving Victorian architectural elements, for example, can have an enriching quality to any contemporary project. Restoring a centuries-old structure, on the other hand, has the ability to better anchor a neighborhood in its history. Both instances of building conservation have a particular charm about them.

Olivia Smith, an emerging designer attending the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, has critically looked into building conservation with their project Towards a Future Heritage. Smith's concept explores new ways of preserving heritage-listed buildings that enable "new generations to continue to make their mark on the building too." The concept relies on a layered approach where "a prosed vacuum protects the existing materials."