Precious Inheritance: vernacular architecture & conserva

[Nemesis]

tion.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Precious-Inheritance-Conservation-Vernacular-Buildings/dp/images/1905960018

Gervase has posted a review on Amazon. Totally agree. Superb book.




This is a brief overview from the RICS site:

http://www.ricsbooks.com/productInfo.asp?product_id=17201

Precious Inheritance

The Conservation of Welsh Vernacular Buidings

Author: Cliff Blundell

This wide-ranging and authoritative book deals with a series of practical issues in the repair and conservation of old buildings and discuss the many theoretical concerns raised in terms of sustainability and the environment.

In addition to providing a comprehensively detailed and practical guide for owners, builders, and architects, and for planners and regulators, derived from many years of extensive experience, Cliff Blundell tackles the broader questions of the effects of geography, geology, and the climate on building traditions and methods.

The book's primary focus is on local vernacular buildings, including the growing number of traditional farm buildings that are being converted to domestic and business use, and it examines closely the principal considerations in their repair and conservation.

As he demonstrates throughout this important and timely book, Cliff Blundell believes firmly that the use of impervious modern materials - such as cement and plastic-based paints - is actually harmful when applied to solid wall structures.

As he emphasises, for thousands of years the fundamental and sustainable building product was lime in various forms. Now that it has been superseded by cement - a product that is seven times more polluting to create than lime and does not have the same ability to reduce that pollution even further by reabsorbing during its curing process on the wall up to a quarter of the carbon dioxide generated in its manufacture.

These vital considerations - the damage inflicted on an increasingly fragile environment and the acceleration of the decay of the built heritage - are integral to Cliff Blundell's overall approach.

This informed and instructive book emphasises the importance of giving proper attention to a building's history and longevity and to weighing carefully the relevance and appropriateness of roofing, walling, and flooring materials and of windows doors and other features.

Quinto Press Limited ISBN: 9781905960019 Item Code: 17201 110 Pages Paperback Sept 2007 Price: £14.75

Adolygiad Gwales
As is pointed out in the introduction, the conservation and restoration of old buildings has become very popular in recent years. Many of us tune in to the large number of television programmes dedicated to property development, home improvements, ‘grand designs’, etc. Increasingly these programmes include projects where very old houses are being restored and the owners are anxious to maintain the integrity of the building by using materials and methods appropriate to the age of the building.

This instructive book, produced by an expert in conservation of buildings, contributes a wealth of information of use to owners, developers, builders and architects, especially as the author is concerned mainly with vernacular buildings – ‘the small everyday building that ordinary people have lived in for centuries’. We are all familiar with the beautiful old farmhouses dotted around the counties of Wales, and the traditional terraced cottages in valleys. Using stunning photographs and drawings, Cliff Blundell shows how these historic houses can be restored to their former glory, while incorporating the comforts of modern life. His extensive experience allows him to include such chapters as ‘Emotion and Economics’ and ‘Learning from the Past’ as well as a chapter devoted to ‘The Case for Using Lime’ and others on such prosaic topics as ‘Roofs and Floors’ and ‘Windows and Doors’.

For anyone embarking on a project involving the conservation or restoration of a house, this book is an indispensable aid, and all those interested in our buildings and heritage will find a cornucopia of interesting facts and photos here.

Beryl Thomas

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from http://www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar http://www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.

http://www.gwales.com/goto/review/cy/9781905960019/


This book is for anyone and everyone with an interest in the appropriate and sympathetic repair of historic buildings, not only in Wales. Stunning and inspirational pics, and a great deal about the value of lime (and limecrete...).

Buy it!!!!




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http://astore.amazon.co.uk/ukcampaigns-21/detail/1905960018

 

[Schoolmarm]

I ordered this the other day when you first posted a link. It arrived yesterday. Fab book.

 

[Nemesis]

Isn't it - the Other Half is inspired enough to be talking about getting on with some plastering.

Tomorrow. Or the day after... but it is so good that everyone should buy it!

 

[Cloudscape]

I've been browsing through this book - I've yet to find time to sit down and really get into it, but my first impressions are very good. It's interesting (to me) to see colour limewash discussed and in use.

It's nice to have a book that's aimed at the standard/type of house I actually own, rather than one of those books that waffles on about grand mansions, and repairing things I don't have or could never aspire to.

It's interesting that old buildings and the care of them seems to go hand in hand with a kind of passion - emotions, as well as £££, energy, effort and time, are invested.