SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION - A NEW APPROACH

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1 CONSERVATION PHILOSOPHY AND A NEW APPROACH TO CONSERVATION ISSUES SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION - A NEW APPROACH Conservation must never be regarded as a negative process, as nothing more than antiquarianism Our responsibility towards the historical environment goes beyond simply preventing destruction, essential though it is. It involves actively caring for the heritage, maintaining it in good physical condition, making it readily accessible for study, enjoyment, recreation and tourism. Above all it means ensuring that to the fullest possible extent, the heritage remains in active use as an integral part of the living and working community, a material asset that makes a positive contribution to economic prosperity and quality of life. The Department of National Heritage (UK) 10 December 1998

2 1 Introduction Conservation is about keeping in touch with the past. Buildings are a physical representation of the social and cultural past and conservation secures the protection of this heritage for future generations. This is vital because the built heritage gives a sense of belonging and defines national identity and is particularly so in Malta. The unique representation of several epochs and cultures, concentrated within a relatively small area, constitutes a national heritage of great value not only to the Maltese Islands but to European and world culture generally. Economic development in recent years has led to increasing pressures for change and for an improvement in the quality of life. If these changes are not well managed, the national heritage will be harmed. Through sustainable conservation, a balance can be attained between the preservation of our heritage and its adaptation to meet current needs, without compromising its historical integrity. A re-assessment and updating of the approach to conservation is proposed, based on the Authority s experience of the conservation and documentation of the cultural heritage. 2 Policies and Legislation It is only fairly recently that buildings have been systematically listed, protected and monitored. This conservation and documentation was initiated by the former Planning Services Division, which began the compilation of the National Protective Inventory, based on the criteria and levels of protection established by Structure Plan conservation policies. Since 1994, the Authority has scheduled properties and sites of architectural, archaeological, ecological or scientific value, designated a number of Urban Conservation Areas and issued several Emergency Conservation Orders, in accordance with its powers set out in the Development Planning Act Chapter 15 of the approved Structure Plan outlines the Authority s conservation policies which provide a regulatory framework for controlling development affecting buildings which are of architectural or historical interest or which contribute to the visual image of an Urban Conservation Area. The parameters for assigning levels of protection to listed buildings are defined in Policy UCO 7. More detailed guidance on assigning levels of protection is set out in Guidelines for Grading Buildings in the adopted policy document Development Control within Urban Conservation Areas. It is important to assign levels of protection which are a true reflection of the historical and/or architectural value of individual buildings to avoid the risk of debasing the coinage. 2

3 3 Handling Pressures for Change - A New Approach The legislation and the Structure Plan provide tools and policy instruments for preservation and conservation. However, partly in response to the irreparable damage caused to the heritage by the intense building activity of the recent past, the approach to conservation has perhaps been cautious and over protective. The preservation of buildings has been sought with little consideration of economic feasibility or of current social and economic needs. A clear distinction needs to be made between preservation for its own sake and conservation, which includes the notion of acceptable and compatible change. It is fundamental that buildings of historical or architectural merit are not simply preserved but conserved to meet society s current needs The key to the survival of historical buildings and so to the success of the conservation strategy is finding appropriate uses which make their maintenance and restoration economically feasible. The continual evolution of the building fabric is part of the historical transformation of the cultural heritage. The historic features of a building need to be respected in its adaptation to a new use, but an approach which tries to mummify the heritage without also taking account of the economic and social demands of the future is bound to fail. Where a building or site can sustain a degree of sensitive change, the Authority should accept this especially where such change would extend the building s life and where there would be wider benefits through urban regeneration or the improved economic viability of an area. 4 Developing The New Approach - Sustainable Conservation The real aim of scheduling, which is the sustainable adaptation of the heritage to meet current needs, has not been put into practice and neither has there been wider public appreciation or support for this notion. The active participation of building owners and the public in this approach to conservation is obviously of paramount importance. Conservation must not be regarded as a negative process but as a form of prestige and of participation. The new approach, which tackles the issue of adaptation and reuse, and which may also engage the owners of historic buildings, is through sustainable conservation. The central idea of sustainable conservation is that an acceptable way of life is achieved, where necessary through growth, without disinheriting our grandchildren or mortgaging their future. This requires wider participation in planning and that experts accept the value of local perception, recognising other non-expert values. (Refer to Appendix note1) Sustainability can foster a healthy and viable historic environment, in adapting heritage to new lifestyles. It can provide a middle ground between the extremes of no conservation (which would impoverish future life with no reference to the past) and preservation (which freezes the historic environment and denies 3

4 change and evolution). With sustainability as the main goal in the scheduling process, adaptation and reuse would be encouraged. 5 Adopting Sustainability and applying Heritage values There are seven steps to put sustainability into practice: improve understanding and appreciation of the historic environment; identify the present and likely future forces for change affecting the resource; make informed judgements about the level of change or activity that can be accommodated without unacceptable damage or risk to viability; use this information to set objectives for managing and planning the historic environment, and for identifying acceptable thresholds or limits for change; match these (by means of strategic assessment of the consequences of action) to the most appropriate implementation mechanisms; define and implement a sustainability strategy including overall plans, policies, and the assessment of specific proposals for change; and monitor the character and condition of the historic environment to determine the effectiveness of policy mechanisms, also monitoring any new trends or forces for change and feeding back to adjust strategies and policy mechanisms as necessary. The following sections consider some of these steps defining and understanding the values of the cultural heritage, categorising buildings on the basis of their environmental capital and proposing acceptable levels of change, identifying possible implementation mechanisms, and formulate an approach to a refined grading system and to the practical implementation of sustainable conservation. It is important to delineate the different qualities and values of our heritage to achieve greater understanding and appreciation. The following values can be identified; cultural values, educational and academic values, economic values, resource values, recreational values and aesthetic values. (Refer to Appendix note 2 for definitions) These values should form part of the assessment of the importance of a building when its scheduling is considered. 6 Historic Environmental Capital Having defined the values of the historic heritage, a way of classifying buildings, can be developed. This classification should be based on the buildings importance as environmental capital which also indicates the level of change which may be acceptable. Three different types of historic environment capital are defined, each with different capacities for adaptation or reuse: (1) critical historic environmental capital - those elements of the historic environment that are irreplaceable but which are vulnerable to damage and loss. These are the features that are regarded as sacrosanct and should 4

5 remain unchanged or virtually unchanged, requiring special designation, such as scheduling or listing, to ensure their security. (2) tradeable - at the other end of the scale those elements of the historic environment which society may have to be prepared to sacrifice in return for adequate benefits of other kinds (which may be other types of conservation gain but are usually connected to the economic and social life of the present such as employment and housing). (3) constant - between these two extremes, and in practice encompassing both of them, lies the majority of those elements that comprise the fabric of the historic environment. Many elements of the environment are important, not only for their individual value which will sometimes be recognised by special designation, but for their contribution to a larger part of the whole which again will sometimes need to be marked by designation. For this reason some changes may be sustainable if the overall character of the environment is maintained. At present historic buildings are considered to be critical or constant assets, so that sensitive development or adaptation is rarely considered, and there is resistance to novel ideas for reuse and buildings are merely preserved. 7 Approaches to the Utilisation of Historic Buildings Having defined the cultural values of the heritage and suggested a way of categorising environmental capital, it is now possible to put forward a range of approaches to the utilisation of historic buildings which implement this approach. One of the central strategies of the Structure Plan is the effective use of land and buildings, through the channelling of development into existing urban areas, particularly by the rehabilitation and upgrading of the existing fabric. Development and redevelopment is encouraged, in so far as it is commensurate with the conservation of valuable urban fabric and the achievement of higher environmental standards. The Structure Plan also gives support to the conversion of large housing units into smaller dwellings or to other appropriate uses. This approach reduces the number of vacant buildings in UCAs and the demand for new land for development on the urban periphery. The idea of conversion is not new locally. In fact the conversion of military barracks into housing units has already been attempted (as at Pembroke and Mtarfa). However conversion should be tackled differently, with greater emphasis on the conservation of the architectural fabric, adaptation, regeneration and rehabilitation. Current housing standards and requirements offer a wide range of possibilities for sensitive adaptation. Investment and development activity needs to be channelled into rehabilitation and conversion rather than new building or redevelopment. There is, of course, a range of possible approaches to, and terms for, the adaptation and re-use of buildings. Currently, these terms have been used 5

6 loosely and interchangeably, as in the case of the notions of restoration and rehabilitation. It is therefore important to specify the process and the meaning of these terms (i.e. restoration, rehabilitation, preservation, adaptive use, renovation, reconstruction, relocation)(refer to definitions in Appendix note 3) Some of these terms or processes still have to be introduced into the current approach to conservation, which itself has been largely limited to historic buildings in a critical situation or to attempts at restoration. Up to now most schemes have been rehabilitation projects which return a building to a state of usefulness while preserving architecturally significant features. Restoration in the strict sense has seldom been carried out, nor has adaptive use (say to housing which conserves the building as an architectural feature but retains and reuses it as a valuable housing resource). A recent example of the possibilities of re-use through history is the scheduled property 16,17,18 Triq il-mithna, Attard. The building was probably used as a chapel and there was also a centimolo - animal driven flour mill. Today the building which is in a pristine state may still be used for housing. 8 New Challenges The Planning Authority should promote sustainable conservation, to gain wider public acceptance, and ensure that the scheduling process is more systematic. On a popular level the Authority has to create a better understanding of conservation and scheduling remove any sense of ambiguity in its conservation policies apply conservation policies consistently observe and apply the international conventions on Heritage Conservation secure the conservation of historic buildings and be accountable for this exercise adopt a sequential approach to the gathering of information (Refer to Appendix note 4 for note on Analysis and Recording) support any conservation or restoration project on a national scale promote public appreciation and enjoyment of historic buildings. These objectives will help to develop public consciousness of heritage conservation and scheduling. Sustainable conservation will not only ensure the continued viability of the cultural heritage, thereby halting its deterioration, but also increase awareness of the potential and value of that heritage. This document is only one in a series compiled to assess operations relating to the protection and conservation of our National Heritage. The Planning Authority has, over the last year felt the need to tackle a number of issues related to the conservation of the built heritage of the Maltese Islands. This exercise seeks to develop a smoother scheduling process and effectively adopt and implement these principles on conservation. (Refer to list of reports in Appendix note 5) 6

7 A holistic approach was applied to this exercise and other projects were embarked upon in parallel to the compilation of the five reports. In fact currently there is a system update which includes; Updating the National Protective Inventory, Standardizing the Core Data and Field Names on GIS, Preparation of the data on scheduled property for incorporation in the P.A. Web Site, Preparation for a Photo-gallery, Digitization of the National Protective Inventory. The compilation of this series of reports and related projects will provide a sound foundation on which to base the conservation policies for the review of the Structure Plan policies affecting our historical heritage. 7

8 APPENDIX 1 The key principles of sustainable conservation are: developing a stronger understanding of the historic environment and promoting wider awareness of its role in modern life taking a long-term view of our actions looking at the environment as a whole achieving greater public involvement in making decisions about society s needs and the environment deciding which elements of the environment are 1 to be conserved at all costs ( critical assets) 2 subject to limited change provided that the overall character of the resource is maintained ( constant assets) 3 suitable for exchange in return for other benefits ( tradeable assets) keeping activities to levels which do not permanently damage the historic environment ensuring the decisions about the historic environment are made on the basis of the best possible information. 2 Definitions cultural values: the historic environment helps to define a sense of place and provides the context for everyday life. Its appreciation and conservation fosters distinctiveness at local, regional, and national level. educational and academic values: the historic environment is a major source of information, providing a means for new generations to understand the past and their own culture. economic values: the historic environment can make a significant contribution to economic development by encouraging tourism, but more generally it also supports viable communities by providing an environment where people prefer to live and work. resource values: longer-lived buildings usually make better use of the energy and resources that were used during their construction, and reuse is usually more economic than demolition and redevelopment. recreational values: the historic environment plays a significant role in providing for people s recreation and enjoyment. aesthetic values: archaeology and historic buildings make a major contribution to the aesthetic quality of townscapes and landscapes, enhancing the familiar 8

9 scene of historic towns and villages and giving historic depth and interest to the countryside. 3 The following are some terms, specifying a particular approach to adaptation or re-use, which should be included in the grading exercise as an indication of possible suitable future development for individual buildings; adaptive use: modifying a building for a use different from that for which it was originally designed. (example: large old houses may be adapted for use as guest-houses). preservation: means keeping or maintaining a building intact and unchanged for future generations to enjoy. renovation: means to modernise a building without necessarily attempting to retain its significant features. salvage: means saving parts of a historic building from destruction by removing them prior to demolition. Salvage as in the case of relocation is usually taken as a last resort. restoration: means returning a building to some particular date or period, with the removal of all subsequent changes and features (plumbing, airconditioning) to make the building useable for current needs. Since this never/rarely occurs, the term restoration has come to mean reinstating the exterior and interior appearance of a house to a selected date while incorporating modern technologies. relocation: means removing the building from its original site and placing it elsewhere. This is always a difficult task and rarely advocated, since relocation divorces a building from its historic setting. remodelling: means modernising a building without attempting to retain or preserve its significant features. It may involve the removal of important architectural features or material and the installation of new ones. However this depends on the creativity and sensitivity of the architect in charge of the works. A local example would be the removal of a timber balcony from a traditionally designed facade. rehabilitation: means returning a building to a state of usefulness while preserving architecturally significant features and materials. The rehabilitation of a house may involve creating a new kitchen within the existing building or adding a new garage while preserving the house s original exterior materials and details. 9

10 reconstruction: means rebuilding a destroyed building exactly as it was. 4 Analysis and Recording Historic buildings have to be understood prior to scheduling or listing. A staged and sequential approach to the gathering of information on historic buildings should be adopted, as it deals with unknown factors in a systematic and progressive way, through the sequence of appraisal, assessment and evaluation. The documentation and recording systems used up to the present have been sufficient especially in a crisis situation where exploitation is common practice and scheduling is seen as a tool for use in emergencies. The use of the National Protective Inventory as a source of documentation is fundamental. However it is important to introduce the log-book principle (keeping a record of all alterations and interventions) and to periodically monitor structural developments, to help future academic analysis and enrich the historic data for proposed interventions. This data will also prove vital for future conservation plans and projects. 5 This assessment included the following reports; The Heritage Advisory Committee - Role, remit and procedures - considers the present role of the HAC, looks at a range of issues and problems associated with its role and outlines a series of recommendations for change and improvement. Amendments to the Scheduling Process - The main aim behind this document was to make the system smoother and more efficient. The document has an introductory note on the legislative relevance of this exercise and also the ground covered since April Sustainable Conservation - A New Approach refers to the policies and legislation applied to date takes into consideration a new approach to conservation and defines values of Cultural Heritage. Re-evaluation of criteria for scheduling and grading of items listed under Section, 46 of the Development Planning Act - refers to a stepped approach for grading and develops new criteria for grading. These new parameters are described in table form and each grade is provided with pertinent values, heritage criteria and possible future interventions. PA s policy statement on Timber balconies - This document comprises an analysis of the policies extant, the Heritage Advisory Committee s comments, economic implications and ends with a series of recommendations which aim to safeguard this feature and clarify the PAs position vis-à-vis conservation of timber balconies. 10