Heritage value: What is it, who decides and how can we respect the past while designing for the present and the future?
The question of architectural heritage, and what constitutes it, is an increasingly fraught one in our ever-changing built environment. The existence of a multitude of different organizations, each with their own criteria, might make decisions cut and dried in some cases. But, depending on the site and the structure, a building’s value can be tangible or intangible, obvious or hidden, and tick-box criteria can fall short.
Different community and other groups inevitably feel different levels of attachment to different places. And understanding the true value of a place can take significant time and research. But this understanding, and a consideration of the building or site in its whole-of-life context, is crucial for architects responding to existing built fabric.
In this age of climate emergency, adaptive re-use – treating buildings as continuums rather than static artefacts – can be a practical solution to the problems of heritage preservation and environmental sustainability. Although working with heritage can bring with it apparent constraints, Peter Elliott, whose practice is “unapologetic about designing for the present,” views these constraints as “fundamentally enriching.” When thoughtfully designed and executed, an adaptive re-use project can successfully nurture a building’s legacy while extending its life and the comfort, convenience and delight it can offer.
New buildings are, potentially, our future built heritage. In their work in the fast-growing city of Brisbane, Ingrid Richards and Adrian Spence seek to contribute to the city’s “future history.” And in Sydney, Angelo Candalepas speaks of the need to create enduring architecture “which may be looked back upon by those yet unborn citizens with affection.”
As Lee Hillam reminds us in her review of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects’ adaptive re-use project 44A Foveaux Street (page 78), we never have a blank slate when creating
