Ancient and modern

Historic and ancient listed buildings always create a favourable impression on parents, but can prove to be troublesome to schools when undergoing refurbishment or requiring a change of purpose, writes Rebecca Parry

Listing protects our national heritage and preserves buildings of special importance. Many independent schools enjoy historic and ancient buildings on their campus that are listed. Listed buildings are placed on statutory lists of buildings of “special architectural or historic interest” under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

As the owner of a listed building, it is important to understand why your building is listed and which features must be kept intact. The main criteria for listing buildings are:
• architectural interest;
• historic interest;
• close historical association with important buildings or events; and
• group value ie they demonstrate important or historic unity or are a fine example of planning.

There are three categories of listings:
• Grade I are buildings of exceptional importance and interest;
• Grade II* are buildings of particular importance and of more than a special interest; and
• Grade II are of special interest and warrant every effort to preserve them.

Of the 370,000 buildings currently protected by listing, the majority (more than 92 per cent) are Grade II. For urgent repairs, Grade I and II* may be eligible for grants from English Heritage (www.english-heritage.org.uk).

Up to scratch
For maintenance and refurbishment, every listed building comes with individual challenges. Costs can be up to 20 per cent higher and this should be considered before purchasing or embarking on a new project with a listed building. However, VAT is not applicable to the cost of alterations (although it does apply to regular maintenance and repairs). More information can be found on the leaflet available from the VAT office: Protected Buildings (708/1/90).

Routine and regular maintenance, including like-for- like repairs, in general do not require Listed Building Consent unless the repairs entail the removal of historic materials or changes to the appearance. Refurbishment involving the removal of internal features such as fire places, doors and windows, staircases, plastering, panelling or other historic features requires consent.

Painting and internal decorating will generally not require consent, but external painting may as this could affect the
character of the building. Before submitting an application for building consent, liaise with your local council. The conservation officer will be able to tell you whether your proposals are likely to be accepted and will offer practical advice. This will save you time and money.

Professional approach
Careful consideration should also be given to any layout, additional extension or building works: it is advisable to employ an experienced architect. It will usually take at least eight weeks after submission of an application before a decision on listed building consent is made. If consent is refused, you have six months to appeal to the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions.

Changes requiring planning permission once works have begun will often result in delays to the contractor’s programme and so will increase costs and attract claims. As well as costs associated with the contractors, there is
also the consultancy team to consider, with combined fees typically between 15 and 20 per cent of a project value.
It may seem tempting to begin works while awaiting a decision to avoid any delay. This is ill-advised as carrying out unauthorised work to a listed building is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine or a prison sentence – and the local council can require you to restore the building as it was, at the school’s cost.

Access to all
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) applies to all employers and everyone who provides a service to the public. The act requires all owners of buildings to “take all reasonable steps to remove, alter or avoid physical features that prevent access to the service”. This includes steps, stairways, building entrances and exits, internal and external doors, lifts and escalators. The act requires that a physical feature preventing such access is removed or altered, or the service is provided in an alternative way.

Most historic buildings will require alterations to ensure compliance with the DDA. This is challenging as any changes cannot damage the quality of the buildings. English Heritage has published guidelines for necessary alterations in Easy Access to Historic Buildings.

Costs rising
Older buildings are unpredictable; adopt a contract geared to deal with this. Contract management consultants can help. When considering a tender, provisional sums should be avoided where possible to prevent costs escalating. On a recent listed building refurbishment project, it was found that there was an average of a 10 per cent increase on provisional sums.

This has particular relevance on larger projects with long durations as costs at tender are more than likely to be lower at the time of tender than they will be at the time of construction. Any conditions detailed in a price submitted by a contractor should be carefully appraised. A simple example is the stripping of wallpaper. Should the contractor qualify that the price tendered includes the stripping of one layer only and upon the commencement of work they encounter three or four layers, it is more than likely that they will charge for additional costs. This example comes from a recent refurbishment project, with the contractor submitting a claim to increase the overall cost by a staggering 317 per cent. Situations like this can be avoided or unforeseen circumstances mitigated by transferring certain risks onto the contractor in the contract.

CASE STUDY:
Queen’s Gate School (an independent girls’ school in South Kensington) bought two Grade II buildings (part of a block listed by English Heritage) to expand their premises and to convert into a junior school.

The buildings were in a state of disrepair and required major refurbishments. Works began on site in January 2006. But, in adhering to planning regulations, many challenges were encountered to balance a functional school building against sympathetic and faithful considerations.

Planners enforced a requirement that an integral layout of two front rooms and two back rooms had to be retained. This was impractical for the school as larger open-spaced areas were required. Consent was eventually given for a compromise that the walls could be removed on the condition that the “suggestion” of a wall should be maintained by leaving a ceiling beam with a 300mm drop and another 300mm of wall left each side where the wall had formerly been.

Looking good
Existing features such as cornicing and ceiling roses had to remain even though they were badly damaged. They were patiently restored by a specialist sub-contractor. A lot of care and attention was also given to the mosaic entrance floor of the building, with missing tiles reproduced to ensure a match to the colour and pattern of the original design.

The existing internal doors were not practical for the school. The conservation officer did not approve the removal and disposal of the existing historic doors. A compromise was reached, however, and consent was given on the condition that the original doors were stored safely and would be reinstated if the school vacates the building. The project was successfully completed and the new junior school was opened by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall (a former pupil) in September 2007.

Rebecca Parry is a senior consultant at Blake Newport Associates Ltd and can be contacted on rparry@blakenewport.co.uk or 01925 768268.

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