What role do surveys play in historical building restoration?
posted 26th September 2024
Historical buildings are more than architectural structures, they hold historical, social, and cultural significance. As time passes, external factors pose major threats to the conservation of these buildings.
This is where our surveys play a role, ensuring that the conservation process is examined, documented, and evaluated. We provide a detailed understanding of your historical building restoration project. The surveys help you make decisions for the maintenance, restoration, and reuse of these projects.
What is a Historical Building Survey?
These surveys involve the examination of the buildings architectural, historical, and cultural aspects. We focus on architectural features, such as construction techniques and ornamental details. We also incorporate building materials, historical context, and structural integrity. Our surveys include traditional techniques combined with advanced technology, providing you with a better understanding of your historical building restoration project.
At MB Survey Solutions, we provide accurate surveys of historical buildings, including listed buildings and those in conservation areas. We use a host of state of the art technologies, including our 3D laser scanners. We can also provide topographical surveys, helping you understand the land better.
What Methods Do We Use When Surveying Historical Buildings?
In order to provide you with an accurate survey for your historical building restoration project, we use a number of different surveying methods:
Photography
We carry out a photographic survey of the site, ensuring we carry out a visual examination of the building. This includes external elevations, architectural details, and the structures setting on the site, complete with surroundings. Each area is separately photographed, providing you with a clear visual of the overall design of the project.
Identify Hidden Issues
Our 3D laser scanners, ground penetrating radars, and infrared thermography, are used to asses the structural integrity of the building, while identifying hidden issues. Using these technologies, there is no damage to the existing structures. These methods provide us with valuable insights into the conditions of the building, helping you with conservation efforts.
What Are the Benefits of Historical Building Restoration?
Historical building restoration is conserving our cultural heritage. It is so much more than simply restoring an old listed building, it maintaining that connection with our roots, helping us understand the progression of our society. Historical buildings attract visitors from around the world, as they provide insights into architectural trends, social history, and cultural practices. When we conserve these structures, we protect our heritage, enriching our community.
How Our Surveys Help
Surveying historical buildings is essential to ensuring the preservation of these listed properties. How do our surveys help?
- Document Architectural Features – Historical buildings posses architectural features that can be dated back to when it was build. Our surveys document and analyse features, gaining insight into construction techniques, decorative elements, and the different styles, helping with your restoration project
- Identify Historical Significance – Knowing the importance of the building helps make informed conservation decisions. We assess the significance of the structure, taking architectural styles, historical events, and social relevance into consideration
Surveys Contribute to Future Restoration Efforts
Our surveys are not only designed to assist with immediate preservation efforts, they also contribute to future restoration projects. We provide comprehensive documentation and digital archives of the architectural features, building a data base that can guide future conservation projects.
Are you thinking of restoring a listed or historical building in the UK? Give MB Survey Solutions a call today and see how we can assist you with your historical building restoration project.