I have been specialising in the cleaning and conservation repair of historic masonry fabric for over 30 years including stone, brick, terracotta, faience, stucco and early concrete. My specialism includes condition reporting, treatment proposals and project management of large scale conservation projects incorporating invasive and non invasive investigations, exemplars, cost plans, programming and logistics planning.
I have been acting as Projects Director for over 20 years on major conservation schemes to grade listed buildings and scheduled monuments on built heritage estates including Palace of Westminster, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Old Royal Naval College.
Our initial assessment aimed to safely remove the mosaic without compromising the historic fabric. The artwork, applied by Erbil to a reinforced concrete rubbish chute on Tangmere House, was bonded with cementitious grout. Individual tesserae or sheet removal proved unfeasible. DBR’s Conservation team proposed a bold solution: slicing the 20m by 5m shaft into 21 sections, each weighing 2.5 tonnes, to be craned down for conservation.
The work included the development of suitable cleaning methodologies to carefully remove soluble deposits to the terracotta facades. The works also included developing repair methodologies after detailed facade mapping and rag rated priority schedules.
Various conservation projects over 23 years including external and internal conservation to built heritage historic fabric.
The project was commissioned to evaluate the condition of the facades due to life safety and seismic concerns. The facades were surveyed from mobile access platforms and condition reports produced identifying the extent of failure. Treatment proposals were identified along with budget costs for various repair options.
Training
1994 to 1996 - Bournemouth University Post Grad Diploma Conservation Historic Building Conservation
September 1984 to July 1988- Bachelor of Science (Honours) - Building
Work History
April 1991 - Present - Executive Director & Chairman of DBR London Limited/DBR Conservation Limited and Projects Director for major conservation schemes for historic estates including Palace of Westminster, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich.
February 1990 to February 1991 - Contracts Surveyor for Barclay Mowlem Sydney New South Wales Australia
September 1987 to September 1989 - Project Manager for Peter Cox Group undertaking conservation projects in London including Westminster abbey
May 1987 to September 1987 - Assistant Surveyor for Costain Management Design