Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure

In Specifications for Building Conservation, the National Trust draws on a range of case studies and specifications to provide a much needed guide to specification writing for building conservation. Although traditional building accounts for approximately a quarter of all buildings in the UK, the old skills and understanding required for their care and maintenance have been increasingly eroded over the last century. As the largest heritage charity in Europe, the National Trust has a first class reputation for high standards of conservation and care, and in this three volume set, the Trust brings together a remarkable pool of expertise to guide conservation professionals and students through the process of successful specification writing.

This first book focusses on the materials used for the external fabric, detailing successful approaches employed by the National Trust at some of their most culturally significant sites. A range of studies have been carefully selected for their interest, diversity and practicality; showcasing projects from stonework repairs on the magnificent Grade I listed Hardwick Hall to the re-thatching of the traditional cottages of the Holnicote Estate.

Complete with a practical Conservation Management Plan checklist, this book will enable practitioners to develop their skills, allowing them to make informed decisions when working on a range of project types. This is the first practical guide to specification writing for building conservation and the advice provided by the National Trust experts will be of interest to any practitioners and students involved in building conservation, both in the UK and beyond.

Profits generated from the sale of this publication will go to the National Trust Building Apprenticeship Scheme. This provides placements for traditional skills at National Trust properties.

The National Trust was founded in 1895 with the aim of caring for special places, forever, for everyone. Now, over 120 years later, we look after historic houses and gardens, industrial monuments and mills, archaeological sites, nature reserves, coastlines, forests, and more. We have a portfolio of over 28,000 buildings and structures, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They include over 300 mansions, 57 entire villages, over 5000 cottages (some tenanted, some used as holiday cottages), farms, bridges, lighthouses and many others. We have built a formidable reputation for the conservation and care of places of natural beauty and historic significance. Even more importantly, we make sure that our places are available to all, with over 17 million visitors to pay-for-entry properties each year. We have 4.4 million members and 62,000 volunteers, who are vital to our work. We are a registered charity and are completely independent of Government, relying on membership fees, donations and legacies, and revenue raised from our commercial operations.