EH's Major Projects team have taken over responsibility for a number of projects, particularly in cases where the rescue of a structure is too complex an undertaking for the owner, or where we have taken over ownership of a site for the period necessary to complete the work. Efforts are then made to ensure a viable future use, either returning the building to its original owners, or finding a new sponsor. As with any large undertaking involving a historic building, the understanding of the building history and the archaeology of the fabric is an important first step in planning the project. HART has provided such analysis for a number of major projects before works begin, and has also acted as key component of the project team, providing information as it is required during the works programme.
This is a crystalline Palladian Villa of 1763-7 designed by Robert Taylor, standing in a landscaped park in South London. In 1995 the building was acquired by EH, and has been undergoing major restoration. HART has undertaken an intensive programme of work bringing together documentary research, and archaeological analysis of the fabric, which has revealed the development of the building over the past 200 years. This included alterations in the late-18th century, and an extensive overhaul in the 1860s. The building underwent design changes in its 5 year construction-period, probably as a result of the involvement of the architect William Chambers late in the project. The identification of these changes as distinct from later alterations will prove vital to the integrity of eventual restoration. It may also prove possible to resolve the extent to which William Chambers was involved in the fitting out of the interiors.
In the last 50 years the masonry exterior had suffered greatly from the use of unsympathetic paints and renders. The original Palladian detailing survived only in fragmentary form, which meant that restoration could only be based on very close observation, analysis, and recording. Such information will be crucial to any decisions about the current refurbishment of the interiors. As part of the works to the exterior, historic mouldings have already been carefully replicated on the basis of archaeological research
Built for Sir Ralph Sadlier, in about 1535, is a remarkable and rare survival in London of a brick-built merchant's house, surviving from the Tudor period, and is one of Hackney's finest buildings. In order to assist in its preservation, EH agreed to undertake a survey of the building preparatory to its restoration by the owners, the National Trust. The building had been altered at several dates, notably c 1620, 1740 and c 1900, but the original Tudor plan form remains reasonably intact. The conventional house plan is essentially a development of the medieval hall house with cross-wings and with the lower end (east) as the service wing. The results of the survey have assisted the National Trust in formulating a scheme for the restoration of the house, which respects its special architectural and historic interest.
