Session One: The Concept of Conservation

Looking after a place so as to retain its meaning.

Main Approaches

Preservationprotect, maintain, stabilize

Rehabilitationrepair, alterations, additions

Restoration revealing, recovering or representing the building at a particular time

Abbott House, 1899

1970stoday

Being restored

Advice from around the world

Diderot1713 - 1784

• It is better to preserve than to repair, better to repair than to restore, better to restore than reconstruct.

William Morris1834 - 1896

• Stave off decay with daily care.

Sir Bernard Fielden1919 - 2009

• Regular maintenance please!!

The Burra Charter1979

• Do as much work as is necessary, but as little as possible.

Canada’s Standards and Guidelines 2003

• Minimal Intervention

How to understand heritage values

• Statements of significance

•Archival research

•Talk to neighbours

• Explore the neighbourhood

Conservation Plans

GOAL - to conserve heritage values and extend the physical life

COMPONENTS - identify values and Character Defining Elements

INTERVENTION – what level?(preservation, rehabilitation, restoration)

APPLY – Standards & Guidelines

Examples of the Standards &

Guidelines being applied

or not

1. Conserve the heritage value of a historic place. Do not remove, replace, or substantially alter its intact or repairable character-defining elements. Do not move a part of a historic place if its current

location is a character-defining element.

The Lea Residence 3997 West Broadway

Moving buildings

1893, Library and Archives Canada/PA-126388

Since 1930..

Watson House

19851987

Current location on Pendrell Street

2. Conserve changes to a historic place which, over time, have become

character-defining elements in their own right. Hawks Avenue in Strathcona (1905 & 1924)Circa 1945

Stanley Theatre

1940s today

1500 Block Commercial Drive

3. Conserve heritage value by adopting an approach calling for minimal intervention.

Mole Hill

Mole Hill

4 Recognize each historic place as physical record of its time, place and use. Do not create a false sense of historical

development by adding elements from other historic places or other properties or by combining features of the same property that

never coexisted.

Point Grey, Vancouver

Pacific Heights Co-op

1985today

The New Vancouver Special

before after

5. Find a use for a historic place that requires minimal or no change to its character-defining elements.

Brock House 1913 Glen Brae / Canuck Place 1910

Schara Tzdeck

1917 – synagogue1948 – Gibbs Boys Club1980s – condominiums

Schara Tzdeck

6. Protect and, if necessary, stabilize a historic place until any subsequent intervention is undertaken. Protect and preserve archaeological resources in place. Where there is potential for disturbance of archaeological resources, take mitigation

measures to limit damage and loss of information.

Ceperley Bldg & BC Yukon Chamber of Mines Terminus Hotel

Archaeological sites

Fraser Arms Hotel, Vancouver

7. Evaluate the existing condition of character-defining elements to determine the appropriate intervention needed. Use the gentlest

means possible for any intervention. Respect heritage value when undertaking an intervention.

Before After cleaning

8. Maintain character-defining elements on an on-going basis. Repair character-defining elements by reinforcing their materials using recognized

conservation methods. Replace in kind any extensively deteriorated or missing parts of character-defining elements, where there are surviving prototypes.

Princess Avenue, Strathcona

9. Make any intervention needed to preserve character-defining elements physically and visually compatible with the historic place, and identifiable upon close inspection. Document any intervention

for future reference.

Barclay Manor, West End

Session 2: Reading the building exterior

Understanding what needs conserving, and why

Using a common building vocabulary

Window sash (frame not easily seen)

trim

Downspout(or rainwaterleader)

Decorative pediment woodwork: sunburst pattern

Bargeboard tailBargeboard w/moulding

Decorative shingling

Trim board w/moulding

bargeboard

Fascia under gutter

Drop siding

Tongue & groovepaneling

Moulding & trim boards

Lap siding

Water tableor trim board

Bevel siding:4” exposure

soffit

Corner trim board

Reading a building Part 1:

Cataloguing the exterior materials and their

condition:

• foundations• walls• porches• windows and doors• roofs, gutters, downspouts, flashings• masonry

foundationswalls

porches

windows and doorsroofs, gutters, downspouts, flashings

masonry

Reading a building Part 2:Understanding traditional exterior assemblies . . .

. . . and contemporary requirements for exterior assemblies

• what looks original/what looks like its built later?• develop a story of the importance of the place• compile a list of elements critical to showing the important parts of its evolution

Reading a building Part 3:

Piecing together the evolution of the building, and its

values:

Putting it together. . .

. . . Is the foundation for conservation plan

• Knowing the building parts and their condition • Having a fair idea of the assemblies• Having a likely scenario of the evolution of the building and values

Session 3: Case StudyMission to Seafarers

Understanding what needs conserving, how, and why

Components of a Statement of Significance

1. Description of Historic Place2. Heritage Value3. Character Defining Elements

Description – Key Points1 ½ storeys, semi-prefabricated, location

Heritage Values aesthetic – Craftsman-influenced semi-prefabricated

Heritage Values associative – early lumbering activity (BC Mills), Harbour

Commissioners, National Harbours Board, Mission to Seafarers

Heritage Values Social – use as a Mission established by the Anglican Church

Character Defining Elementslocation – by the Port

Character Defining Elementsdesign – e.g. pre-fab,verandah, hipped roof, brick chimney

Character Defining Elementsrelating to evolving use

Vault at rear Wrought iron railing

Character Defining Elementsrelating to social value - BLUE

Use a form to catalogue your material observations

Session 4: Developing a Conservation Plan

for the Mission to Seafarers

Strategies for the exteriors that conserve heritage value

Heritage Branch of BCConservation Plan Flow Chart

Use the Standards and Guidelines

Session 5: Case StudyBuildings along Heatley Avenue

Understanding what needs conserving, and why

The Heatley Block

The Heatley Block Statement of Significance

The Heatley Block

400 Block Heatley Avenue

450 Heatley Avenue

700 East Pender Street (@ Heatley)