Dear All,
The programme and some publicity material for the forthcoming symposium on
'The Future of the Country House and Estate in Context' which is organised
by the University of Bath and is to take place at the Holburne Museum, Bath
on Monday 13th March 2006 is below.
The country house is one of Britain's most significant architectural and
landscape legacies. A number of new country residences have been designed
and approved in recent years in styles varying from neo-classical to
cutting-edge contemporary. The impetus behind these was a small paragraph in
Planning Policy Guidance Note 7 (PPG7) which described how: 'An isolated
house in the countryside may also be exceptionally justified if it is
clearly of the highest quality, is truly outstanding in terms of
architecture and landscape design.'
This symposium will give a broad overview of the country house tradition up
to its decline in the twentieth century through social and economic change
which led to and loss of use and demolition. The emergence of the National
Trust saved many houses and the Trust will contribute to the debate on new
ways of presenting country houses and their estates. There will also be
contributions from the Historic Houses Association on current practice and a
presentation on new sustainable uses for old country houses. We will also
look at new country houses constructed under PPG7. With the replacement of
PPG7 with Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7, 2004) and its shift of emphasis
from 'highest quality' to decisions based on sustainable development
principles we will look at the future for the architecturally distinctive
country house. The new statement for 'Sustainable Development in Rural
Areas' states unequivocally ''Such a design should be truly outstanding and
ground-breaking, for example, in its use of materials, method of
construction or its contribution to protecting and enhancing the
environment, so helping to raise standards of design more generally in rural
areas. The value of such a building will be found in its reflection of the
highest standards in contemporary architecture, the significant enhancement
of its immediate setting and its sensitivity to the defining characteristics
of the local area'
The symposium takes place during the Painting West Country Houses
exhibition, 31st January - 26th March 2006 which will include Sieberechts
view of Longleat on loan from Lord Bath and of Highgrove by Felix Kelly
loaned by the Prince of Wales. There will also be an opportunity to see the
RIBA New English Country House Exhibition 2003/4 which will be on display
for the day.
I would be delighted if you and your colleagues were able to come. If you
would like to attend please contact:
Lucie Pursell
Faculty of Engineering and
Design
University of Bath
Bath BA2 7AY UK
Fax +44 (0)1225 383255
Email [log in to unmask]
Or go to http://www.bath.ac.uk/ace/events/index.html to download the
programme.
I would be very grateful if you could also circulate it to any colleagues,
organisations, individuals, friends etc that would be interested in
attending what will be a very interesting, enjoyable and full day.
PROGRAMME
10.00 Registration
10.15 Welcome & Introduction: New Approaches to The Presentation of the
Country House and Estate: David Adshead, Head Curator, The National Trust
Session one. Chair: Sarah Staniforth, Historic Properties Director, The
National Trust
10.45 Rural Urbanism:
Dana Arnold, Professor of Architectural History and Head of Research School
of Humanities, University of Southampton
11.15 Country House and Estate Management: Present Theory and Practice.
Nick Way, Director General, Historic Houses Association
11.45 Discussion
12.30 Lunch
Session Two
Chair: Dr Michael Forsyth, Director of Studies, Conservation of Historic
Buildings, University of Bath
13.15 New Country Houses in the Classical Tradition:
Bob Adam, Robert Adam Architects
13.45 New Country Houses in Contemporary Design.
Dr Alan Powers, Author of 'The Twentieth Century House in Britain (2000) and
joint editor of the journal Twentieth Century Architecture for the Twentieth
Century Society
14.15. The Historic House - Redefining the Memories: Giles Waterfield,
Independent Curator and writer, Director of Royal Collection Studies and
Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute for Art
14.45 Tea
15.10 Sustainable Uses for Country Houses: the Example of West Dean College
.
Simon Ward, Agent and Secretary to the Trustees, West Dean College
15.40 The New English Country House and PPS7 - Is it working? Neil Guy,
Architectural Historian and Curator of the RIBA New English Country House
Exhibition 2003/4
16.10 Discussion
16.45 Conclusions and close
The Future of the Country House and Estate in Context
Marion Harney
Research Officer/Heritage Coordinator
Department of Architecture & C.E.
University of Bath
Bath
BA2 7AY
Tel: 01225 383016
Mob: 07796 686081
Email: [log in to unmask]
<http://www.bath.ac.uk/ace/events/index.html>
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