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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>