Commercial Heritage

Repair, Adapt and Repurpose Heritage for Business and Commercial Use

Well restored heritage buildings are highly desired as business, leisure, entertainment or retail premises as they provide instant character and prestige. Our teams offer innovative and bespoke solutions, repairing, adapting and optimising historically sensitive assets, creating remarkable buildings for our clients, ranging from developers, architects, public and local authorities, frameworks to private individuals.

Our Conservation Engineering consultants specialise in all aspects of historical and commercial building maintenance and repair. Our knowledge of national planning and heritage conservation policies combined with conservation principles and fresh thinking has unlocked the potential of numerous historic buildings and sites. We have repurposed heritage buildings such as disused industrial spaces, warehouses, mills and farm/out-house buildings. At Paper Mill Studios, Islington, we worked on the renovation and conversion of a Victorian warehouse, expertly blending the historic interior with tasteful contemporary touches to create a spectacular mixed-use commercial space of 450 square metres. Our team provided fresh insight by introducing complex steel framing to support the entire width of the old warehouse to create an open-plan space with maximum natural light. Other portfolio highlights include the restoration of Penson Barn, where our team guided the redevelopment of the declining 200-year-old farm buildings into a series of retail outlets and a Michelin Star restaurant.

Our heritage specialists can tackle projects holistically by drawing on our in-house structural engineering, risk and impact assessment and temporary works and BIM teams to provide comprehensive structural engineering advice under one roof. At Langley Park House, we provided complete structural engineering and conservation design to transform a Grade II listed house and estate into a luxury 5-star hotel resort, including a new below-ground spa space.

Historic buildings benefit from a pragmatic approach based on experience, research, engineering judgement and attention to detail. We aim to maintain a balance between respect for the historic fabric and the need for commercial viability and modernisation such as solar panels, heat pumps and telecommunications infrastructure.

We have extensive knowledge of historical materials and techniques and good working relationships with Historic England, Conservation Officers and amenity societies, which helps supports our clients through all stages of their heritage development.