The English Heritage Press Office has estimated that listed buildings represent a finite
cultural resource of approximately 6% of England's building stock. Many of these listed
buildings are historic. It is often necessary to find an appropriate use for them, in order to
preserve them for future generations. Many, not threatened by obsolescence, require
upgrading to comply with statutory regulations. Others are improved to provide the
occupants with twenty-first century standards of environmental comfort, lighting and
power, sanitation, security and communications systems.
The revitalisation or upgrading of property is commonly accepted as refurbishment. The
study initially focused on the refurbishment of listed historic buildings - the enquiry was
then narrowed to investigate the integration of modern building services into listed historic
buildings. This element of the refurbishment process was identified as an area that
frequently constitutes a considerable proportion of the contract sum. A naturalistic form of
enquiry was used to elicit information that would contribute to the body of knowledge on
this area of building conservation work.
Refurbishment characteristics pertaining to the process of integrating modern building
services into listed historic buildings were identified and rated for frequency of occurrence
and degree of difficulty. An evaluation of perceptions and attitudes to adverse events, that
posed risk in the process, was also undertaken. Practitioners from the Construction
Industry then described both success and problem factors encountered in this element of
building conservation. Having built up a picture of the process, based on the experiences of
the constituent members of the project team, three individual projects were studied to gain
further insight into the project and what might be considered as 'repetitive essentials'. To
facilitate analysis the elicited data was assigned to the most appropriate choice from eight
different project categories. These categories were employed as a way of recording the data
throughout all stages in the research enquiry. The study concludes by outlining a model,
based on these project categories, which could be developed to provide a common project
framework. A key function of such a project framework would be to promote
understanding through improved communication and integrated teamwork. The study
concludes by recommending areas worthy of further research relating to the project
framework, the project team and risk in listed historic buildings
