Report on Dublin - Conservation Project Management Conference
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Many contrasting views and perspectives with many common goals sum up this important conference. On one hand Trevor Francis, the CIOB representative at COTAC provided a reality check. Contractors claiming to be specialists in conservation carrying out very poor work on projects that are badly managed and managed by the uninformed was his experience.
On the other hand, I described a best practice case study to illustrate what project management is and how and why it should be practiced in a professional way in order to deliver successful conservation projects. However, there were claims from the audience and some of the speakers that it is all very well for me to practice this on projects that have sufficient resource to do so, but most projects don’t have this luxury! I was trying to explain that it is only when projects are properly managed, will the harsh reality described by Trevor Francis start to disappear.
The intention of the conference was to examine how projects can be successfully delivered, with views and experiences from a variety players and organisations being expressed.
This was the very first CIOB conference on the management of conservation and heritage projects to be held in Ireland, and was organised in partnership with the National Trust, Institute of Historic Building Conservation, Construction Skills and the Institute of Conservation. This conference attracted a most diverse audience and for many it was their first contact with the CIOB.
A warm welcome was provided by CIOB Past President Alan McMullan who familiarised the audience with the CIOB and what it stands for. Alan in particular made the point that the CIOB has no intention to duplicate what other organisations do very well when it comes to conservation, but it will add something which is not focused on much by others, and something that utilises the CIOB’s strengths: management.
Heritage Planning consultant Sharon Brown, representing the IHBC, and Conservation Architect Stephen Fallon made the audience very much aware of what a conservation project must achieve. Conservation projects must deliver conservation and this was described with numerous examples, from the broadest of perspectives, as well as a description of the legislative processes in both the north and south of Ireland.
All speakers agreed on the need for sound project management, but all described it in different ways. There was also a feeling amongst the team of speakers that project management would also depend on the resources available. This view was also expressed by members of the audience.
Project management was described by what one has to do to progress a project whilst also looking at some of the processes.
Geraldine Walsh of the Dublin Civic Trust described what almost seemed as miracle making in conserving and restoring much of Dublin’s Georgian heritage. Both the financial modelling and the beautifully illustrated photographs were sure to be very instructive to other similar trusts represented at the conference.
As I indicated at the beginning, I had a slightly different story to tell. My presentation focused on the development and implementation of project management processes. Using the Cardiff Castle conservation project as an example, I described how from scratch we progressed an award winning project for an organisation that only has a tiny conservation set up. My theme was the integration of project management methodology with heritage management methodology and culminated by illustrating the project management of architectural paint research. The claim that my approach was only possible because I had the resources to do so is correct.
But it is also true that without proper management, risks are increased and then what Trevor Francis described is not a possibility, but a probability!
The perspective of project management from the other side of the fence, the side that produces the end product, was given by three speakers. Charles Anelay, Simon Byford and David Odgers. But their message was to tear the fence down at the earliest possible stage. This was made very clear by Charles Anelay of York based specialist contractor William Anelay, providing the contractors perspective and also by Conservator David Odgers who was representing ICON. David provided examples to illustrate how conservators successfully undertake and organised opening up work and trials as well as specialist investigations. David explained that from a conservator’s perspective, this is best practice.
Simon Byford, a Project Manager employed by Sir Robert McAlpine and the CIOB’s Construction Manager of the Year 2007, described the project that exemplified his award winning ability. Simon provided a fascinating account of the multi million pound HBOS Mound Project in Edinburgh. The observant audience picked up on the fact that many of Simon’s challenges were due to finding problems with the structure and fabric of the building as work progressed. It is only natural to find out more about a building as you start opening up, but would more detailed research have minimised these problems?
Without a skilled workforce successful conservation projects would not happen. That may be why so much conservation work isn’t successful! This is one of the things that came across from Trevor Francis, but as indicated at the beginning of this paper, that problem may be quite a bit broader.
Also talking about skills in both a professional and craftsperson’s sense was Seamus Hanna of Construction Skills and Professor Phil Banfill of Herriot Watt University. A description of the challenges of today, the future and the training resources that are available today, comprehensively completed this whole challenging subject, except one thing.
The last presentation was on the final piece of the jigsaw, money. Colum Murray of Heritage Funding described some of the resources available in Eire, and quite naturally was the target for most questions from the audience!
John Edwards is the chair of the conference series, Chairs of the CIOB’s Conservation, Maintenance and Refurbishment Group and is an Associate with TFT Cultural Heritage, based at their Cardiff office.
