‘Health is greater than history’? Conserving Edinburgh's Social Housing

This event is part of SHBT's Challenging Conservation 24/25 lecture series.

Speakers:

Steven Robb - Historic Environment Scotland

Carl Baker - Collective Architecture

How far do conservation principles apply when the subject isn't an A-listed castle or country house, but public housing?

Steven Robb is Deputy Head (Historic Buildings) in the Planning, Consents and Advice Service at Historic Environment Scotland. He has recently published works on Edinburgh’s early council housing from the late nineteenth century to the second world war. Steven will introduce a short history of Edinburgh’s council housing, how it was built and how it evolved - how some developments prospered and others failed, and more recent attempts to upgrade these buildings. As many post WW1 estates are now over a hundred years old – is it time to celebrate and conserve this housing stock?

Carl Baker is an Architect and Passivhaus Designer at Collective Architecture, based in Leith. Their ongoing project to undertake a whole block retrofit of the A-Listed Cable’s Wynd House and Linksview House is a case study in the careful balance of technical and legislative challenges with energy, comfort, and health practicalities. Presenting the project, Carl will share Collective’s approach which puts people at the heart of retrofit.

Host or Publisher Scottish Historic Buildings Trust