Technical Expertise
Historic Buildings
We understand that adapting existing structures can often be the best way of preserving them, breathing life back into the fabric of the buildings by ensuring that they are fit for future purpose, while retaining the character and heritage of the building itself.
Throughout their careers the directors of Davies Maguire have a long and extensive track record of working on numerous refurbishments building projects, such as: BBC W1, London – Broadcasting House, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Brighton Dome, St. Pauls Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace, Palace of Westminster, Kew Palace, V&A Museum-Raphael and British Galleries.
Our approach to working with existing, listed structures has been developed over many years of working in and around historic buildings. We have an indepth technical understanding within our team of historical design codes and traditional construction methods. This allows us to quickly understand constraints and challenges and therefore develop the suitable, sympathetic remedial details.
With a starting point of minimum intervention to the existing fabric we work closely with the design team and conservation officers, utilising appropriate construction techniques and looking in detail at construction sequences at an early stage to help inform the final design.
An early understanding of the structure is essential to help us identify the project’s constraints and to determine the most cost-effective solutions for adapting the structure. Buildability is a much-used term, but on tight sites, within and adjacent to listed structures, it is crucial that the methodology and phased operations are considered from the initial design.