Comment

Shifting sands of time: how our perception of heritage evolves

The latest in our series celebrating 10 years of the Turley Heritage and Townscape team sees Associate Director, Kerrie Melrose explore the shifting perceptions of heritage. This piece seeks to answer the questions: what do we value which was once ‘ugly’ and what no longer has a place in modern Britain?

I’m fascinated by how our view of heritage has changed over time and how it will continue to change over the coming years. Landmark anniversaries such as this provide a good opportunity to consider the past and muse about the future.

I’ve always been drawn to the more obscure projects that land at Turley – the ‘ugly’ buildings or edgy areas of our towns and cities that divide opinion and challenge our fundamental perceptions of heritage. When redevelopment is proposed, what can be considered of heritage value can take some people by surprise. Post-war concrete buildings have featured heavily in our work over the last few years - from office blocks to car parks and factories. One of my most recent projects in Digbeth, Birmingham required me to become familiar with the different types, qualities and names of graffiti and street art. Though the prize for the most unusual heritage project must surely go to our London team with their rebuttal of a listing application for the Cotton Valley Sewage Works in Milton Keynes. Whether it’s applications for spot-listing, buildings being identified as non-designated heritage assets, or devising a new methodology for assessing a gritty urban townscape; researching, analysing and communicating a place’s significance is particularly rewarding when you are the first person to do so. 

A search of the national heritage list indicates more than 10,000 listed buildings having been added to the statutory list over the last decade^[1]. Accordingly, what we consider to be heritage and worthy of protection is not something that has been defined in the past but is constantly evolving and growing. So what do I predict will be the three big changes in what we consider ‘heritage’ in the next 10 years?

1. Brutalism and concrete are firmly back in fashion

 They feature in many of our homes, from polished concrete worktops to toothbrush holders. The popular acceptance of a once derided aesthetic will surely lead to more public pressure to protect buildings of this period, and not just through statutory listing but also via local lists and conservation areas. This is likely to cause tension in many of our town and city centres which were redeveloped in the post-war era and once again need repurposing to meet today’s challenges facing the high street.  

2. Seeking the next generation of buildings and places to protect.

Buildings are typically only considered for listing if they are more than 30 years old. Although younger examples of the post-modern and hi-tech styles have already been added to the statutory list where they are considered to be exceptional, including No.1 Poultry (James Stirling Michael Wilford, completed 1998) and the Western Morning News Building (Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, 1992). So with the 30 years rule being engaged, should we expect a flurry of 1990s listings in the next decade? It seems unlikely, I’d expect the best examples to be considered over the coming decade but more focus on the 1970s and 1980s as buildings of these decades become more widely considered as heritage.

3. A focus on improving diversity in the sector

The issues of inequality and institutional racism have been brought to the fore in 2020, particularly as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is widely acknowledged that much of our architectural history was funded through exploitation both abroad and at home. The toppling of the statue of Edward Colston was, however, a wake-up call to the effect such heritage has today. The act of protection implies a value which, in the vacuum of any clear interpretation, is inferred by the consumer of that heritage.  It can be considered to venerate and legitimise individuals, their acts and their beliefs.

As a result I expect to see more focus on black and minority ethnic heritage.  The changes I want to see over the next decade go beyond this to address the endemic inequalities in how heritage is identified. Whilst what we choose to protect in the next decade is important, we must also understand how that act of protection affects different communities. To do so we must achieve greater diversity in the heritage sector through individual, collective and organisational action to break down barriers and gain the necessary knowledge and understanding.

For more information on the work of our Heritage and Townscape service, please contact a member of the team.

8 February 2021

[1] The National Heritage List – www.historicengland.org.uk