Significance

Significance has a defined formal definition in planning law. Certain buildings are protected from change via a formal individual ‘listing’ or via designated area status, for example; Conservation area, National park, World Heritage Site, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There are formal routes that need to be followed to enact any retrofits in buildings that are ‘protected’.

Unprotected buildings though can also hold significance. This is more subjective, however, maybe equally important in terms of our built environment. The significance of a property might be held by the owner or the local community. It might just be a small part of the building like a date-stone or a whole frontage.

Retrofit can radically change the appearance of a building and hence this might be of importance in terms of the feel of the property or its wider ‘streetscene’.

For example windows act as the eyes of a building and changing from wooden sash over to uPVC casement might ‘ruin’ the look of the property.

Rendering a mid-terrace when the rest of the terrace are dress stone with brick detailing would ‘degrade’ the look of the whole uniform terrace block.

Aesthetics / beauty is an important part of our culture, and this remains true for our built environment. We value certain styles / materials, and we need to be sensitive to this as part of any retrofit project.