Harris Your Place Q&A Series: Neal from Buttress
A number of individuals and companies are responsible for the renovations currently taking place as part of the Harris Your Place project. This Q&A series sees us chat with those responsible about their involvement, and what their role is throughout the renovation project.
Meet Neal, a Conservation Architect from B Corp-certified heritage and conservation specialists, Buttress. Neal is currently working on The Harris’ restoration and renovation project.
Which project are you currently working on?
Where do you start with the Harris? I mean, it’s such a huge project. My team work on historic buildings and listed buildings. And an awful lot of our work is done on museums, and we’ve worked on some great museums, but there are none that are any finer than the Harris. It’s an absolute jewel.
This idea of having a museum, art gallery and library all in one building that was built to be just that – and it’s still being used for the purpose for which it was designed– is an amazing thing.
For me, it’s not about what I do at all; it’s about what we all collectively do. I really enjoy collaborating with other people, working with the exhibition designers to make their exhibition design look good by giving them back a beautiful building as the backdrop, and making the reading spaces and the library spaces the best that they can be.
We always describe the Harris as having a great set of bones. It’s just a beautiful backdrop to hang everything off.
How did you end up working on this particular job?
Now, there’s a story there! So, this was never supposed to be my job! Buttress as a practice, we did the work on the Discover Preston Gallery. The work was carried out by another director, Steve, and if all things were equal, Steve would’ve done the rest of the work on the Harris.
However, I’m one of only a few people within the conservation practice accredited to work on such an important building. So, when the tender came out to do this work, we were very keen to do it. We wanted to come back and finish what we’d started here, but quite rightly, it asked for a conservation–accredited architect. I was one of the only people within the practice who was qualified to do it, which I’m not going to complain about because I get to work on such a wonderful building.
I’ve always worked on lottery–funded museums, and listed buildings. This has grown into quite a large team in the studio that does this type of work and that’s great. I’m lucky enough to be able to find other people who want to do that area of work, such as Sam and Lauren – the architects dealing with the day-to-day aspects of the project.
Is the company working with any schools/colleges/local suppliers?
For the conservation plan for the building, we came up with the idea of doing it in collaboration with the UCLan conservation students. They came and used the building as a real-life exercise and learned how to do conservation planning. We basically took the students into the Discover Preston Gallery and showed them how to do the conservation planning work and assess the significance of the building. Then, we sent them off to look at the whole building, and then we came back and collated it all together.
About every six months, we take conservation master students around and show them what we’re working on at that time. They also come down to our studio in Manchester, look at some of the wider work we do, and try to learn from some of our other projects. At the end of all of that, when we are looking for a new heritage consultant and looking for a graduate, we’ve got great connections with the school. It’s been great to add some real tangible value to their course.
Do you currently have any apprentices on site?
There are two architects that are walking around at the moment today, both of which are using the Harris to further their professional career, so not apprentices per se.
Lauren is a newly–qualified architect and has used the Harris as a case study for her experience and personal development, and so she sat her professional exams having learned how to be an architect by coming to the Harris.
I mentioned previously about being a conservation–accredited architect. Sam is working towards accreditation and is using the Harris as she’s looking at a couple of areas within, including the external stone repair that we’ve now completed and how we’ve approached the redecoration of the interior, particularly the central rotunda. By the end of this project, Sam will have applied to be a conservation architect. So, for future projects, she’ll be able to do what I’m doing here.
How did you get into your career path?
I always wanted to be an architect. I don’t really know why; I just liked the balance. I’m also quite creative and artistic. As a conservation architect, history and art are one part of the job. I’m also scientific and practical, and there’s an awful lot of making things work, measuring things, and making them deliverable in what we do.
My aspiration was always to work in an architect practice. What I went to university to do was to learn to draw and to learn to be a draftsman, but by the time I came out of university, drawing boards were obsolete! I did start on a drawing board, but it wasn’t long before everything was on a computer. Now we don’t have any drawing boards, and everyone’s got a computer. So, the world’s changed and changed quite dramatically in a shorter period than it took me to get through university!
But I still love the idea of creating things and working with what we’ve already got to create refined, beautiful spaces which have become a little bit unloved.
What is your favourite part of Preston?
My favourite thing about Preston is walking along the walkway in Avenham and Miller parks, and seeing the Derby statue, the urns along the top and the fountain below – all the things we restored an awful long time ago. It brings me great joy in coming back to places and buildings that we’ve worked on and seeing that they’re still loved.
I’ve even introduced my children to the very Prestonian idea of egg rolling, which isn’t a thing where I come from! And I’d like to say that after we’ve finished our work at The Harris, my favourite thing about Preston will probably be The Harris building.
Harris Your Place
Harris Your Place is a £16 million project set to restore and reimagine the Harris for 21st-century audiences as a cultural learning space. The aim of this project is to protect the building and the architecture for future generations whilst enhancing accessibility options and positioning the Harris as a community hub for Preston and Lancashire.
The capital project is more than simply preserving this much-loved building; Harris wants to ensure that it remains a vibrant heart of the community. A place where people want to spend their time.
