Our approach to buildings

Each Landmark has been the subject of a programme of repair and refurbishment, some on a monumental scale, others more modest. But regardless of the magnitude of the undertaking, the Landmark Trust approaches each building with some common principles.

These include a determination that our craftsmanship and materials should be first-rate and appropriate to the standards of the original construction. The importance of a profound understanding of each building also runs through our work, and the History Albums we provide at completed Landmarks testify to the care that goes into unravelling each building’s intricate history. 

Any building conservation project can raise complex questions, and the need for our buildings – however esoteric – to work as houses can require more active intervention that were they simply to be museum specimens. Our judgments are always thoughtfully made and while we respect alterations and additions that are part of the building’s character, we do not do so slavishly. If later, inferior work obscures something finer, or if decay or degradation has gone beyond even our commitment to repair, we may seek to reverse or even remove later alterations or additions.

We employ both specialist contractors and our own small team of craftspeople in the skilled work of repairing and renovating a building. Since 2015, conservation trades Apprentices have also been a part of our team. Among our former craftsmen was Stuart Leavy who joined Landmark in 2006 and worked on Lundy, the Shore Cottages, Berriedale and at Belmont in Lyme Regis during his time with Landmark.

Of his time at Berriedale, Stuart remarked: ‘it was a fantastic location to work in. I had to walk along the beach to work and would think, “Whatever today throws at me, it’s worth it.” When I was not working, I would be taking photographs or kayaking straight off the beach. Along the Caithness coastline there are enormous sea caves populated with dolphins, seals and occasional sea otters.’

‘One of the things I enjoy is that I am constantly problem-solving. The job is so varied that there is always something new to learn. At Berriedale I designed and built a barge to carry the materials across the river to the site and felt a tremendous sense of achievement when it worked!'

As well as big conservation projects, Landmark undertakes a rolling programme of maintenance on our buildings, which now includes a focus on improving their warmth and energy efficiency. This ranges from ensuring buildings are better insulated and draught-proofed to installing air source heat pumps and other low carbon heating systems.

Stuart said, ‘Being part of the Landmark buildings team is a real honour. There is a bank of knowledge there that is second to none. Everyone wants to do the best thing for the building: they really care. At the opening of the Shore Cottages, all my family came up to the event. The sun was shining, the sea was like a glass table. To know that you have been part of the rescue of a building, that’s priceless.’