This CPD content aims to explore ways for students and young architects to think about a career specialising in the conservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.

This webinar touches on current trends such as adaptive reuse of historic buildings, sustainable retrofit, understanding design intent and craftmanship, and historic buildings in the commercial setting.

The webinar explains what a career in Conservation looks like from the perspective of a conservation practitioner and a conservation researcher, making professionals aware of the current building stock and the impact that this has on heritage and architecture, as well as the value of accreditation or specialisation as a Conservation Architect.

This webinar also talks about the different pathways a conservation professional can follow and how these pathways interlink.

Speakers

Liz Smith is Chairman and Regional Director for London & South East at Purcell, Architects & Heritage Consultants ranked within the AJ100 as one of the largest UK practices working in the field of heritage buildings.
Liz is an accredited Conservation Architect with both the AABC and RIBA at Specialist Conservation Architect level.

Her passion lies in progressive conservation, and Liz believes designs can be more creative within the constraints and rich context of historic environments. Her enthusiasm for historic buildings and places has led Liz to take on key roles on several high profile, large, and complex projects to historic places, the UK’s most significant listed buildings, Scheduled Monuments, and UNESCO World Heritage Sites across the world, including Windsor Castle, the British Museum, and the built heritage of the Antarctic Polar Region.

Inspiring colleagues to learn new skills and develop a love for historic buildings is important to Liz. Helping to usher in a new generation of conservation designers, Liz established the Purcell Conservation School for students and recently qualified architects.

Liz also features as Conservation Architect in television series Phil Spencer’s Stately Homes, on Channel.

Dr Aylin Orbasli is a professor of architectural and urban heritage at Oxford Brookes University, where her teaching in the School of Architecture focuses on the re-use and adaptation of historic buildings. She has published widely on the subject of conservation and is the author of the book Architectural Conservation (Wiley 2008) and co-editor of Architectural Regeneration (Wiley 2020). Both books focus on theoretical underpinnings and practical applications in the field and draw on both academic research and her practice experiences.