CHB, Author at Church & Heritage Building

National Trust announces phased re-opening of properties

Posted by CHB | May 29, 2020 | Heritage, Latest News |

From 3rd June the National Trust will begin a phased reopening of some of their gardens and parklands in England and Northern Ireland, with advance bookings needed to limit visitor numbers and maintain public safety. This announcement comes after the UK government updated its advice on ticketed garden venues on 23rd May, confirming that people in England can now visit gardens and land maintained for public use. And in Northern Ireland, the Executive permitted the reopening of outdoor spaces as part of step one in its Pathway to Recovery Plan. Visitors will be able to book their tickets in...

Petition launched to save Frank Lloyd Wright school

Posted by CHB | Mar 5, 2020 | Latest News |

Last month, The School of Architecture at Taliesin announced the closing of the school after 88 years. The school and the Frank Lloyd Wright foundation issued statements on the closure, as well as the students. Now, a new petition started by Simon DeAguero aims to save the school from closing. The news of closure followed the conclusion of a multi-year struggle back in 2017, when the school was approved to maintain its accreditation as an institute of higher learning. As the petition outlines, “the legacy that Frank Lloyd Wright established with his Fellowship, the evolution of which is the...

God is in the detail

Posted by CHB | Feb 18, 2020 | Blog |

An old architect friend in New York has just sent me a book he knew I’d be very keen to read. Louise Slaicek’s biography of the legendary architect I.M. Pei is over a decade old now, but it came to me on the back of the sad news that Pei has passed away, aged 102. A versatile, globe-trotting creative talent, Pei shot to international fame for reviving the Louvre in Paris with a giant glass pyramid and capturing the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. His other works...

Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls may be lost if action is not taken

Posted by CHB | Feb 13, 2020 | Heritage, Latest News |

Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s A-listed masterpiece, the Egyptian Halls, has been shortlisted by the pan-European heritage organisation, Europa Nostra, for its Seven Most Endangered programme. The former warehouse on Union Street, Glasgow has now been empty for 40 years, and this magnificent building has fallen into decay. The The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) collaborated with the Alexander Thomson Society on the application for Egyptian Halls to be shortlisted by Europa Nostra, as the window to save one of Glasgow’s most significant buildings is rapidly closing. Completed in 1872, Egyptian Halls hosted public gatherings, musical performances and...

Melbourne’s Atrium of Holy Angels Mausoleum

Posted by CHB | Jan 1, 2020 | Christian, Latest News |

The Atrium of Holy Angels Mausoleum is located in one of Melbourne’s major urban cemeteries, Fawkner Memorial Park in Sydney Road Fawkner, which is managed by the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust. The Trust commissioned Harmer Architecture to design the mausoleum as a fourth stage to the nearby Holy Angels Mausoleum complex also designed by Harmer Architecture. The mausoleum provides above ground burial for 672 people within in situ concrete crypts which are arranged on top of each other on 6 levels and in eight separate blocks located around a central landscaped courtyard. The new Atrium of Holy Angels Mausoleum...