Updating heritage buildings to create a legacy for the future is about much more than protecting our history and the aesthetics of traditional architecture. Heritage refurbishment also delivers sustainability goals for reducing waste and extending the service life of existing property assets.

After seeing numerous historical sites and buildings cleared in recent decades to make way for modern structures, many within the property and construction industry are pushing conservation and heritage to the top of the agenda when discussing the built environment.

London has a wealth of heritage architecture and listed buildings that chart its success as a city and map its fortunes as a centre of commerce and banking. Preserving those buildings is important, but transforming them into assets that can continue to be useful and relevant to 21st-century businesses and working practices is equally vital.

Although copper was one of the first metals used by man and one of our oldest building coverings, it has been rediscovered by architects as a thoroughly modern material.

Phil Brown, European Regulatory Marketing Manager at Pilkington United Kingdom – part of the NSG Group – discusses the role glazing can play in modernising heritage buildings while maintaining their original character.

A roaring fire is the beating heart of any period renovation, but the effects of ageing combined with character considerations mean that bringing a chimney back to life is not always a simple matter. David Wright, Residential Sales & Marketing Manager for Schiedel Chimney Systems, explains the issues that can arise and the modern chimney and flue solutions that are bringing old systems into the 21st century.