Sustainability in action at Landmark
Each of our Landmarks comes with its own special context and challenges. Read on to see how we are putting our sustainability goals into practice at various projects around the country.
A sustainable transformation at Calverley Old Hall
For our major repair and conversion project at Calverley Old Hall, we enlisted the help of energy use consultants Green Footsteps to ensure that sustainability was embedded in the process at every step of the way.
From the beginning of the project we were able to set out how it would use sustainable materials, re-using salvaged fabric whenever possible, and using traditional materials even down to the sheep’s wool insulation of the Great Hall roof. Renewable energy comes from ground source heating – for which six deep bore holes were drilled in the grounds – and solar panels, which sit on the newly restored roof.
Other areas of focus include managing water use, reducing waste, managing construction waste, reducing the use of chemicals, introducing composting, benefiting nature and wildlife, and of course, measuring the project’s carbon impact.
Accommodating wildlife at Llwyn Celyn
Llwyn Celyn is a complex project, with many different types of building and uses to consider, and its immediate landscape setting is just as important as how it eventually settles back in to the larger narrative of hills and valleys.
We adjusted the restoration programme at Welsh Landmark Llwyn Celyn when a colony of lesser horseshoe bats, a rare and protected species, was found in the farmhouse. We converted the cider barn into bespoke bat-friendly accommodation, and work on the main building only resumed once they had adapted to their new home.
Llwyn Celyn also held an extensive hedge planting programme, to create a rich environment for wildlife and to develop native species.
Protecting Saddell Castle
Our Category A listed building on the eastern side of the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland is undertaking a major project of repair and improvement works to conserve and safeguard it against the risks of climate change and flooding. We are replanning the accommodation to make better use of the upper floors of the building, and will be carrying out roof works to ensure it can bear heavier rainfall, as well as external masonry repairs, timber repairs and complete reharling in a gauged hot lime mortar.
Into the future with Wortham Manor
Wortham Manor is a medieval and Tudor house sitting in its own large grounds, surrounded by rolling Devon countryside. In January 2024, the house closed for extensive and important improvement works, with the aim of bringing it up to modern standards of sustainability and heat efficiency, and futureproofing it for future generations. The works have included converting to greener energy via ground source heating, draught-proofing and resolved plumbing.
