Contemporary Architecture in the Historic Environment

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Conservation Policy
[See entry in section 2.2 for the guidelines: Government of Ireland, Department
of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. 2011. Architectural Heritage Protection:
Guidelines for Planning Authorities. Dublin: The Stationery Office.]
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. 2001. The Secretary of the
Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines
for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic
Buildings. http://www.nps.gov/tps/standards/four-treatments/standguide/
The goal of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards (The Standards) is to provide
philosophical consistency for four different approaches to conservation:
preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction. The principles laid
out in The Standards were created to be applicable to all types of historic
resources, but the Guidelines are specific to buildings. New construction and
additions are permitted under the rehabilitation approach. Rehabilitation allows
some level of change to less significant features of the historic resource in order
to accommodate a compatible use. Additions and new constructions are
addressed in points 9 and 10 of the Standards for Rehabilitation, which state
that additions and new constructions should not harm any characteristic features
and that they should be differentiated from the historic fabric but also
“compatible with historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and
massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.” (A.P.A.G.)
New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, and Urban Design Advisory Group
(N.Z.). 2005. New Zealand Urban Design Protocol. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/
publications/urban/design-protocol-mar05/html/
The main goal of this document is to improve quality of urban developments
and, consequently, quality of life in urban settlements in New Zealand. It identifies
seven key qualities that every urban design project should seek: context,
character, choice, connections, creativity, custodianship, and collaboration.
Under the section “Context” (p. 18), it is recommended that each project be
evaluated for its relationship to the surrounding area. The document recommends
that “each development fits in with and enhances its surroundings.” This
idea is emphasized under the section “Character” (p. 19). Although the document
recognizes that character is an ever-evolving aspect of the urban fabric, it
recommends that new buildings be complementary to the local historic identity.
(A.P.A.G.)
Contemporary Architecture in the Historic Environment: An Annotated Bibliography - Getty Conservation Institute - 2015