Values in the conservation and regeneration of post-war listed public housing : a study of Spa Green, London and Park Hill, Sheffield.

The discourse of historic building conservation assumes a language of intrinsic value
in the historic building, detected and managed by experts in local and national
agencies. For the less-acclaimed buildings of the twentieth century a separate
discourse has emerged of 'difference'. requiring explanation. Through this research I
show how this discourse of difference has prompted new protocols for the
management of listed. post-war public housing. I do this through a mixed-methods
approach, combining interviews with filming. drawing. photo-solicitation and walks,
mixed with document analysis.
Driven by narratives of reception. I show how at Spa Green and Park Hill two very
different outcomes have resulted. At Spa Green the persuasive interactions of
participants with the building fabric consolidate the reputation of the architecture
and confirm it within the heritage canon. These interactions also revealed new
forms of expertise not recognised within formal conservation protocols. At Park
Hill, by contrast. sequential and preferred narratives of success, failure and success
drew focus upon the architects' intentions for the relationship of the architecture to
Sheffield. the making of a community and materials of construction. Through the
persuasive actions of certain experts involved with the estate, intention was
privileged over its materiality.
These two, different. approaches I see rooted in shifting value emphases in
conservation practice. Spa Green reflects the discourse of government policy PPG
15 and its concern with material and formal authenticity. At Park Hill I show a shift
towards its replacement, PPSS, and its wider narratives of meaning, harm and public
benefits. I identify a new privileging of intention for post-war architecture that has
gained ascendancy over the normative protection of authentic form and fabric. This
has allowed for much greater alteration to building form at Park Hill than might
previously have been countenanced. perhaps even changing the nature of what is
protected.