APPENDIX B - General Guidelines for the Maintenance and Conservation of Industrial Heritage
Eight general principles for the preservation and adaptation of industrial heritage sites as established by TICCIH.
APPENDIX B - General Guidelines for the Maintenance and Conservation of Industrial Heritage
The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), 17 July, 2003
Conservation of the industrial heritage depends on preserving functional integrity, and interventions to an industrial site should therefore aim to maintain this as far as possible. The value and authenticity of an industrial site may be greatly reduced if machinery or components are removed, or if subsidiary elements which form part of a whole site are destroyed.
The conservation of industrial sites requires a thorough knowledge of the purpose or purposes to which they were put, and of the various industrial processes which may have taken place there. These may have changed over time, but all former uses should be examined and assessed.
Preservation in situ should always be given priority consideration. Dismantling and relocating a building or structure are only acceptable when the destruction of the site is required by overwhelming economic or social needs.
The adaptation of an industrial site to a new use to ensure its conservation is usually acceptable except in the case of sites of especial historical significance. New uses should respect the significant material and maintain original patterns of circulation and activity, and should be compatible as much as possible with the original or principal use. An area that interprets the former use is recommended.
Interventions should be reversible and have a minimal impact. Any unavoidable changes should be documented and significant elements that are removed should be recorded and stored safely. Many industrial processes confer a patina that is integral to the integrity and interest of the site.
Reconstruction, or returning to a previous known state, should be considered an exceptional intervention and one, which is only appropriate if it benefits the integrity of the whole site, or in the case of the destruction of a major site by violence.
The human skills involved in many old or obsolete industrial processes are a critically important resource whose loss may be irreplaceable. They need to be carefully recorded and transmitted to younger generations.
Preservation of documentary records, company archives, building plans, as well as sample specimens of industrial products should be encouraged.
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