Metalwork in a league of its own

Paris, France
Although fine metalwork has an international collecting base, it has always been held in particularly high regard in Continental Europe. Ample proof of this can be found at the Paris etude of Fraysse & Associes, they are selling a mammoth collection of antique metalwork compiled over the course of a lifetime by Michel Rullier. Rullier, an antique dealer, has always had a personal passion for the subject and has constantly upgraded his private collection.

The massive eclectic mix made more or less what was predicted. There was a high proportion of absentee bidding. Mme Houze believed around one in three lots were sold via the phone and virtually all the buying came from collectors. Four lots were secured by the Musee des Beaux Arts, Rouen including the exceptionally fine wrought-iron and damascened silver and gilt key, ascribed to 17th century Italy and worked along the entire shaft and ridges which crosses of St Andrew.



The Rouen Museum secured the top priced lot of the auction, the 18th century, 2ft 1in (65cm) wide wrought and engraved-iron chest from Southern Germany which fetched 46,000 Euros (£41,820). This featured a complex locking system and an elaborate cagework of foliate scrolls and leaves over the entire outer surface, with a double headed eagle to the cover.



Fraysse & Associes

Christie's green auction

Christie’s International, announces “A Bid to Save the Earth” Green Auction, which will take place on April 22, 2010 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of earth day. The Evening Sale event will be held at Christie’s, Rockefeller Center, New York and be carried live globally via Christie’s LIVE™ on www.christies.com.

Christie’s will waive all fees and commissions for the auction. Proceeds from the sale will be divided among four leading not-for-profit environmental organizations: Conservation International, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Central Park Conservancy. Native Energy, will provide carbon offsets for the entire Green Auction.

Christie's

Brighton gets European funding to start policing of SWMPs

Brighton, UK
Jonathan Essex of BioRegional said, "I think this is a first - a local authority actually planning to start inspecting SWMPs - and this would help compliance, which in turn could help a focus on reuse on both construction and demolition sites."

Brighton and Hove City Council together with SECBE will be visiting construction sites in Brighton area later this year, starting in June, to inspect Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs). It is a legal obligation for construction companies to comply with SWMP legislation.

A Site Waste Management Plan is required for all projects with a value of £300,000 and greater.

'In Brighton and Hove, Caroline Lucas MEP of the Greens won the European elections in 2009. A poll in Dec 2009 put the Greens in Brighton Pavilion on 35% of the vote, 8% ahead of the Tories with Ms Lucas running as an MP again.'

Prior to site visits SECBE and Brighton will be running a free SWMP training session on 10th May 2010 in Brighton to give companies a fair chance to prepare. This is an opportunity to understand what the legal requirements are and to learn how to build and develop a SWMP. There will be practical exercises to help delegates get to grips with how SWMPs work. There will also be potential access to other free services to help you implement SWMPs in your company.

In order to book your FREE place or for more information, please email Julian Carter on julian@secbe.org.uk or call on 0118 920 7200.

Transformed Liquid Container Trucks Into Mobile Houses

Aristide Antonas a designer from Athens is devising new ways to upcycle existing materials into dwellings. His designs reuse old trucks into apartments that can either remain stationary or stay attached to the truck and be mobile.

"We may be in the Age of Aquarius, but it seems more appropriate to say that we’re entering into the Age of Reuse, and these KEG Apartments are a prime example. Antonas and his collaborator Katerina Koutsogianni envision transforming these abandoned spaces into two-level apartments, vacation homes or even offices," said Bridgette Meinhold from Inhabitat.


Athens, Greece


Inhabitat

English Heritage boss supports reclaimed

In the latest edition of Listed Heritage magazine Salvo posed the following question to Baroness Andrews OBE, the new chair of English Heritage:

Why does English Heritage not recommend that owners should reclaim and reuse old Victorian bricks when a historic building is altered or demolished, in line with current government policy? English Heritage's policy seems to be to encourage the bricks to be crushed.

This was a follow-up to Salvo's request for the trade to lobby MP's about English Heritage's proposed new PPS15, which neglects the need to reclaim old materials from demolition for reuse.

Here is Kay Andrews response which seems very positive:

We absolutely do advocate the reuse of authentic materials and like-for-like replacement as much as possible. If a building can't be saved then we would encourage as much as possible to be used again. The embedded energy in building materials is an important resource that should not be wasted. Re-using building materials not only retains local distinctiveness and authentication but reduces carbon emissions.

NFDC commit to 90 per cent recycling

London UK - AT a meeting in London on 25 March 2010 the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) pledged support, with the assistance of BRE (the former Building Research Establishment), to set a new target to recycle 90 per cent of UK non-hazardous demolition waste. This will be reviewed in 2011.

Speaking at the event, Howard Button, NFDC chief executive, said that the target is currently being exceeded by his members, but he expressed concern that it might be less achievable in future because of the increasing levels of composite and complex material to be found in more recently constructed buildings, unless more was incinerated rather than recycled.

The target was one of many set by the UK government in its Strategy for Sustainable Construction produced in 2008.

Above: Strategy for Sustainable Construction June 2008, signed by Shriti Vadera, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), Caroline Flint Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), Margaret Hodge, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Phil Woolas Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Ian Pearson Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills (DIUS), William Jordan Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Centre for Expertise in Sustainable Procurement, and Mike Davies Chair of the Strategic Forum for Construction.

In 2007 92 per cent of the 32m tonnes of demolition materials were either recycled and used on the site from which they were demolished or sent offsite. In order to meet their new target, NFDC members will need to divert an extra 6m tonnes from landfill by 2012. This should be relatively easy, but it was said at the meeting that there was anecdotal evidence some old industrial and office building owners were finding it cheaper to knock buildings down than pay the rates. This was good for the demolition industry, but not good for meeting targets for carbon emissions. More than one demolition person at the meeting said that there is no demand for reclaimed timber, which was suprising to the reclamation people present.

Mr. Button said that the NFDC will continue to work with other stakeholders to identify and implement solutions to maximise recovery. This will include training, reduction of environmental impacts, research, development and measurement. It was now mandatory for NFDC members to complete an annual return of volumes of materials handled.

During the meeting Salvo agreed to work with the NFDC to encourage more reclamation and reuse, including another Construction Skills Red Card Training Day for reclamation and salvage on CDM demolition sites, the last of which was more than two years ago.

Strategy for Sustainable Construction

Serious restoration

Knebworth, Herts UK
Period Living reports on how Andy Singleton undertook a eight-year renovation project of a damp waterlogged thatched cottage with no services and no road access, which he leases from the Knebworth estate. He has since transformed the timber framed building with a little help from his friends.