APT Australasia Chapter

APT Australasia Chapter is delighted to congratulate Meher Bahl for being the Heritage Professional winner of the Australia ICOMOS President’s Award 2020.

“The judges were impressed with Meher’s initiative, innovation and achievement in developing and managing the Building Technology Heritage Library Scanning Project. Her professionalism and dedication to the project as well as throughout her career is a great example for other young and emerging heritage professionals.“

Meher was instrumental in delivering the project to scan and upload a substantial selection of significant historic building catalogues from Professor Miles Lewis’ library to the APT International online Building Technology Heritage Library. The final report on this project is available here.

In response to the announcement of her Award, Meher has said:

“I am beyond honoured and ecstatic to be receiving the Australia ICOMOS President’s Award 2020 for the Heritage Professional category. As an international student and now a fresh graduate, I had never thought in my wildest dreams that the work I stumbled upon would shape my career for the rest of my life. During the tenure of my Bachelors in India, I was not someone who was extremely involved in heritage and conservation (even despite India’s rich cultural heritage, I know!). My interest in the field was sparked when I got the chance to merge digital with heritage for the Building Technology Heritage Library project. Professor Miles Lewis’s collection was an excellent one, in the sense that, even though I was digitising them, I got to enhance my knowledge of not just Australian architecture and techniques but also international standards and practice. This addition to the [APT] Building Technology Heritage Library has proved to be an invaluable resource for the conservation community. 
The recognition that comes with the award has encouraged me in many ways to continue my work within the field. It has been extremely wonderful to see the work of other young professionals who have been commended as a part of the award. I hope to work with such like-minded passionate people and continue to learn new things every day.”

APT Australasia Chapter is delighted to report that the first phase of scanning material from Professor Miles Lewis‘ library for the APT International online Building Technology Heritage Library has been completed.

The project report is downloadable here.

In summary, 206 documents have been scanned and uploaded, their size varying from 1 to 1073 pages, and the total is estimated at 35,133 pages. The material varies in date from 1755 to 1973. The origin of this material can be categorised as:
57  Australian
83  British
11  French
51  Usonian
4   other

Discussions continue with regard to opportunities for scanning further material from Professor Miles Lewis’ library for inclusion in the Building Technology Heritage Library.

APT Australasia Chapter Convenor, Donald Ellsmore, will attend the launch of the APT European Chapter in Milan, Italy on 16 September 2019.  The launch of the new Chapter will be attended by representatives of APT International, APT Latin America Chapter, ICOMOS and others.

The APT European Chapter will be hosted in Milan by Assorestauro, an industry group representing manufacturers of materials, equipment and technology, suppliers of services and specialised companies in the sector of restoration and conservation of heritage in Italy and abroad. The APT European chapter will cover a vast geographical area and be the third chapter outside North America, after Australasia and Latin America.

The launch of the APT European chapter will be held during a restoration week including a restoration trade fair in Ferrara and inspections of projects in several other locations. The event has received sponsorship from participating organisations and the Italian Trade Agency.

Practical Building Conservation is a 1, 2, 6 or 9 day program in the conservation of traditional buildings, structures and fabric, held at the World Heritage inscribed Woolmers & Brickendon Estates in Longford, Tasmania. It offers a unique mix of theory, demonstrations and involvement in practical conservation works, benefiting both the participants and the sites.

Participants can attend the 6 day program, which includes structured face‐to‐face workshops on Days 3 and 6 on the subjects of Lime Mortars & Plastering, and Roofing, and extend the program to 9 days, by staying on with the expert facilitators, furthering their physical contribution to the site conservation works.  Alternatively, attend one or both of the specialist one day structured workshops.

• Investigate significant building fabric, structures and sites.
• Learn how to obtain long term sustainable conservation outcomes in real life situations.
• Share knowledge and experience with conservation practitioners.
• Understand environmental impacts, deterioration and how to deal with complex challenges.
• Participate in hands‐on activities with experienced practitioners.
• Relax and learn in an outstanding cultural landscape.

Download the Longford Academy ‘Practical Building Conservation’ Autumn Program for more information.

Download the registration form in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format or in Word  format, complete it, and email it to the organiser.

Enquiries by email to Greg Owen.

The start of 2019 marked the beginning of a project to add new Australian, European and American documents to the Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL) supported by the APT Australasia Chapter. These documents come from the collection of Professor Miles Lewis, retired professor of architectural history from the University of Melbourne, and well-known to many of our members here in Australia.

Lewis’s passion for vernacular and urban architecture finds tangible form in his personal library of more than 2,500 documents, which includes many early European documents on building technology and construction. He is also an avid collector of architectural trade catalogues, a principal component of the BTHL. Architectural concrete and prefabricated buildings are but two topics that will be enriched by his contribution.

Professor Miles Lewis and scanning technician Meher Bahl at his office in Melbourne, Australia.

Professor Miles Lewis and APT Australasia Chapter Convenor Dr Donald Ellsmore were successful in getting a grant from the Vera Moore Foundation to permit the digitisation project, which will be completed by mid-2019. Additional technical support for the digitisation was provided by the University Digitisation Centre at the University of Melbourne.

In the course of this project, the BTHL went beyond the 10,000 item mark, as described in this article from Traditional Building.

Below are samples of documents from Lewis’s collection now incorporated in the BTHL.

Advertisement for Wrought-Iron Hinges, c. 1810. Jas. Thornton & Son, Birmingham, England.

This early nineteenth-century advertisement for wrought-iron hinges is from a company in Birmingham, in the heartland of the English iron and steel industries.

Ceilings for Every Room in the Home,
1919. Wunderlich Ltd., Sydney, Australia.

The Wunderlich Company was a major building-products manufacturer in Australia. This is one of three catalogues of metal ceilings scanned during the current project.

Agco SupaLuvres in Extruded Aluminum with P.V.C. Weatherseals, 1950s. A. F. Agnew & Co. Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia.

This is one of the newest catalogues from the Lewis Collection, featuring jalousie, or louvred, windows.

APT is extremely grateful to Professor Miles Lewis for his contribution to the Building Technology Heritage Library.