The Key to Success

Having surveyed over 4,000 old and heritage properties all over UK in the last decade only, the surveyors of Core Conservation noticed some recurring, common problems without conservation-friendly solutions.

Dampness related problems were by far the least understood ones, and for listed basements there were literally no lasting lime-based  solutions. Insulating old buildings was a similarly difficult area with not too many conservation-friendly options.  

Our team didn’t stop searching till satisfactory answers were found to the typical heritage building  problems, ticking all the boxes of the British conservation guidelines. 

All roads led to Rome once again, and our initiative of introducing great lime-based solutions to the industry was well received, and acknowledged by the numerous industry awards that we won over the years. 

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award7
Construction and Engineering Award 2024

Meet the Core of the Core

Working as a team since a decade

Val

Surveyor, Head of Research

Mick

Historic Building Surveyor

Era300by300

Erika

Treasury

Gabi300by300

Gabriella

Web, PR&M

Our own research

To be able to understand the subject of dampness in old buildings in its fullest, and to provide better solutions to the problems, we have launched our doctorate research into the subject with The University of Strathclyde.  

Some more projects

And here is what we learnt

Frankly, the answer is not simply ‘Use lime!’; there are two more questions to answer correctly:

 

Which lime product is the best for the purpose?

How to use it?

 

If you are not 100% certain, there is probably more to know about the subject. To prevent ending up with ugly discolourations on your beautiful, new lime plaster, or damp patches, mould or other inconvenient consequences, we would recommend getting in touch. 

 

We are always glad to help.

One application of our lime-only solutions: an 1870's Victorian basement flat conversion.

The conversion of an old Victorian basement into living accommodation in Brixton, London, making the place watertight and well insulated, using lime-only materials.

 

Materials used:

Roman breathable but waterproof base coat: Rinzaffo MGN

Insulating lime plaster: Termointonaco 2020 MGN

 

Another video testimonial is available on the Contact page.

Behind the Scenes

History repeats itself

The research for Ancient Roman mortars began in 1985, as a collaboration with the Polythechnic University of Milan, Italy.

 

Despite of on-site efforts and laboratory testing the project wasn’t really successful till Naldo Busato, third generation building restoration master craftsman arrived with hands-on experience from the Venice World Heritage site.

 

He demonstrated the scientific concepts on the well preserved Roman buildings of Pompeii, which added the missing element: practical knowledge and skill.

Palazzo Pisani Moretta (Venice)

The Breakthrough

Naldo – with the help and guidence of Department of Cultural Heritage, Milan – was capable of recreating the ancient formulas – mainly following up on Vitruvius, Roman Architect’s recipes from over 2000 years ago.

 

The result is the multiaward-winning ’MGN’ product line of easy-to-use, premixed lime plasters, from unique traditional recipes, using 100% pure certified raw materials. These products stood the test of time for centuries and satisfied even the most extreme needs of architecture.

 

These ancient recipes – rediscovered and made easy to use – are consistently up to the standards and high expectations, even when used in the World Heritage site of Venice.

We stepped up our game

The core team of Core Conservation, having accumulated a decades worth of experience with modern, heritage and listed buildings in the UK,

 

decided to adopt certain Roman techniques and become the proud distributor and advocate of these extraordinary products, for the benefit of the invaluable architectural heritage of Britain.

 

The stress is on constant education and practice: we are tirelessly educating the team in Italy, under the supervision of Mr. Busato. 

 

For a little insight, please see a demonstration of the Ancient Roman Concrete formula, from which the Pantheon and the Colosseum were built. 

 

We are old building enthusiasts, and we’d love to share our knowledge and demonstrate our skills. 

 

Hope, one day we will be able to help You, too

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