Soft Capping Seminar

A seminar to launch a Research Report on the role of plants in the conservation of built heritage, highlighted by a visit to Historic Scotland’s recently completed project to sedum cap Smailholm Tower.

The seminar fee is £15

                        
              
Soft cappings of living plants a have been used to conserve masonry ruins in Scotland for years, protecting historic fabric from extremes of thermal swings and rainwater. Recent research has documented the technical benefits over hard cappings and has led to increasing use of these low maintenance, environmentally-friendly techniques.

Historic Scotland’s new 2-volume Research Report, written by Arc, was commissioned to summarize recent experience in this emerging discipline. It documents the technical diversity through 39 case studies. Attendees at the conference will receive a copy of the new report.

The use of plants as conservation materials sits alongside traditional building typologies that use living plants as part of their original construction.  Such structures that have been naturally colonized by wild plants, illustrate the connections between building conservation and nature conservation.

Scotland’s distinctive and rich heritage in this field exists in a wider west European geo-botanical and aesthetic context that will be illustrated by talks by colleagues from Sweden and England.

The potential for innovative applications will be illustrated by the recent capping of Smailholm Tower, a scheduled monument in HS care, whose stone vaulted roof has been recently capped with sedum at pitches up to 70 degrees.



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