Dr David Watt  BSc (Hons), Dip Arch Cons (Leic), PhD, MSc, FRICS, IHBC

Dr David Watt has recently joined Hutton+Rostron Environmental Investigations Limited as Associate Director (Eastern).  Based in Lincolnshire with prime responsibility for the East Midlands and East Anglia, David provides a range of professional services as well as augmenting the interdisciplinary approach taken by Hutton + Rostron to investigative and refurbishment works.

David is a Chartered Building Surveyor, with a degree in building surveying, a post-graduate diploma in architectural conservation, a post-graduate degree in conservation science, and a doctorate in aspects of architectural recording.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Full Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. In addition, he is a member of the RICS Building Conservation Forum Board and accredited as a Chartered Surveyor in Building Conservation. He is also a member of various learned societies, including the Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings and Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

David has worked in both private and public sectors, including Conservation Officer with Norfolk County Council (1991–96). He was Senior Research Fellow at De Montfort University (1996–05), where he taught on post-graduate conservation courses, supervised research students, and provided consultancy services to a range of clients. He also undertook and published research on various aspects of architectural conservation and building pathology, with particular interests relating to the use of traditional building materials and the influence of people and environmental conditions on buildings and monuments.

Additional activities include lecturing to academic and professional audiences on building repair and maintenance, and aspects of architectural conservation and building pathology. He is author of Building Pathology: Principles and Practice, co-author of Surveying Historic Buildings and Measurement and Recording of Historic Buildings, and was Editor of the Journal of Architectural Conservation for ten years until 2005. He was appointed as Honorary Senior Research Fellow within the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London in 2005.

David provides the following services relating largely to the historic built environment, although many are equally applicable to buildings of traditional construction that require a sympathetic approach to investigative and refurbishment works:  

• Measured building surveys
• Building condition surveys, including identification of construction, defect diagnosis, advice on repair and alterations, and preparation of technical reports
• Maintenance inspections, including Church of England quinquennial inspections, preparation of programmes of planned preventive maintenance, advice on preventive conservation, and preparation of project documentation
• Conservation and repair projects, including repair of historic buildings and ancient monuments, consolidation of standing ruins, preliminary services (initial client briefing, consultant selection, initial recommendations), pre-contract services (project documentation, consultation with English Heritage and local authority officers, statutory approvals, grants, contractor selection, tender and contract documentation, health and safety), and post-contract services (contract administration, project monitoring, final account, record drawings, future maintenance)
• Material investigation and analysis, including defect diagnosis and prognosis, moisture profiling, soluble salt analysis, environmental monitoring, and advice on selection and use of traditional building and repair materials
• Research and documentation, including archive and documentary research, conservation-based research and analysis, heritage impact assessments, and preparation of conservation statements and conservation management plans
• Education and training, including academic and professional lectures, advice on individual and team training programmes, and editing of academic and professional work

The Hutton+Rostron emphasis is on a holistic, interdisciplinary approach that does not consider a building in isolation, but instead takes account of the wider influences of site, environment, and user activities. This is crucial in achieving a successful balance of client needs and expectations with building capacity and performance.

 

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