conservation is viable
A conservation architect and historic buildings consultant ardently worked to conserve some of the historic and significant structures of Kolkata: residential houses, churches, chapels, and the historic city centre of Dalhousie Square. The conservation of the house of Vidyasagar, St James Church, and Tagore Hall are three projects featured.
I am attracted to the special architectural wealth of Calcutta/Kolkata. The ensemble of grand old buildings in Dalhousie Square – the seat of British administration and commerce from where the Indian subcontinent was governed – expressed in Georgian, Victorian and late Gothic architectural styles, and the multitude of eclectic architecture of courtyard houses and palaces is a rich architectural asset that still survives in much of its authentic form, although in various degrees of decay.
A growing consciousness and concern for conserving historic buildings and places in Kolkata and India began only a little over a decade ago. I owe my knowledge of the history of Kolkata greatly from my experience of engaging in research and conserving historic structures in the city. A knowledge of the history of the city is intimately linked to these projects.
As a conservation architect and historic buildings consultant, I am passionately engaged in conserving some of these historic and significant structures ranging from residential houses to churches and chapels, and the historic city centre of Dalhousie Square.
Our first project was the conservation of the house of Vidyasagar that began in the year 1998. Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820 – 1891) bought a two-storied house in North Kolkata in 1840 to keep his collection of 20,000 books and accommodate his relatives and friends from the neighbouring villages. Following his demise, his family members rented the house. Slowly the house slipped into decay over the years and the tenants showed unwillingness to leave the property. Finally the Government of West Bengal settled with the tenants with a financial package and decided to restore the house.
The house is a load bearing brick structure with traditional lime mortar and plastered surface with projecting arched and louvred verandah. When we began the conservation project, the roof was leaking from all corners, walls were damp, plasters debonded and bearing portion of the wooden beams were rotting and sagging.
Following a detailed documentation and estimation for its repair, the work was undertaken using traditional materials for its plaster, strengthening and removing the wooden beams, repairing the wooden louvers and recasting the lime concrete roof wherever necessary. The house was restored in a span of 9 months at a cost three to four times less than building a new one in the same area, making conservation of the house economically viable.
The Vidyasagar house project taught us many lessons and informed us about many practical issues for executing conservation projects. The sourcing of authentic materials like limestone and shell lime, sand blasted cast iron, lime punning (araish) as opposed to Plaster of Paris, the use of lime paint for the exterior to make it more breathable and durable by traditional admixtures, and the traditional method of lime terracing are all possible. They are part of a continuing tradition. Investing in traditional masons and not so much on new materials gave a new meaning to our conservation and design practice.
Since then we worked on many historic buildings. Here are brief descriptions of two of our recent projects: St James Church built in 1864 and Tagore Hall, a residential two-storied bungalow built around 1840s in Kolkata.
Deeply etched in the landscape of Calcutta for over 174 years, and one of the largest edifices in the city and unique in its architectural expression, St James’ Church is a prominent 19th century early English Gothic Church with traces of Norman details.
The Church was consecrated by Bishop Cotton on St James’ Day, 25 July 1864. Designed by Walter Granville, the outer walls of the Church are firmly supported on all sides by well-proportioned buttresses. At the west-end is a spacious carriage drive porch with two pointed arches on the eastern and western sides. Above the porch is an ornamented gabled frontage surmounted by a cross and flanked on both sides by two double-tier turret towers from which comes the local name “Jora Girja.” Lofty spires rise over the towers surmounted by large metal crosses. On the upper portion of the lower southern tower is a double-dialed clock facing west and south.
With the building slipping into decay since 2000, parishioners could feel the dampness rising from the floor. Though the main wooden roof of mahogany was still strong, leaks had developed along the drip channels leading to seepage during monsoon. The wooden floor at the second level was gnawed through by termites which were also busy boring into doors and windows as well. Lack of regular maintenance, paucity of funds and inappropriate repair interventions in the past led to deterioration of the physical fabric of the building. This is when the church authority and two neighbouring schools – Pratt Memorial and St James School – decided to conserve the church for posterity under professional guidance. Finally, in 2008, the Pastor Committee of the Church and Rt. Rev Ashok Biswas, the Bishop of Kolkata and the Calcutta Diocese Trust Association assigned us the task of conserving this significant building.
Work started with archival research and documentation in order to understand the significance of the church. Research and study of old drawings and photographs along with physical measurement led us to prepare updated and accurate floor plans, elevations and sections of the Church. A detailed study was undertaken that included documentation, measured drawings, condition survey and assessment of the historic fabric of the church in order to prepare a detailed estimate and specification for various items of works for an authentic and appropriate conservation of the building.
A detailed condition survey of the Church was undertaken by exploring various locations in order to assess the brick mortar system, external plaster, extent of vegetative growth, serviceability of the drainage system and structural distress. Based on the studies, analyses and assessments, repair specifications and conservation strategies were drawn on the following principles.
Minimality: Only those portions were minimally repaired and strengthened which were absolutely essential so that there was minimal loss of original fabric of the structure thereby ensuring the continuance of survival of the material of the structure.
Authenticity: The church was conserved by continuation of traditional materials of lime and sand plaster, and lime and brickdust mortar using traditional admixtures adopted in the same proportions as found from existing plaster and mortar analysis. The strength of the lime rich mortar was improved by the addition of puzzolanic materials like brick powder, brick chips or marble dust. Traditional additives like casein, egg white, molasses, black gram (urad ki daal), curd, etc were used for weather resistance. The previous cement pointing was scraped and repointed with lime surkhi mortar.
Breathability: The façade was rendered with traditional lime-sand plaster and finished with silicone and weedicide added paint to trade off between breathability and susceptibility of growth of moisture and lichens in our extreme rainfall months.
The Conservation of Tagore Hall, a two storied residential bungalow in South Calcutta, was redeemed from a state of extreme dilapidation into a high-end quality space for residential living for the group chairman of Goodricke Group Limited, a part of the Camellia plc UK, the largest tea producer in the world. The house belonged to Rathindranath Tagore (1888 – 1960), son of the poet Rabindranath Tagore(1861 – 1941).
The building was unsafe as portion of the roof had collapsed, the beams and runners supporting the ceiling sagged, and the central wooden staircase damaged. In the absence of any plan of the bungalow, a detailed documentation, condition survey and inspection were first conducted to draw a Conservation Plan and a Adaptive Reuse Plan for a new residential living.
Portion of the roof was relaid with reinforced precast tiles supported by renewed RS joist where necessary covered by a screed concrete. The method of construction was similar to traditional terracotta tiles and lime concrete over beams and runners, but the materials used was steel and not wooden beams, RCC precast tiles instead of terracotta tiles, and screed concrete instead of lime concrete. The walls were deplastered, pointed, and joint sealed and replastered with composite mortar. The original spiral wooden staircase at the Tagore Hall was strengthened and restored, and the bedrooms and living /drawing rooms which were subdivided by partition walls were recovered and aesthetically presented with period furniture as part of the idiom of interior design
With these two projects, we encountered different approaches and strategies for conservation responding to differences in need and significance of the buildings. The strategy for conserving Tagore Hall was not material conservation unlike the St James Church where it was important to retain as much of the original material of the fabric as possible. With Tagore Hall, it was more critical to adopt a responsive repair method that was akin to the spirit and method of constructing the structure to accommodate services for modern living (such as concealed wiring for electrical and air conditioning).
In Kolkata, and many cities of India, conservation is shrouded with a misconception that it is not possible to recover and conserve a heritage building with a lesser cost. Such arguments are generally posed by developers to curb the slightest opportunity in favour of conserving a structure. We firmly believe – and it is something we learnt through our practice – that conservation means judicious, informed, appropriate and responsive repair to recover a building for present and future use. This is what makes conservation of heritage buildings economical and viable.
Manish Chakraborti is a conservation architect and urban planner based in Kolkata, India. Member and Coordinator of the National Scientific Committee of Shared Heritage of ICOMOS India and the Heritage Committee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, his practice CONTINUITY, provides conservation consultancy to the West Bengal Heritage Commission, the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Rajasthan and Archaeological Survey of India.
A conservation architect and historic buildings consultant ardently worked to conserve some of the historic and significant structures of Kolkata: residential houses, churches, chapels, and the historic city centre of Dalhousie Square. The conservation of the house of Vidyasagar, St James Church, and Tagore Hall are three projects featured. I am attracted to the special…