This Blog is called Bath 'n' Stuff because at the time that I created it I was in a real piss about the monstrosity that was being perpetrated on us by B&NES, the developers and owners of the Southgate area of Bath.
In particular I was distressed because they had gone to a great deal of trouble to produce a Georgian look alike for the shops, residential and leisure part of the development and then demolished a perfectly balanced piece of 30s built classical Georgian styled construction; only to replace it with a modern glass and concrete horror for the bus station (Fist Group again, sorry).
Anyway the first of the new buildings has now emerged as a forest of concrete pillars supporting concrete floors. This is now being clad in its dressing of precast and Bath stone faced panels some 10ft square and bolted on to the concrete pillars.
A couple of questions come to mind. In the first instance; knowing how porous Bath stone is; how long will it be before lumps of this Bath stone facing start falling off the concrete backing? Secondly; having seen how easy it now is to produce a Georgian style building in Bath stone faced concrete panels; when will we see Georgian Bath spreading across the country? You fake it anywhere now.
Am I right to be worried about the devaluation and disappearance of the artisan crafts and skills that will be wiped away when the last Bath stone mason pops his clogs?
In particular I was distressed because they had gone to a great deal of trouble to produce a Georgian look alike for the shops, residential and leisure part of the development and then demolished a perfectly balanced piece of 30s built classical Georgian styled construction; only to replace it with a modern glass and concrete horror for the bus station (Fist Group again, sorry).
Anyway the first of the new buildings has now emerged as a forest of concrete pillars supporting concrete floors. This is now being clad in its dressing of precast and Bath stone faced panels some 10ft square and bolted on to the concrete pillars.
A couple of questions come to mind. In the first instance; knowing how porous Bath stone is; how long will it be before lumps of this Bath stone facing start falling off the concrete backing? Secondly; having seen how easy it now is to produce a Georgian style building in Bath stone faced concrete panels; when will we see Georgian Bath spreading across the country? You fake it anywhere now.
Am I right to be worried about the devaluation and disappearance of the artisan crafts and skills that will be wiped away when the last Bath stone mason pops his clogs?
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