08/11/2023
On Friday 13 October 2023, attendees gathered at 2 Royal Avenue for ‘Belfast’s Old Town: Underground, Overground, What’s there to see?’ as part of the Conservation in Common series of events. Just like the wombles of Wimbledon, this event was all about how we are ‘Making good use of the things that we find’.
The event brought together people from all walks of life who are interested in deepening their knowledge of the built heritage of Belfast city centre and exploring how that heritage can be protected and enhanced.
Following a light lunch attendees listened to three short presentations, each covering a different area of our built environment. The event began with Ruairí Ó Baoill, Excavation Director at QUB’s Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork giving an insight into the archaeological digs that have taken place in Belfast’s city centre. This was followed by Graeme Moore, Associate at Consarc detailing examples of city centre conservation projects and concluded with Michael Gordon, Head of Planning at Turley discussing the need for balancing conservation and development in the city’s historic core.
The afternoon was rounded off with an engaging and informative walking tour by public historian Sean Napier from The 1798 Belfast Walking Tours.
This event was part of the Conservation in Common series which RSUA delivers in partnership with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI), the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) Ireland, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Ireland, Building Control NI (BCNI), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities.
