John Willans

John Willans

BA MSt IHBC

Associate

John has a dual conservation and sustainability role in the firm, making sure that the latest thinking and guidance on climate change adaptation is embedded in all our work.

He specialises in the strategic management of heritage assets, the provision of best practice guidance and the development of proposals for estate or city-wide regeneration. His particular interest lies in the role of the historic environment in informing the development of masterplans and spatial strategies and he has worked closely with public and private sector clients on the delivery of new development in historic contexts, taking projects from early-stage discussions around design parameters and principles through to full planning applications.

As our sustainability lead, he is continuously working on a range of climate change adaptation and mitigation projects affecting the historic building environment. He strongly believes that all historic buildings and places must adapt to maintain viable uses in the face of the climate crisis, and that ambitious carbon reduction can be achieved without compromising heritage significance if approached with care and original thinking.

He has assisted a number of public sector clients secure consent for major new developments in highly sensitive heritage locations. These include new housing developments at Arnos Grove and Acton Town for TfL, the potential for redevelopment for two major London hospital sites and the securing of consent for a major new leisure centre in the central Kingston Conservation Area and adjacent to a listed library.

He has robust experience of preparing conservation plans for a range of heritage sites and has a good understanding of the requirements for preparing CMPs Heritage Fund applications. Recent examples include the Grade II listed Lowestoft Town Hall and the recently-designated Kasbah Conservation Area in Grimsby.

John is a buildings historian, a fully accredited member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, and holds a Masters in Building History from the University of Cambridge.