Stephen Bond, Class of 1973

Stephen left Trinity to study archaeology at Bristol University, later gaining a Master’s in Environmental Archaeology at Sheffield University. He subsequently became a chartered building surveyor. He was a partner at property and construction consultants TFT for 21 years, including a seven-year secondment to the Management Team of Historic Royal Palaces (HRP). In 1998, De Montfort University awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contribution to building surveying and conservation. He was Scholar in Residence at the Roger Williams University Architectural School in 2000 and at the University of Savannah in 2008. Later in 2008, he established his own practice, Heritage Places. Beyond the UK, he has worked on architectural and historical projects in various countries, including Lebanon, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mozambique, India, Sri Lanka, Bali and Vietnam.

What are your fondest memories of your time at Trinity?

Struggling not to laugh in class with Geoff Boulton over ‘Pork Chops the General’, a wonderfully ridiculous composite image created from a folding cereal packet amusement. An afternoon in the bars of Boulogne-Sur-Mer (a one-off daytrip masquerading as a special French class) and the less than smooth return crossing! I should also mention the then almost shiny new school building – a cornucopia for learning, as well as perhaps making me first consider architecture’s potential to influence lives and life!

Which teachers at Trinity played a role in shaping you, your aspirations and your career goals?

Surprisingly, despite my career in heritage, I never actually studied history as a subject. I was determined to pursue astronomy at university, right up until my final year at school. Trinity played a significant role in my decision, because of its diverse range of highly skilled teachers actively encouraging inquisitive minds. Yet, some of the most valuable lessons came from the incidental wisdom imparted by certain staff members. I especially remember maths teacher Les Shaw’s frequently used and frustrated admonition to “show your workings”, a directive to always make the logic underlying one’s work clear to the reader. It has repeatedly served me well in crafting complex documents for demanding legal and international audiences.

Tell us more about Heritage Places, and how your experience at TFT influenced the establishment of your consultancy?

When I founded Heritage Places in 2008, I had 25 years of wideranging and enriching experience of the built environment at TFT, the majority of which were spent as a partner. I was fortunate enough to be seconded to HRP as its first Surveyor of the Fabric, caring for Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London and other unoccupied palaces. That, in turn, led to opportunities for involvement in international projects run by UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, but balancing such work with my partnership in an increasingly commercial construction consultancy proved challenging. This prompted me to consider establishing my own heritage consultancy to provide specialised guidance to a diverse range of clients, including international, national and local government organisations, funding bodies, property management and institutional clients. Happily, the decision proved to be the right one and has led to great success.

It’s impressive that Heritage Places has been involved in projects both in the UK and internationally. Could you share some notable projects you’ve worked on and the challenges and successes you’ve encountered?

My last two years at HRP involved directing the Tower Environs Scheme (TES). TES was a groundbreaking, multi-partner regeneration initiative for the area surrounding the Tower of London, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The TES master plan we produced was innovative for its early utilisation of significance as a tool for managing the changes that affect heritage, and it attracted international attention. It was, however, a challenging task, as it aimed to bring mixed uses to an area of the City that had, until then, been dominated by offices, leaving its 6 million annual visitors without adequate facilities. The TES was influential as an approach to heritage and prompted many changes, but we faced funding challenges in some of its more expensive elements, such as reflooding the Tower’s moat. It personally taught me the art of tailoring the presentation of proposals to appeal to the interests of specific audiences.

In 2014, I was the heritage advisor to a World Bank project in the Baixa district, the historic core of Mozambique’s Maputo. The area was under threat from extensive high-rise development. The World Bank commissioned an international team to create a significancedriven urban plan, recognising the importance to local people of built heritage in preserving their cultural roots, landmarks and community memories. As so little had previously been recorded, we had to start from scratch, conducting surveys and community discussions, and creating a legal protection framework to safeguard it for the future.

As you reflect on your journey from Trinity to the establishment of Heritage Places, what advice would you offer to current students who aspire to follow a similar path in architecture, design or heritage?

Cultivate the habit of being observant. Take a moment to consider the profound impact of architecture on our world. Don’t just focus on what’s at eye level; look up and around at buildings, old and new, in the streetscape. Explore your emotional responses to what you see, whether it’s outstanding, mediocre, influential or mundane. Recognise how design and materials play a fundamental role in shaping character and sense of place. Understand that both heritage and new architecture are vital for creating and maintaining sustainable, vibrant places.