Architectural Conservation - Current Treatments

Current Treatments

The Department of the Interior of the United States defined the following treatment approaches to architectural conservation:

• Preservation, "places a high premium on the retention of all historic fabric through conservation, maintenance and repair. It reflects a building's continuum over time, through successive occupancies, and the respectful changes and alterations that are made."

• Rehabilitation "emphasizes the retention and repair of historic materials, but more latitude is provided for replacement because it is assumed the property is more deteriorated prior to work. (Both Preservation and Rehabilitation standards focus attention on the preservation of those materials, features, finishes, spaces, and spatial relationships that, together, give a property its historic character." See also adaptive reuse.

• Restoration "focuses on the retention of materials from the most significant time in a property's history, while permitting the removal of materials from other periods."

• Reconstruction, "establishes limited opportunities to re-create a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object in all new materials."

Other nations recognize some or all of these as potential treatments for historic structures. Canada recognizes preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration. The Burra Charter, for Australia, identifies preservation, restoration, and reconstruction.