the domain
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plaster, strengthening and removing the wooden beams, repairing the wooden louvers and recasting the lime concrete roof, wherever necessary and appropriate. The house was restored in a span of nine months at a cost which was three to four times less as compared to bringing up a new building in the same area, thus making conservation of the house economically viable. The project of Vidyasagar taught us many lessons and informed us about many practical issues for executing conservation projects. The sourcing of authentic materials like limestone and shell lime, sand blasted cast iron, lime punning (araish) as opposed to plaster of Paris; the use of lime paint for the exterior and to make it more durable by traditional admixtures;
the traditional method of lime terracing are all possible and a continuing tradition. Above all, celebrating conservation works by investing in traditional masons and not so much on new materials always, gave a new meaning to our conservation and design practice. We present two of our recent projects in Kolkata last year. The first one is St John‘s Church built in 1787 which is a nationally protected monument and one of the first Parish churches of Bengal which inspired many church designs in India. The second is Tagore Hall, a residential two-storied bungalow built around 1840s in Kolkata. The conservation approach was responsive to the difference in significance of the two structures.