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Information Analysis of the Pre-Application Stage for Statutory consent in Building Conservation Industry An Object Role Modelling approach in Architectural Documentation

Xenofon Sotirchopoulos

A Thesis submitted for the Degree of Master of Philosophy Department of Architecture Planning and Landscape, University of Newcastle

October 2004

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.. 7 1.1. Physical and Policy Context of the research... 7 1.2. Aims of the research. 14 1.3. Research Hypothesis. 16 Chapter 2: Building Conservation Definitions and Terminology...17 2.1 Architectural identity as cultural characteristic....17 2.2 The objectives of building conservation ....20 2.3 Terminology exploration ..23 2.4 Summary...27 Chapter 3: Building Conservation informatics.28 3.1. Introduction....28 3.2. Building conservation and archaeology...29 3.3. Types of IT applications...30 3.3.1. Structural analysis..31 3.3.2. Recording for Building Conservation 3D modelling..34 3.3.3. Archives43 3.3.4. Data Standards Buildings and Sites Inventories44 3.3.5. GIS Databases 46 3.3.6. Information modelling.49 3.4. Summary..51

Chapter 4: Information model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent in Greece; policy and procedures .....53 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. Introduction ......53 Players engaged in the Greek procedural system...55 Conservation tasks cycles....56 The Greek procedural system an IDEF0 activity model...61 4.4.1. Legislation Background data collection...61 4.4.2. The IDEF technique An Analysis approach ...62 4.4.3. The IDEF0 semantics .....64 4.4.4. The activity model .65 4.4.5. Composition of proposal ...66 4.4.6. Projects Approval ....67 4.4.7. Projects Reappraisal ...67 4.4.8. Application for Planning Permission .68 The information model of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission. An Object Role Modeling approach....69 4.5.1. Theoretical background Definitions ......69 4.5.2. The Object Role Modeling language Semantics .....70 4.5.3. Domains of interest .72 4.5.4. The ORM model .73 Summary ......78

4.5.

4.6.

Chapter 5: Information model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent in England; policy and procedures ..80 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. Introduction ....80 Bodies involved in the procedural system .. 81 Data Partners and their input in the information pool of Primary Data. ..83 English procedural system an IDEF activity model ..87 5.4.1. The activity model ..87 The ORM model of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and Planning permission in England ....92 5.5.1. The information classes ...92 5.5.2. The Theoretical Information model ...94 5.5.3. The Documentation sub-system ..95 5.5.4. The Information Enhancement sub-system ..97 5.5.5. The sub-system of the Archives the role of Sites and Monuments Records ....99 5.5.6. The Evaluation sub - system ...102 5.5.7. The Appraisal and Certification sub-system ...103 Summary - conclusion ..104

5.5.

5.6.

Chapter 6: Development of an actual Object Role Model; An English case study - Analysis of empirical data ...........................106 6.1. 6.2. 6.3. 6.4. 6.5. 6.6. Introduction 106 Selection Criteria ....107 The case study .109 Document Collection .112 Document Typology ..116 Document Analysis .118 6.6.1. Testing the Information Classes ..118 6.6.2. Testing the roles between the information classes ...124 6.6.2.1. The actual OR model for the Eviva-Restaurant. A case for Listed Building Consent .126 6.6.2.2. The actual OR model in the case of Murton House. A case for Planning Permission ..131 6.6.3 Dynamics of the Roles (in the actual Object Role Model) .133 6.6.3.1. The Dynamics of the roles in the OR model for the Eviva building. A case for Listed Building Consent ...134 6.6.3.2. The Dynamics of the roles in the OR model for the Murton House. A case for Planning Permission ..137 6.6.4. Quality of information ..138 6.6.4.1. Information typology in the Object Role Model The Eviva Building case. A case for Listed Building Consent ..141 6.6.4.2. Information typology in the Object Role Model The Murton House case. A case for Planning Permission ..144 6.6.4.3. Data Structure and overall Quality ...145 6.6.4.4. Information Quantity and overall Quality ....147 6.7. 6.8. 6.9. The final Actual Object Role Model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent 149 Discussion of the main characteristics of the Greek and English models 151 Summary ...157

Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusions ...160 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Proposal documentation and Pre-Application Stage. .160 ICT and Building Conservation Industry ..161 Information Modeling ....166 Object Role Modeling in the Pre Application Stage 168 Analysis of the Pre-Application Stage in Greece and England An Object Role Modelling approach .169 7.6 Statutory Archival System and Information Enhancement 170 7.7 Information Evaluation and Control Bodies A Core Topology in the Pre-Application Stage. 171 7.8 Quality of Information - ICT requirements 172 7.9 Limitations of the theoretical Object Role Model.174 7.10 Recommendation for future work ..176

References: .179

Figure List Patras port is the west gate to Europe ..8 The Urban plan of the city ....8 The Kollas Villa built in 1904. A building with Neo-Gothic architectural features.....9 Faulty add-on on the pillars that are out of the buildings character 10 The Tzoukos building, built from 1861 up to 1882, is a typical neoclassical style, with characteristic portico as proposed by Voulgaris and Schaumbourg ..11 Figure.6. Detail of arcades ceiling of the building of the previous figure......11 Figure.7. Domain and categories of ICT in Conservation Industry .. 31 Figure.8. The assigned letters (part of the names) on the building ... 36 Figure.9. An HTML page generated by the CARTHTML system . 37 Figure.10. The Palace of Santa Rosa Xtampak in Mexico . 37 Figure.11. Two steps of the 3D digitizing procedures (Pierachini) 38 Figure.12. ICT applications and tools in the various sub stages of the Pre-Application Stage. 51 Figure.13. The repetitive task cycles of building conservation . 59 Figure.14. View of the building case in Patras .. 62 Figure.15. Plan of the principal entrance the faade . 62 Figure.16. A simple spiral process ... 63 Figure.17. An IDEF Activity Box . 65 Figure.18. The output of an activity may be input or control of the next one ..65 Figure.19. IDEF representation of the activities for obtaining a Planning Permission . 66 Figure.20. Objects related with a role .71 Figure.21. Primary Documentation Domain 74 Figure.22. The Documentation Enhancement Domain . 75 Figure.23. The Starting Data Set Domain 76 Figure.24. The Control Bodies Domain ..77 Figure.25. Direct and indirect input in the information pool of Primary Data from various players .. 85 Figure.26. Basic semantics of an IDEF activity box . 87 Figure.27. The context model in the English case .. 88 Figure.28. Activities for statutory consent issue in case of Listed Buildings . 89 Figure.29. The Theoretical information model . 94 Figure.30. The Documentation Sub-system .. 95 Figure.31. The Information Enhancement ... 97 Figure.32. The Archive sub-system in relation with the information enhancement . 99 Figure.33. The Evaluation sub-system . 102 Figure.34. Appraisal and Certification sub-system.... 103 Figure.35. The Grade II building of Eviva restaurant case .. 110 Figure.36. The Evivas restaurant frontage .. 110 Figure.37. The Murton building ..... 111 Figure.38. A part of the spread sheet used for the recording of the documents . 114 Figure.39. Document string and the correspondent, directly derived, elementary fact of the theoretical model .... 114 Figure.40. The interaction of As Exist and Survey document set extracts the Enhanced as exist document set 115 Figure.41. Verified Role - The evaluation of the various document sets extracts the As Proposed document set . 116 Figure.42. Information class verified by two (2) references .. 119 Figure.43. Verified classes of Physical / Institutional sub-system 119 Figure.44. Verified classes of Application Factors and Appraisal and Certification sub-systems120 Figure.45. Verified classes of Project sub-system and Objectification .. 120 Figure.46. Verified classes of Documentation . 120 Figure.47. Verified classes of the Archival subsystem ... 121 Figure.48. The actual OR model in the case of the Eviva Building ...126 Figure.49. The issue of the consent depends on the impact assessment of the proposed change .. 130 Figure.1. Figure.2. Figure.3. Figure.4. Figure.5.

Figure.50. The actual OR model in the case of the Murton House . 131 Figure.51. The dynamics of the roles in the case of the Eviva Building ..... 134 Figure.52. The dynamics of the roles at the case of Murton House .. 137 Figure.53. Evaluation extracts in the As Proposed Doc. set information in the form of drawing (digital), Text, and Fabric (sample) ... 140 Figure.54. Different line-types stand for different information types .. 141 Figure.55. Different line-types stand for different information types .. 144 Figure.56. The increasing of the Significance requires more information and this is dragging the need for Data Structures and ICT in higher levels .... 148 Figure.57. The final Actual Object Role Model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent . 150 Figure.58. The central role of the applicant in the Greek system in comparison with the central role of the Local Planning Authority in the English system 153 Figure.59. The English Core Topology . 171 Figure.60. The low level contribution of the statutory archives makes Survey Document Set the main information pool 172 Figure.61. Basic correspondence between ORM and UML for conceptual data models .176 Figure.62. Information Enhancement in ORM and in UML ... 177

Table List
Table.1. Table.2. Table.3.

The Sub-System and the content Object Classes ... 93 Data driven classification . 117 ICT contribution in the pre-application sub domains ... 166

Chapter 1: Introduction
Preface
A variety of interventions could be carried out on a listed building during its lifetime, within the bounds of a conservation policy. In a legislation framework that predicts the protection of historic buildings, every intervention on a historic building must obtain consent from the responsible authority. The justification and description of this intervention, is generally contained in a proposal made by the applicant. The submission of the proposal defines the point when the documentation of the proposal is finished. Beyond this point, and when the authorities grant the consent, the intervention may start. In this research the stage before the proposal submission is referred to as the pre-application stage. This stage is critical for the improvement of the proposal and may also improve, in terms of quality, the outcome of the interventions during the conservation procedures.

1.4.

Physical and Policy Context of the research

The physical context of this research has been the city of Patras in Greece (figure 1). Patras is situated near the sea, in a strategic position for commercial and financial development in Greece. As in most cities in Greece, the 1970s brought changes in the architectural identity of the city. It is the general opinion that these changes were negative as a great number of historical buildings have been demolished and new concrete constructions have replaced them. From this point of view Patras could be considered a representative case in Greece as the city had a significant architectural identity, influenced by cultural diversity, before this change took place.

Fig. 1 Pat ras por t is the we st gat e to Eur ope

Fig.2 The Urban plan of the city

At the end of the nineteenth century, Patras was divided in two parts. The first one was situated on the cliffs, in south, and is referred to as The old city. The other part is near the port and it is the most recent part of the town which became the commercial centre later. Both parts had buildings with architectural characteristics of that particular period. As time passed by, the two parts were joined in one that formed the historic centre of Patras. From an architectural point of view, the city demonstrates great interest because of the influences of the multicultural composition of its society. Indeed, after the revolution and liberation from the Ottoman troops (March of 1821), many merchants from England and Germany came to Patras to develop an important commercial centre with great economical profit for the city. Those merchants, carrying their own culture, built their homes and their villas in a different style from the native one (figure 3).

Figure 3. The Kollas Villa built in 1904. A building with Neo-Gothic architectural features (Biris 2001)

What remains of these buildings today, are the English church and few other buildings that represent the contribution of that different culture in the society of Patras. Some of the buildings which were saved in time are conserved, restored or altered. Unfortunately the legislation system did not protect them in time, and their present and future depends on the willingness of the owner to preserve the worthy features of the building or the building itself.

It is essential a new legislation as long as the 1469/50 law about the protection of buildings of special interest constructed after 1830, which is the current law, it is not enough - to protect them as "Conservable" and register the buildings in archives." (Soropanis P. 1998)

Articles like the one above are numerous in the daily press and pose the problem of the demolition of historic buildings or the improper alteration and external faulty add-ons, as "rustic" elements (see figure 4) on the buildings.

Figure 4. Faulty add-on on the pillars that are out of the buildings character

Patras started to acquire its native architectural style in the second half of the nineteenth century during the reconstruction of the liberated Greek territory. The long occupation, by the Ottoman Empire, and the imposition of a different culture for more than four centuries, led the newly-established Greek state to be based in the ideals of the Greek Classical period. The latter aimed to declare internally but also abroad the continuance of the Greek culture and to define the New Greek state. This policy has been expressed in architecture through the Neo-Classical style. Before the end of the nineteenth century the neoclassical architectural-native style had already prevailed in Patras (see figure 5). Stamatios Voulgaris and Charles Schaumbourg set the basis for the urban design and the architectural shape of the city, introducing as the basic element of the city centre the two-floor building with open arcades. The architectural face of Patras has also been influenced by Westernized Classicalism. That is, the Classicalism which has been filtered through the Italian Renaissance (Biris 2001). Coincidentally, this has been followed by the establishment of a significant sized Italian community in Patras, due to socio-political conditions in the Italian peninsula. In consequence, many Italian builders contributed to the architectural identity of the city through their style (maniera) of working stone, iron, and the way they decorated the arcades (see figure 6).

Figure 5. The Tzoukos building, built between 1861 and 1882, is in a typical neoclassical style, with a characteristic portico as proposed by Voulgaris and Schaumbourg (Biris 2001)

Figure 6. Detail of the arcade ceiling of the building of the previous figure.
Neoclassical buildings as well as other architectural influences, were threatened, and in great part replaced by blocks of flats in the early seventies. What caused this were mainly the social and economic conditions that led the owners to the demolition of the old buildings in order to obtain better financial gain from the crowded blocks of flats. Kanellopoulos, author of historic-philosophic arguments, politician (prime minister of the post war period) and professor in the faculty of Law in Athens, comments:

..since the 1900, the face of Patras is changedbut it was not necessary at all to be maltreated with the abnormal and unstudied use of new constructive methods and materials... (Kanellopoulos in (Maraslis A. 1978))

The loss of Cultural Heritage has been argued several times in discussions by architects, academics and others that have testified to what happened in the Greek cities where people tried to find a better living standard during the 50s.

"[] almost the whole of Greek society, is very familiar to the profit of building business, while has been participated in the "pacific demolition" of the old stone-build buildings, aiming the construction of block of flats from the decade of 1950 since nowadays. The owner, used to exchange his house for two three or even four apartments (Mutual Grant), in the new building." (Author unknown, To Vima, 20 Dec. 1998)

Nowadays in Patras there are about 243 listed buildings remaining in the historic centre. However there is not a morphological coherence of the historic centre due to the improper protection of the built context and the great number of buildings that have not been preserved. The information relating to historic buildings is significant, and gives the opportunity to improve building conservation procedures. When the archives of the public services are not provided with the proper information, then time is crucial as the architectural identity of a society continues to fade out. (Rigopoulos D. 1999) provided some examples of references regarding missing information related to historic buildings:

[] the existing historic elements do not allow a clear estimation about the year of construction, the architects and the constructors." "[] from the research that has been done was not possible to identify the architect..." "[] from the research in the ministries of Culture and Public Works [] was not possible to identify evident about its date of construction." "[] building with a lot of decoration elements, which at least a part of them is probably designed by the same "hand"."

Some information has already faded away, more fades away daily but this could be avoided in the future. The need to register all the architectural information, which could be in the service of Building Conservation, prevails.

Often, the application of conservation may not have the desired results and this could be the consequence of information scarcity. A similar case is referred to in the article of "Kathimerini" which deals with the main doors of the buildings and their decorative value under the meaningful title "Main Doors, leftovers of a lost

world"
"[] partial decorative elements, such as knockers, rails, the external lamp, the bell, the coronation, even the steps too, consist of a wider architectural composition ..[]..many of them are coarsely altered. (Author and year unknown, Kathimerini) The references quoted in the previous paragraphs give evidence of a loose legislative framework that did not allow the Local Authorities to protect the Listed Buildings (Buildings Protected by the law against uncontrolled intervention on them). Furthermore, the discussion revealed a scarcity of information and its negative influence in the conservation procedures. However, searching for the solution of the problem only to the missing information might not be helpful when the daily policies and the legislation framework are not providing a concrete platform for the conservation procedure.

"[] the official state has never managed to build its own strategy in the architectural domain, a fact that in the postwar period made the state to seem completely absent." (Giakumakatos A. 1999)
The last law framework about the protection of Listed Buildings in Greece was established in 1950. Social needs related to Building Conservation have since been changed (Technical_Chamber_of_Greece 2002). In consequence, the objectives of conservation have changed as the protection of the Building Heritage has obtained a more complex aim to be achieved concerning social-economic issues also. These issues will be discussed further in the second chapter. According to the Justification Report for the Law about Antiquities, which is to be approved in the first months of 2003, the current legislative framework is outdated. Several additional decrees were published in order to meet the requirements posed by the evolution of the Building Conservation concept. There is not, however, a systematic and coded strategy to clearly describe the conservation procedures in the Greek legislation and policy system. It is worth mentioning that at the time this research was being held, the constitution of a Greek National Archive of Monuments for the recording and documentation of the Cultural Heritage was under discussion. This latter point indicates the low information level available to the applicant, up to date, when in the framework of the pre-application stage he or she should compose a proposal about a Listed Building. The

contribution of the Information Technologies could be of great help in the stages of recording and documentation but still there is not a unique policy about recording, archiving, and managing the information. In the fourth chapter where the Greek legislation system and policies are discussed, a typical paradigm of the ICT contribution on a Local Authority is mentioned, where the insufficient use of IC tools and the subjectivity in gathering the information is evident. The definition of information patterns that would include the whole pre-application stage would be of great importance in order to control and manage the system in terms of information exchange between the engaged players. These patterns could include all the stages, from the recording and documentation of the monument to the new intervention proposal. Furthermore a drill-down approach on every information element would give an additional prospect of the pattern defining information prototypes. These patterns could represent the role of each player engaged in the pre-application stage as well as their interaction with the others. It is evident that such representation of the system reveals the policies that run the preapplication stage and may help to propose modification to it.

1.5.

Aim of the research

The pre-application stage is quite broad and poly-parametric; it starts with the owners or the authoritys - decision for, and finishes with, the application for statutory consent in order to proceed to the proposed interventions. In the pre-application stage, the sub-stages of recording, data collection, evaluation, and other procedures are also included. A significant amount of information related to the listed building under discussion is exchanged in the pre-application stage between the various players of the system. The proper control and management of this information is strictly related to the final outcome of the interventions on the historic buildings, as missing information and/or information misinterpretation may negatively affect the conservation procedures. Although Information and Communication Technology tools are in use in the field of Building Conservation, they are mainly focused in sub-stages of the system in the form of specialized ICT applications. The third chapter gives examples of such ICT tools applied in several stages of the system including CAD systems, structural analysis tools, data acquisition tools, and Data Base systems. Although there is frequent application of these numerous Information Communication solutions, there is still space for improvement in the overall quality of the conservation procedures.

This research aims to show that the proper information process model is a significant means for the improvement of the Proposal Documentation. In consequence, the modelling approach would be the proper ICT tool with significant contribution in the system. An information model could act as the joining ring between the engaged players and could set the infrastructure for the linking of the ICT tools which are in use in the field. Modelling and prototyping the information patterns between the components of the preapplication stage, is the strategy that could improve the informative control and consequently the quality of conservation procedures. The research aim will be accomplished through the following objectives: To explore the wide field of ICT tools in service of the Pre-Application Stage and identify the tool with the most significant informative contribution. This should be applicable in nearly all of the substages of the Pre-Application Stage. To explore and follow the various procedures and information flow during the Pre-Application Stage, using Information Modelling for the visualization of the system. Moreover, will be shown that Information Modelling gives the possibility to monitor the current legislation of the system and to propose modifications without the re-engineering of the system. To develop the model of the Greek pre-application stage and compare it respectively with the English model. The English one will be used as a reference model. To identify possibly weak points of the system through the model analysis. The identification of factors in the Pre-Application-Stage could improve the content of the proposal in terms of information. To develop an actual information model which could be used as a Data Base model in its conceptual level. Such a model could correlate the information classes of the system, and could set an information pattern also useful for other ICT tools used in the Pre-Application Stage.

1.6.

Research Hypothesis

The success of any building Conservation policy depends to a large extent on the appropriate preparation of the intervention proposals that are carried out during the pre-application stage. The proposals are the outcome of information exploration and information evaluation within the framework of specific

conservation policies and regulations. Various physical and institutional players are engaged in the preapplication stage with various degrees of informative or controlling contribution. The application of Information and Communication tools, and in particular the Information Modelling, could improve the quality of the pre-application stage. An information model could capture the information that flows between the various players of the system. Information and players compose the nodes of the model. Such representation is helpful as it reveals the overall aspect of the pre-application stage. Through such representation, weak points of the system may be identified and in consequence modified. The modifications may be of informative or structural character upon the system, giving the possibility to control the information packs between the players or to set strategies of Conservation policy. The adjustment of these factors is critical for the quality of intervention.

Chapter 2: Building Conservation Definitions and Terminology

In this chapter the concept and the objectives of Building Conservation are discussed. Relevant definitions are presented and various aspects of conservation examined. In the first section the concept of architectural identity is briefly presented in an attempt to highlight the importance of Building Conservation. This comes through references to appropriate literature and paradigms from historical or social events that render the sensitivity of the conservation mechanism. In the second section the objectives of Building Conservation are discussed. The third section presents a description of terminology used in this thesis regarding the various conservation approaches.

2.5

Architectural identity as cultural characteristic

Architectural identity is strictly connected with the history of a society. The significance of knowing the history is helpful for the better perception of the present and the prediction of the future. Architecture, in all of its expressions, depicts the buildings historic periods, socio-economic conditions, and philosophical trends. British Standard 7913 (1998), a guide about the principles of the conservation of historic buildings, shows how cultural information is incorporated in historical buildings:

Buildings of all sorts and of all periods contain information about the way in which people lived, worked and worshipped, about how they built and about how they thought and wished to present their own culture, or even their spiritual values. They can also be beautiful or potentially so, either in a formal way as fine as architecture, or in a narrative, picturesque way, or in both ways.

Bernard M. Feilden (1995), in Conservation of Historic Buildings, describes which buildings are considered historical, and which are the factors that could make them valuable. According to Feilden, historic building is the one that connects the past with the future, as people want to know as much as possible about the people and their culture that constructed the building in the past. The value of a historic building might be of architectural, aesthetic, historic, documentary, or/and socio-economic nature. A building might be also valuable for a combination of the above values, but also because it reflects spiritual or symbolic values acquired in the course of time.

but the first impact is always emotional, historical building is a symbol of our cultural identity and continuity; a part of our heritage. (Feilden B. M., 1995)

According to Karadedos and Lavas (2000), the criteria for declaring an artefact as monument worthy to be conserved, are originality, historical background, quality, and symbolism. The term monument includes the historic buildings and the four criteria mentioned above could be applied again in order to make a decision whether a building must be conserved or not. Although these four criteria form the conditions which a building has to verify in order to be worthy to be conserved, it is not necessary to verify all of them at the same time. Either one or a combination of those criteria is enough to decide if a building is worthy to be protected and in consequence conserved. A different approach to the conservation concept is presented by Bell, (1997). The author associates the conservation with the practical needs of the society in relation to earlier generations. In particular, in the past, the conservation of a building was not a luxury or an intellectual sensitivity but a choice about something that proved its ability to withstand mans and natures acts. With the passage of time, new technologies have been adopted for building construction and the buildings have been proved more durable over time. The enhanced durability of the new constructions shifts the burden of conservation from its functional point of view to the intellectual one. According to Bell, this new reality had been followed by why conserve? questions that in combination with the which are the profits of the society? question, rendered the Conservation concept more complicated. Conservation is not an anti-change, it is only against change for changes sake alone and against for the sake of a single interest at the expense of the common good. (Bell D., 1997) However, according Agnew (2002) on behalf of the Getty Conservation Institute -, the built heritage should be used in a rational manner for the benefit of the society. The values of a building should in no way be diminished by the use of short term gain.

The Second World War was also a catalyst for the modern conservation movement. After the extended disaster befalling historical buildings in Europe, the need to save the remaining building stock prevailed. In

many cases the whole or partial reconstruction of the cities with historical value was decided, for example the city of Dresden in Germany after the Allied bombardments. ...damages to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind, since each people makes its contribution to the culture of the world. (UNESCO, 1954) It was not only the Second World War that awoke the conservationists. In Yugoslavia during and after the war, a large number of monuments, part of European cultural heritage, were destroyed. The Greek ICOMOS Organization in the frame of the International Conference in Sofia organized a meeting on behalf of the ICOMOS of South East Europe in Athens in September of 1997. The conferences subject was The

monuments of South East Europe in danger. The tragic consequences of the war and of the economical crisis. The outcome was the decision to record the damaged or destroyed buildings, to record the actions
taken during their conservation and find financial resources for this. However it is not only war disasters which may render public opinion sensitive. As mentioned in the first chapter, in Greece the loss of Historic buildings has come under the loose legislation framework for the protection of the architectural identity of the cities. Nowadays, although a great part of the historical buildings have already been demolished, public opinion thoughtfully leans on the problem which has to do with the Mutual Grant law and its catastrophic results. In accordance with this decree, the owner could dispose of his/her building which very often was an unlisted historic building - to a constructor. In return, he/she could take back two or three flats in the modern type of habitation which overflowed Greek cities.

Giakumakatos, director of the Greek Architectural Institute, in an article about the city centre of Athens, says: [] in this city, with such a glorious name, historical memory is absent: it is about a completely modernistic urban formation, unrecognisable, which has been developed in an uncontrolled way. [], the block of flat type of habitation managed to be the most representative of the urban planning. (Giakumakatos A., 1999)

Lately in Greece, public opinion is more sensitive to the protection of Building Heritage. However, there has been a long period of public indifference, deficient policy, and of scarce application of the international directives (i.e. Venice Charter 1964) and national decrees (i.e. the 1469/1950 law about the

Protection of Antiquities). The loss of a great part of the building stock makes building conservation an essential procedure in order to protect the Built Heritage. In Greece it seems that there is no margin for wasted time. Building Conservation should act in an accurate scientific way giving the solutions needed for the consolidation of the Architectural identity of Greek cities.

2.6 The objectives of building conservation

Building conservation contributes to the culture, economy, and environment of a society, and usually in a combined way in order to contribute in more than one field (British_Standard, 1998). There are three main motives to perform conservation interventions on a building; these are the cultural-historical, aesthetic, and the socio - economic motive. These reasons represent the objectives of building conservation through which the aims will be achieved. Usually every conservation approach has influences from these three motives or, in other words, every conservation action is the resultant of these components. The following sections discuss the historical, aesthetic, and social-economic component of conservation.

Cultural - Historical objective

This first reason for conservation has to do with the Architectural Identity of a society and the fact that the future passes through the evidences of the past. Vast amounts of information of a socialeconomic nature are reflected on the facade of a building or in its internal structure and decoration. This information is related to the social-economic characteristics of a historical period and is expressed by the design and the materials of a building. The British Standard refers to the general principles related to this historical component. It also refers to the importance of approaching the interventions in historic buildings in a delicate mode by specialists with special training and experience. This approach must be led by the proper archaeological investigation in order to identify the building information. The identification of probable lost information related to the building is also important. In addition, several times hidden information that has been there from earlier historical periods was discovered during the works of intervention. In such cases, the specialist records the unregistered information and evaluates its influence on the conservation intervention. For example in the Greek case study building, which is discussed later in chapter four, frescos was found on the

roof of the basement covered by later plastering. This information was not registered and the re-evaluation of this new fact changed the techniques of intervention locally. It is of great importance to investigate, evaluate, and record all the historical components of the building. The main effort must be to leave these elements in situ. However, in many cases some of them must be removed temporarily or permanently to another safe place for preservation. Material containing significant information, which cannot for any reason be left in situ, should be carefully recorded and if appropriate separately preserved. The destruction of significant historical evidence without adequate recording is never acceptable. (British Standard 7913, 1998, pg 4)

The aesthetic objective

Nearly all buildings were built with the intention that they should look well... (British Standard 7913, 1998) Aesthetic is a subjective factor that depends on the trends of each period. Time leaves its signs in different ways between various materials and fabrics. Some of them are decayed in a beautiful way and others just degenerate into relics. The beauty of a building that we may enjoy today and that is considered worth conservation is a combination of initial artistic inspiration, informal aesthetic qualities that are obtained through time, maturity, and patina. This is the point where conservation can mainly recover the lost part of the aesthetics of a building with the appropriate combination of conservative repair and restoration. A great part of the necessary information for the accomplishment of the conservation procedures is contained in aesthetics. According to the British Standard, aesthetics is composed by elements which may derive from: 1. A single dominant architectural design or by a combination of them. 2. The simple form of a construction with typical vernacular or artisan appeal. 3. Archaeological and symbolic value. 4. A single work of art that raises the whole value of the building. 5. The quality of its materials and its craftsmanship. 6. Patina and other qualities associated with age and long use. 7. The context of the building.

Social-Economic objective
Except for the historical and aesthetic reasons for building conservation, the economic motive is very important and also practical. Indeed, the estimation of the economic value of the built heritage conservation, has been recognized a fundamental part of the cultural policy (Mourato, 2002). Social benefits are maximized through effective conservation measures that reveal a buildings authenticity and its intrinsic historical character. Therefore, Building Conservation may affect directly, or indirectly, the financial situation of a society. The direct effect is possible with the use of the building stock of historical buildings. The adoption of new use for the historical buildings could facilitate the needs of public services, or social and cultural purposes in a built context that already inspires such activities. In many cases, buildings have to be altered in order to adopt a new use. However this should only be implemented under the proper control of the authorities in the framework of a Conservation policy. Minimum and reversible alteration is suggested, but in none of the cases should it result in the damage of cultural value. It is important to notice that when the building is in use, it is more likely to survive over time and at the same time have a functional role. Indirectly, building conservation may have economic motives when it contributes to the enhancement of the surroundings of a historic building. This may happen when a single building, or a group of historic buildings, affects the built surroundings with their existence, revaluing the land cost and the real estate. The historic identity of the city center, the ability of memory recall, comprises one of the most powerful attraction factors for the visitor and the resident. (Giakoumakatos, A., To Vima, 16 May 1999) It is commonly known that cities with strong historic-architectural personality have significant financial profits. There are several examples of cities, especially in Europe due to its historic continuity, with expanded historic centres which on their own form a reason for tourist, and consequently, financial development. Fine architecture and important buildings influence people regarding the maintenance and revaluation of the environment that surrounds the buildings.

2.7

Terminology exploration

In the previous sections the concept of Building Conservation has been posed. In the bounds of such theoretical infrastructure, the decision makers may agree that the past and the future of a city are connected in a transient present which should mark out the artefacts of the past. The exploitation of the artefacts gives to the residents a built environment of aesthetic quality. Building Conservation is expressed through the morphological result of the interventions on the building. Papari (1998) says that interventions on historic buildings should be in a morphological consistency with the pre-existing architectural shape. According to the author, morphological consistency is the preservation at the highest grade of the authentic shape of the existing buildings. It is evident that Papari approaches the Building Conservation concept from the viewpoint of the effort to maintain the building intangible in time. There are various conservation approaches adopted by the applicants that deal with the prevalent philosophy on Conservation but also with social or functional needs. The following paragraphs present conservation as a wider action frame and the definitions of its various forms.

Conservation
The British Standard 7913 (1998), gives the definition of conservation as

The action to secure the survival or preservation of buildings, cultural artefacts, natural resources, energy or other thing of acknowledged value for the future.
According to Karadedos and Lavas (Karadedos G., 2000), conservation is more focused on the material part of the building. The latter point reflects in a way the Greek viewpoint of Conservation strategy which forfeits an overall approach to the protection of the monuments. As is mentioned in the previous chapter, a new law is under discussion in Greece in order to provide global protection of historic buildings and their context through various approaches. Conservation is a task of prevention and protection, that it is applied mainly on the fabric of the artefact, in order to avoid to act with restoration which is a traumatic fact (Karadedos G., 2000). The British Standard 7913 seems to lean more towards the definition given by the Burra Charter (ICOMOS, 1979) (although it was revised in 1999, the main guidelines have been kept as the previous version), and the New Zealand Charter (ICOMOS, 1992) about conservation.

Conservation means all the processes of looking after a place so as to retain its cultural significance. It includes maintenance and according to circumstances may include preservation, restoration, reconstruction, and adoption and will be commonly a combination of more than one of these. Feilden (1995) introduces the term of direct and indirect conservation. According to the author, the term indirect conservation implies the prevention of all the detrimental factors that could influence negatively the cultural property and the surrounding environment. Direct conservation is the physical intervention on the building in order to secure the continuance of the structural integrity. Feilden suggests respecting the historical character of the building; in addition, he highlights the need to use the same traditional skills and materials where it is possible and when these materials have the proper physical characteristics.

Restoration
When the action of conservation does not work properly, it is very probable that a part or the whole of a building may decay. In this case restoration may be applied. The determinant margin between the one definition and the other is rather blurred and the applicants should pay particular attention when an intervention has to be decided. Karadedos and Lavas, emphasize the difference between restoration and conservation. It is interesting to note that the two definitions given by the authors are slightly different from the respective definition described by the British Standard. According to the authors in Material & Building (Karadedos G., 2000), during the procedure of restoration, alteration is only a probability and the historic criterion is very important: Restoration is the direct intervention on the monument, even the probable alteration, that is led by a strictly critic - historic controlstops when hypothesis about the architectural elements of the building, begins.

But, in the British Standard 7913 alteration is also referred to in the definition of restoration. Restoration: Alteration of a building, part of a building or artefact which has decayed, been lost or damaged or is thought to have been inappropriately repaired or altered in the past, the objective of which is to make it conform again to its design or appearance at a previous date.

Alteration
The term Alteration is also very important because it sets the limits of conservation. However, it could be applied in several cases through controlled and accurate interventions by the applicants. In the case of the alteration of a building the question that must be asked is whether this was a conscious decision or the involuntary result of an external factor, such as lack of information.

Intervention
According to the British Standard 7913 (1998, pg 3), Intervention is: Any action which has a physical effect on the fabric of a building or artefact. Every modification or change in everything on (or in) the building, within the procedure of conservation, or even an individual modification, could be considered as an intervention. Both procedures, Conservation and Alteration consist of a certain amount of intervention. It is evident that intervention is more related to the physical action on the building than the philosophy of conservation. For the purposes of this research, the term of intervention is considered to be the most appropriate. This is because the approach to the analysis of the pre-application stage has been done from the viewpoint of the information analyst and the term intervention may represent any human action on the building in the frame of Conservation policy.

Maintenance
In comparison with the above terms, maintenance has a different meaning. Maintenance has a continuous sequence in time and this has to do with all the scheduled tasks relevant to buildings fabric.

Maintenance is the routine work necessary to keep the fabric of a building, the moving parts of machinery, grounds, gardens or any other artefacts, in good order. (British_Standard, 1998)

From the above definitions, the term conservation takes more the shape of a concept rather than an action. The rest of the terms mentioned above seem to act complementally on conservation, or in other cases to reflect a different approach and strategy.

2.8

Summary

In this chapter the importance of architectural identity has been briefly presented. Its contribution to the culture of the society and in consequence the way architectural identity is worth being preserved has also been shown. Through this conclusion, the concept of building conservation has been discussed as it is currently perceived in Greece and in England. Building conservation objectives have been identified in order to show that conservation is not a luxury for the society, but an issue of special contribution to several aspects. These are mainly the cultural, aesthetical, and the economic aspect. An exploration of the most prevalent terms of conservation approaches has also been undertaken. The terms of restoration, alteration, intervention, and maintenance are discussed. For the purposes of this research it has been decided that the term intervention is the most appropriate as this is independent from the various approaches of conservation and, generally, represents the human action on the buildings.

Chapter 3: Building Conservation Informatics

3.1. Introduction
In the first chapter the pre-application stage for statutory consent has been defined. This stage is very important for the final outcome of the interventions on listed buildings since it includes the documentation of the intervention proposal. It has also been mentioned that the pre-application stage includes tasks of recording, data collection, and evaluation. A significant amount of information related to the Listed Buildings under discussion is exchanged between the engaged players of these tasks. The proper control and management of this information may affect positively the outcome of Conservation procedures. Information Communication Technology tools (ICT) could contribute to model and prototype information patterns between the components of the pre-application stage in order to capture the information and trace the information flow. This chapter reviews the application of Information

Communication Technologies in the field of Building Conservation and aims to focus on the most appropriate domain of ICT tool for the information analysis of the pre-application stage. The influential value of the IT applications in the field of building design and construction in almost all of its stages is well known. For example, the tasks of topographic survey, architectural design, framework calculations, HVAC calculations, cost forecasting, and environmental consequences projects are usually aided by information tools. In addition, there are stages in the construction procedure in which the use of ICT applications is of great help and today constitute an important tool for the practitioners for the monitoring and management of the works on site. The usual types of ICT tools that are used in the above stages of building design and construction are: Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications for the creation of the building model and also for topographic calculation and presentation Specific applications for structural analysis of the framework which use finite

element method
Spreadsheets for accounting

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Project schedulers for PERT and Gantt diagrams Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications for the evaluation and monitoring of the building environment

These software applications are designed generally for the needs of new buildings and their adoption in conservation procedures is possible for most of the cases, but certainly not sufficient. This is because conservation, which is a set of subtasks that deals with existing buildings, has some different requirements of IT contribution. For example, recording is an important and repetitive stage in conservation procedure and its accomplishment requires techniques such as photogrammetry, digital image processing and 3D scanning. These are tasks more specific and normally not applied in new buildings. For the identification of IT applications in the field of building conservation, an exploration has been undertaken through relevant literature. Among the several findings of this exploration, many of them were applied in the field of archaeology, which is a field with common characteristics regarding the conservation approach. Their similarities and their differences are referred to in the next paragraph. Through the numerous examples of IT application in Building Conservation a number of them have been chosen and presented in section 3. The choice of these examples has been determined according to two main criteria. The first is to cover the several subtasks of conservation, and the second to cover the various types of software applied in these subtasks.

3.2.

Building conservation and archaeology

It is worth noting that many of the examples chosen for this study are from the domain of archaeology. Archaeology has similar methods and approaches to the objects under protection that are subjects of conservation, especially when it deals with built monuments. Some typical examples are the Eufrasiana Basilica in Porec (Nickerson 1997), the Thermae of Constantine (Potier 2000) or the theatre of Dionysos in Athens (Beacham 2001). The similarity of the methods and the approaches of the above domains are based on the fact that both deal with already existing constructions that require special treatment.

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Moreover in both cases there is a task cycle of recording, archiving, evaluating, conserving (the term is used in its wider meaning); these tasks are repetitive in time. This is mentioned because several of the applications that follow are to enhance the efficiency of these tasks. It is clear that the boundaries between building conservation and archaeology are blurred. However, this margin becomes more evident if the different uses of a listed building and a monument are considered. Apart from the historic and symbolic value of both, the first probably could contribute to housing or in public use and it is subject to different functional constraints such as building and fire regulations. The second may serve for exhibition and even if it is not free from regulations these are looser as is not mandatory to be used internally. For example in the case of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the authorities had forbidden entrance to visitors until a solution had been found for visitor safety and the building protection from the visitor load.

3.3.

Types of IT applications

From the exploration in the literature, four main domains of software and techniques have arisen. Two of them are divided into subcategories in relation to the specific objective which had to be accomplished (see figure 7). In this review, an effort has also been made to highlight the most characteristic cases and to avoid repetition of the similar. The four main domains are: applications for structural analysis of historic buildings, data acquisition and CAD modelling, process and information modelling in the conservation industry, and the extensive GIS domain. The Data Acquisition and CAD domain has two purpose sub-domains, the Recording and 3D/4D modelling domain, and the Archives domain. The Modelling domain includes the pure information modelling of Conservation procedures, and the Data Standards domain. The GIS domain has three purpose sub-domains; these are the Databases Modelling for Cultural Illustration, the Cultural Heritage Monitoring, and the Cultural Heritage Management. The relationship between these three last purposes is evident, and the difference relies on the fact that the term monitoring has a measure of control on built heritage under an already existing framework of rules and administration, distinct from the term management which leans more towards the administration of this built heritage.

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ANALYSIS STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

DATA ACQUISITION - CAD RECORDING & 3D-4D MODELLING ARCHIVES

MODELLING PROCESS & INFORMATION MODELLING DATA STANDARDS

GIS- DATABASES CULTURAL DB - FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE ILUSTRATION MONITORING CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

Figure.7. Domain and categories of ICT in Conservation Industry.

The following sections review and provide examples of IT applications in the field of building conservation. The review is organized according to the four categories explained in figure 7, although they are not presented with this particular order but in a sequence which helps the unfolding of the review from the viewpoint of the information modelling.

3.3.1. Structural analysis

IT tools have featured significantly in this domain due to their computational power, the capability for large data processing, and nowadays with visualization and simulation capabilities of the internal strengths of the structure. The strict regulations for historic sites led Friedrich (1998) to adopt an indirect disturbance method for data acquisition (free observation technique like gravity and magnetic measurements). A software tool has been developed for the data analysis of such measurements and the visual examination of the subsurface structures under historical buildings. The aim was to allow the user, with a simple usage of the point device, to design interactively a subsurface structure that fitted the measured data (points with value of magnetic field). This would allow an immediate interpretation and decision whether a chosen subsurface structure would fit the given data, or changes had to be made. This tool has been applied and tested to investigate the subsurface structures of Hagia Sofia in Constantinople, and has been successfully validated and considered accurate, as it confirmed a previous theory about Hagia Sofias foundation. Nevertheless, it is vulnerable to the quality of the input data and independent variables such as the screen resolution of the computer that runs the application. From the viewpoint of information modelling it is worth noting that Friedrich used the object modelling techniques proposed by Rumbaugh et al (1991). This technique offers fast and simple programming design by using object-oriented concepts such as encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism. Moreover, it minimizes the gap between the object oriented model and the implementation in an object oriented computer code which has been implemented with Borland C++.

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Friedrich identifies three main objects and each of them defines a corresponding class. These objects are the gravity field, the subsurface, and the graphical user interface. The three classes are connected with processes. The processes are operations that transform the input data into information according to the user demand. The type of information that runs this application is spatial and it is expressed in x, y, z, coordinates. To each geometric point a gravity field value is assigned. There are no textual or other types of information.

The most common application of IT in structural analysis is the analysis of the structural elements of a building, which consists of the calculation of the internal tensile and compressive strengths and the estimation of the optimum dimensions of the elements (supports, beams etc.). In historic buildings the operational framework already exists, and modifications for the reinforcement of the construction usually come in conflict with constraints posed by conservation theories. An alternative solution to this problem is suggested by Stavroulaki et al (1997) with the use of prestressed cables made of steel or carbon fibre for the reinforcement of structural elements under static load in historic buildings. Although the model is based on mathematical theories and structural analysis techniques such as the finite elements method, which are outside the interests of this study, the use of IT is mandatory due to the great amount of calculations necessary for these simulation and optimization techniques. The information in this example is geometrical for the representation of the framework and numerical/vectorial for the tensile and compressive strength of the elements. There is no information flow related to the historic building and the application is exclusively for the analysis of the structural model. As can be seen, the IT in this domain is a tool for framework calculations and the data input in the conservation processes, from the viewpoint of information modelling, is pure as it is mainly spatial data. Furthermore applications as the above examples are closed and cover a very specific area of the procedures. For example, the IKTINOS project (Vamvakeridou 1997) suggests an expert mathematical model for the restoration of the wall

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facades of the Parthenon, using fuzzy logic techniques. In this case a software tool has been implemented for the simulation of the Parthenons wall structure and the assignment of coordinates to each basic structural element (domos: rectangular marble block). Although all the blocks seem to be similar, in fact their structural pattern is quite complex. Their respective positions on the wall were determined by structural geometric details such as angles that were never equal to 90 but slightly acute or obtuse, or the depth of cutting of each clamp etc. For the unique description of each block the authors determined 50 quantitative and qualitative properties. Nowadays almost half of the blocks are saved and the solution of the problem would be more puzzle making if all of them were in sufficiently good condition to make the measurement of the 50 properties possible. It is obvious that not all of the 50 properties were measurable and the uncertainty of the missing information caused the adoption of a third value of state in the classical Boolean logical. In addition to the values Yes (1) and No (0) a third possible answer Maybe is implemented. With the above acceptance and the aim of the fuzzy logic theory IKTINOS was designed to explore all the feasible solutions, automatically evaluate and order them, and prompt the user to make selections step by step. For each selection alternatives were presented and the user could modify previously made selections. Concerning the information related to the application, each block was named by an alphanumeric code-name and it was fully described by the 50 properties mentioned above. From them, 38 were quantitative (numeric) and 12 qualitative. The quantitative represented measurable properties such as left and right face, height, etc. The qualitative represented multi-valued states such as the settings direction, the type of the element, weathering of the face, etc.; the values of these properties were of closed-type values (pre-settled). The IKTINOS software has been tested on a sample of 80 blocks and seemed to meet the requirements posed by the authors and the Acropolis Committee. The above software has been applied only in this case, and it is another isolated IT application not connected to any type of database for further elaboration, or data enrichment.

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A different approach to structural analysis has been developed by Moltedo et al. (Moltedo 2000) with the aim of analysing the state of conservation through the definition of a database. The latter dealt with images form structural elements of the building that had been used for image analysis. The methods used were image compression, image characterization and recognition of the various degrees of degradation. A relational model has been applied for the structure of the database. The running information was geometric and architectural data from the building images regarding both the building and a representative set of the component ashlars was used. Textual information about the descriptions made of nakedeye analysis was also included and was in compliance with the lexicon of normalization groups. The application is a tool mainly for visual analysis and degradation simulation through image processing techniques. Nonetheless, issues arise for further possibilities of expansion and data exchange, especially due to its data base approach and the fact that standards as the JPEG (Wallace G.K. 1991) and the Wavelet (Mallat 1989) transformation methods have been used.

3.3.2. Recording for Building Conservation 3D modelling

Understanding a historic building is the first step for making decisions about management, repair and alteration (Baker 1997). Without adequate information, these decisions may lead to damage or incomplete intervention. IT has much to offer in the Recording domain as classic methods have been automated and controlled through computer systems. Digital Recording relishes the advantages of IT technology such as rapid data elaboration, secure data storage - occupying the minimum physical space-, high quality visualization techniques, enhanced data exchange techniques, and lately the collaboration of various types of information, giving in this way multimedia extensions. Photogrammetry has been a useful tool for those who intend to record the architectural information of a building. This method, with the aid of digital image processing

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and the modern high accurate equipment, gives more advantages to the practitioner. Photogrammetry usually captures only the external geometry of a building and this could be considered a disadvantage of the technique. However it offers a short period of work on site and a lower project cost. A great number of applications and extended research have been done in this field for the improvement of the techniques. For example the Getty Conservation Institute bases the documentation task of conservation work on Information Technologies. More specifically, projects such as the Laetoli and America Tropical (Bishop 1998) highlight the extended use of digital photogrammetry. The Getty Institute considers the graphic documentation, which consists of digital drawings in combination of images and textual information, to be of great importance. Another example is that of the Eufrasiana Basilica in Porec (Nickerson 1997). In this case, and under the auspices of the ICOMOS organization, a small three-aisled basilica has been recorded. The monument formed the heart of a well preserved Episcopal ensemble situated on the coast of ancient Parentium (Parenzo, Porec), on the Istrian coast, today part of Croatia. Except for the geometry of the cathedral, major significance had been given to the sixth century wall mosaics decorating the apses, the triumphal arch and the external facades of the basilica. The method applied by Nickerson was based on the photogrammetric theory supported by a CAD system and a database with photographic material of the mosaics. The coordinates of the points were collected with a Leica T100 electronic theodolite coupled with a Leica Disto laser distance measuring device. For the implementation of the 3D model the C.A.R.T. (Computer Aided Recording Tools) (Nickerson 1998) tool has been used. The CART is a tool that converts information about coordinates obtained from any source, into a 3D CAD Model without having to do any manual drafting at all. There are two components to the CART system. The first is the automatic drafting component that reads a database containing points and related information and turns it into a CAD Model. The latter is fully linked to the database that drew it and optionally to any other specified database.

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The second component is the data entry tool which creates the necessary database from a variety of input systems including total station survey data, plane-table measurements, hand measurements, paper drawings, photographs, camcorder or still CCD (digital) images and drawing files from any vector based CAD system. For the development of the database, Nickerson applied a very simple information model. The model was based on the idea that the database should be independent from specific software; the database consisted of pre-nominated alphanumerical correlated with image/drawing code-names specific files which on with were the

locations

building (figure 8). By inserting letters or

Fig.8 the assigned letters (part of the names) on the building (Nickerson

numbers, the user could expand this filenaming system (in a consecutive progression)

1997)

and a DOS based hierarchy stated the relation and the type of the stored information. Despite the simplicity of the structure, the method eliminates the manual drafting component of CAD model creation and allows confirmation of the collected information while still on site. Moreover, it stores the textual data and the relationship between the various types of information in a format that can be read by all computers and operating systems.

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A year later, the CART system has been evolved in CARTHTML (Nicherson 1999). This last version adopted WEB extensions in order to increase the accessibility and compatibility of the system. The CARTHTML

allowed the recorders to use a consistent data structure and in return, automatically, could

prepare HTML pages (figure 9) which presented the recorder

data in an easily comprehensible format which was accessible to all computers and used no

proprietary software.

Fig.9 An HTML page generated by the CARTHTML system (Nicherson 1999).

The web source of the International Committee Photogrammetry for (CIPA Architectural 2002) provides

various examples of such applications. Among the most characteristic are "The Palace of Santa Rosa Xtampak, the Mayan monument in Mexico (Heine 1997), the
Fig. 10, The Palace of Santa Rosa Xtampak in Mexico (Heine 1997).

Voels Railway Station in Austria (Hanke 1996) and St. Anne's Anglican Church in

Toronto - Canada (Nickerson 1997). It is clear that the domain of recording is wide and covers cases from archaeology to the recording of historic industrial sites (Locket 2000). In all the above examples, photogrammetry has been combined with extended use of cad systems, digital images and digital video. The output of this combination was 3D reconstructions of the recorded buildings and textual information of structural and architectural context. In addition, photo-realistic renderings have been made in almost all the

37

cases and in some of them VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) techniques have been applied to improve the visualization of the models. From the above examples, issues about the formation of databases have arisen. However, these were weak firstly in structure and secondly in conception of the information, as in most cases this was raw data accompanied by textual

descriptions. Obviously, the interpretation of data is not the main role of recording but raw data should be documented and stored in such a way that would make them accessible and applicable for further use. Recently, there has been a tendency to apply the methods described above to the interior of historic buildings to record not only the spatial
Fig. 11, Two steps of the 3D digitizing procedures (Pierachini).

information but also the significant architectural details and artefacts. For example Pedersini et al.

(Pedersini 2000) suggested a method for automatic monitoring and 3D reconstruction applied to artefacts. The element that distinguishes Pedersinis research from the previous examples is that a self-calibrating set of three cameras has been used to deal with the particularities of the surface of the objects and the close distance. The result was 3D reconstruction of the objects and some proposals for further potential applications concerning the creation of a database for accurate artefact models, restoration planning and fast documentation of the restoration process. A different approach to the same specific field has been taken later by Pierachini et al (2001). The researchers have applied 3D digitising methods for the construction of the 3D model (see figure 11). They used laser devices and the method of laser triangulation for the calculation of the coordinates of each point on the model surface. The output was a 3D model in various popular formats such as VRML, 3DS, DXF, MAX and OBJ.

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The benefit of the recording, and by extension of the 3D modelling, is not only data for storage and a probable usage in future but also data for visualisation, estimation and hypothesis support (Potier 2000). Thus, advanced visualisation techniques, high quality of photorealistic images and the communicative capabilities of the WEB make a powerful tool for graphic and visual exploration of the geometry and other information of the historic buildings. An example is the Theatron project (Beacham 2001) which is funded by the European Commission and aims to provide professional researchers with virtual reconstructions for interrogation and testing hypotheses. For the development of the model the VRML technique has been used. The model is accessible through the Internet and provides visual and textual information. Despite the high quality of the photorealistic rendering through VRML techniques, the information output to the user is poor. The concept of evaluating the state of conservation through visualisation is strictly related to the quality of the visualisation tools provided by the current technology. When the visualisation is supposed to run through the WEB, then the quality of the results is related to the software development for the WEB. Marini et al (1997) created a WEB tool for visual multiple data exploration of the current status of the building. The main aim was to examine possible restoration and conservation choices. A JAVA interface has been implemented to give the user more interactive possibilities on the model for what if hypothesis exploration. The application mentioned above dealt mainly with two types of information: spatial information for the geometric description of the building and RGB (basic colour percentages) values for the structural elements and surfaces of the building. The RGB values have been calculated with a chemical analysis procedure to define the colour properties of the materials. The chemical analysis would also give information about the chemical composition of the stone elements. This could allow the user to understand the deterioration grade by picking the RGB values on the computerized model. According to the authors, further development of this method could be applied to a new implementation based on multimedia-oriented DBMS. Moreover, in order to define characteristics and patterns for the exploration of deterioration grade through images, a solid cooperation must be maintained with conservation practitioners who use their own language to describe the state of conservation.

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The Conservation Industry may gain quality and economic profits from Information Technologies. The quality benefit could come from the accurate methods used, and the economic one from the IT characteristic to minimise time loss on data accessing and processing. Heckes et al (1997) make use of IT for the maintenance of Historical Buildings. They also highlight the demand for IT systems which can supply information about building elements and especially on the effects of the processing steps to all who participate in Conservation. In addition they examine the integration of building data in a database for further manipulation and interpretation. The consideration of historical sources and their conversion into data bank structures in connection with geometric quantities permit the definition of Information Systems (Heckes et al, 1997)

An important point which concerns this research too, is the fact that architectural information fades away with the passage of time, especially information about previous attempts repairs and restorations. Heckes emphasises it: Information on the architectural history and particularly on these having been carried out in the course of previous restorations is often incomplete and moreover, very difficult to research. (Heckes et al, 1997)

Heckes et al, apply methods of data acquisition such as photogrammetry and raster to vector conversions, supported by CAD applications for the creation of a 3d model. The use of such a model results in a graphic data base and visualisation. The authors also create, with enhanced image processing, images which contain the visual information of a photo and that of a complete measurement in a defined degree. Descriptive information of geometry components can be linked in external Data Bases for exploitation and interpretation. The different nature of data described in the above information model composes a heterogeneous whole, which may demand different software to be elaborated. According to the authors this may cause two main problems. The first is the probable software incompatibility among the participants in the Conservation procedure. The second is that the

40

information model is limited by the various file formats used by the appropriate software. The continuous support of those formats by the companies is dubious and long term contracts for wider support should be signed in order to guarantee long term operability. Both problems have been identified through the exploration of the English pre-application stage which is referred to in chapter 5. Although J.Heckes et al say that standard software products could guarantee a wide distribution of the digital data, they recognize the difficulty of defining standard software. The author raised the point of the data standards, which receives special attention in his study (chapter 5, section 5.4). Building information geometry and description data should be written in a format widely spread across the world, independent from operation systems. This could improve data exchange and interoperability. The latter statement was the subject of argument and research in the early nineties. The result of those efforts was the STEP format (ISO 10303) in order to solve problems of data exchange and data structure (Owen J. 1997). However the STEP is a format for new building modelling and construction. Building Conservation has similar, but also more and different needs, in the field of data standard and structure and these are discussed later in this chapter as well as in chapter 6. Lukesh (1996) describes the use of AutoCAD as an archaeological tool. In particular, the author uses CAD application to record the position, visualise the density of findings, and calculate the volume of the material summaries during the excavation of an archaeological site. Three dimensional models have been used for the representation of each excavation unit, and each unit had its position on the site map. Density information from previous databases of the site was linked to the AutoCAD model of excavation units in order to visualise and correlate to the findings and the excavation units. This example shows how informatics can contribute to a field similar to Building Conservation, even though nowadays there is much more that technology could do. Lukesh dealt with the problem of the conjunction of previous databases with the CAD product as they were not written in a linkable database format supported by the AutoCAD. The need for standard software appears also in this study. The author emphasises the importance of visualising and interpreting the measured values of the model through graphical analysis.

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Lukesh, using common software, managed to organise, access, and analyse large volumes of data across a site, but not without disadvantages though. In fact, nowadays, G.I.S would probably offer better visualisation and almost certainly much better quantitative and thematic analysis possibilities. Moreover, a system like the one proposed by the author, could remain isolated from other systems and the WEB, and only users with same software combination could take advantage of it, limiting this way the data exchange capabilities. A more appropriate approach to Building Data visualization has been undertaken by Coomans et al (1999). A pictorial representation of the appearance of the building is combined with a visualisation of the formal description of the design. The researchers put on scene the digital representations of building data in various forms such as raster, vector, and calculations. They also recognised the difficulty of relating the data because their split-up in various unrelated applications for estimation, and visualisation. The need of software standardisation, for greater interoperability and data exchange, is apparent in this case as well. The user interface introduced by the authors was the Virtual Reality - Design Information System (VR-DIS) and is a dynamic tool with multi aspect visualisation features. The most important feature in the case of building Conservation Industry is that VR-DIS can handle information of many different kinds such as geometry data, lay-out data, appearance data, stability data, cost information, ageing data, and organisational data for the reparation process. Several visualisation methods have been engaged for the two main information types which were verbal (text, labels) and pictorial (appearance characteristics, scale model view). The system could offer a means of navigation in the model space and at the same time exploration to geometry data. "while navigating through the scale model, the user will be able to point out an object, and ask for the features that describe that object. The demanded feature will appear in a frame near the object." (Coomans, M.K.D., Timmermans, H.J.P., 1999, pp.176)

Features were linked together forming other feature models. Every object could have a feature which - by its turn - could have its own feature. This extensibility could cause a

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chaotic structure which could be difficult for the user to control, update or explore the building information. In addition no linking capabilities with other software products or standards in databases and visualisation systems have been mentioned, which turns it into a closed system and difficult to continue its development.

A similar approach has been taken by Carmo et al (1997). In this case the authors used the concept of different data formats as input, and developed a prototype to visualise both geometrical and non geometrical data. An attempt has also been made to create a generic and data-independent system. For this purpose, the authors defined a neutral file format which dealt with other file formats, provided that a conversion module is available for them. The system could present the data with filtering modes using degree of interest functions and establishing limits for the variation of one or more data attributes. The degree of interest acts in a similar way to the Level of Details (LOD) technique in the VRML technology with the latter being exclusively for geometric data representations. The use of information classes a concept which is widely referred to in this study (chapters 4, 5, 6) - is introduced to associate a set of attributes with a spatial reference and a graphical representation. The system enables logical operators as AND and OR to attribute restriction, and this is similar to spatial data manipulation that G.I.S. applications could offer.

3.3.3. Archives
From the literature exploration described in the previous section, it is clear that each application has had a considerable amount of information as output. Moreover, recording techniques could capture these data sets in certain instances of time. On the other hand, conservation is not static but a sequence of subtasks spread in time. Usually the output of a subtask (which probably has been captured as information), composes a significant part of the data-input of another. This leads to the conclusion that the information related to conservation has to be stored in an adequate way for future use by the practitioners.

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Research and development has been done on this field and the organisations in charge have some issues to demonstrate. The Centre for Archaeology of the English Heritage organisation has implemented digital archiving for the gathered information within the domain of archaeology (Brown 2000). An efficient methodology for capturing, implementation, evaluation and preservation of information is settled in collaboration with the National Monuments Record, Information Systems Branch and Records Management Services. In addition, some external (i.e. not part of English Heritage) bodies have been consulted, for example the Arts & Humanities Data Service Executive and Archaeology Data Service. The aim of this method is to preserve and access the electronic records in the long-term of their lifecycle. The methodology implemented by the Centre for Archaeology, determines the type of the digital resources and contains: structured text (documents produced using word processor, Desk Top Publishing and text mark-up applications), data sets (Data Base and spreadsheet data, binary, etc.), raster graphics, vector graphics (CAD models), G.I.S data, Digital Audio, Digital Video and Animation. It also determines the stages of the lifecycle of the information and sets the rules for the evaluation, the file naming and the preservation of it.

3.3.4. Data Standards Buildings and Sites Inventories

If the strategy described above replies to how the information is going to be stored, the Monument Inventory Data Standard (MIDAS) (English_Heritage 1999) replies to the question of what information should be gathered on site and how this should be structured. This approach may form an easy informative input for a database system for further access and evaluation. MIDAS was developed during 1996-1998 by a committee which was set up to co-ordinate standards across English national and local inventories. At that time it was under the auspices of English Heritage. Nowadays, the Forum in Information Standards for Heritage (FISH) (F.I.S.H. 2002) is responsible for its development. MIDAS objectives are:

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To enhance retrieval of information (particularly automated retrieval) from inventories.

To provide a common format for monument-related inventories, ensuring that important information is recorded.

To promote consistency within a given inventory and between monument inventories.

To facilitate the exchange of information between inventories. To assist in the migration of inventories from old information systems to new. To increase the opportunities for the evolution of inventories, ensuring their survival and relevance as technologies change

In order to achieve the above objects, MIDAS is divided in two parts: the Information Schemes and the Units of Information. An Information Scheme is a group of facts together constituting the information required to record a particular subject within a MIDAS inventory. Units of information are the fundamental facts of interest contained within a MIDAS inventory. Each information scheme consists of several units of information (English_Heritage 1999) Similar standardisation efforts have been done in the USA with the HOK International practice (Nichols 1997) and the Conservation Documentation Research Project in Canada (Douglas 1995). In both cases the advantages of Information Technologies have been utilized. In the same year, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, apart from the project mentioned above, released the Data Dictionary: Buildings Inventory Database

(Nova_Scotia_Museum 1995). The release was a set of guidelines and standards about data entry and use in the Building Industry. The main objective of the dictionary was to help in understanding the database structure and ensure that information was being maintained in a standard and consistent form. The Building Inventory Database has been especially designed for those cultural institutions or museums using an in-house database application or on the mainframe administered by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). The

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dictionary used a number of specifications to describe the format of data as this enters the various database fields when using CHIN's mainframe for data storage. The need for a standard informative approach in the conservation of historic buildings has also been recognized by the European Union. The publication of the recommendation No.R (95)_3 of the Committee of Ministers to the member States, about coordinating documentation methods and systems related to historic buildings and monuments of the architectural heritage, tends towards this direction (EU 1995).

3.3.5. G.I.S Databases

In the previous sections, IT applications about recording, archiving and standardisation of the information related to historic buildings and monuments have been explored. One of the most substantial subtasks of conservation is the evaluation of the existing state of conservation in combination with the already stored information and probably with the new data entry from external factors (for example new regulations, decisions, etc.). The outcome of this evaluation is strictly connected to the conservation strategy the practitioners are going to apply. A database could prove to be a suitable IT tool for this task. A database for accessing, managing and linking such information is a tool not only for indexing the information but also even for decision making. A wide range of research and application has been done in this field, using Geographic Information Systems. As is revealed from the term Geographic, and in distinction to the applications introduced in the previous sections, these systems are not focusing on one case (building) but on a wider area. This spatial context could be the area under supervision by the practitioner, or a historic site, or even a group of sites. The linking of more than one pole of interest and the zoom in capability render G.I.S a powerful tool in the hands of the practitioner for what is called cultural heritage management. For example, in Northamptonshire G.I.S applications have been applied by the local county Sites and Monuments Records and the improvement of the services provided were more than evident (Addison 2001). Three main characteristics of the G.I.S enhanced the performance and quality of service; these were the improved recording of management-

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based data, the capability to extend the scope of a traditionally historic record to an integration of historic buildings or sites, and the user-friendliness. The application of G.I.S has necessarily urged a radical rethinking of the way in which different datasets inter- relate and critically, how the data should be managed (Chris Addison. Sites and Monuments Record Officer) In the case of the Tower of London, Worthing and Counsell (1999) evaluated whether or not a computer model could improve the efficiency and effectiveness in the fields of: recording, visitor interpretation and orientation, visitor management and maintenance management. For such an evaluation, a G.I.S system has been used and the main idea was the creation of a common pool of data within a computer system that would meet the requirements of the above different viewpoints. There were several conclusions made by the authors. One of the most important was that, multiple models could be developed and addressed to different audience (for example structural engineers, architects but even visitors) from the same task of data capture and entry. A multi-layout approach could offer different visualisation methods to a different audience. For example, professional drawings were the layout addressed to architects and VRML model and animation could help interpretation by the visitor. G.I.S systems are adopted by several organisations which manage the historical environment. Cultural Resources Mapping & Geographic Information Systems

(Cultural_Resources_Mapping 2001) is a National Park Service in the USA, which helps citizens and communities to identify, evaluate, protect and preserve historic properties for future generations. This is accomplished through an expanded G.I.S system that contains information about historic buildings, historic landmarks, historic landscapes and battlefields. The effectiveness of a database is strictly connected to the design of its information model which drives the internal functions within it. When a G.I.S is combined with a relational database, then the possibilities for information management are multiplied. Elkadi and Pendleburry (2001) applied this combination and an information model has been developed to record the cultural built heritage. The researchers, through an Integrating Conservation approach, structured the database according to vertical and horizontal scales. Through the

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vertical one the user could switch the resolution in such a way that zooming in the historic building could access architectural data (form, space, architectural details etc.). Zooming out in the wider context, the user could access data related to sites (containing the building) and spaces in the urban context. On the horizontal scale there were three scales of values, which included historical, architectural and social/cultural values. The model has been tested and from the viewpoint of information modelling, several advantages have arisen. For example, the direct interaction between information of the same dimension, the development of relations between different levels horizontally and vertically and the development of visual fields that could be inserted and analysed in other graphical or data acquisition tools. This could be very useful in the pre-application stage and in particular when the applicant explores the Primary As exist Documentation of a Listed Building. The researchers also identified some disadvantages such as the lack of flexibility to aggregate and disaggregate architectural data at different levels and the limitation of insertion fields (e.g. from the public). This could probably be overcome by an object oriented approach in information modelling for the former and some WEB extensions for communication capabilities for the latter. A multimedia database, proposed by Angelides (2000), was based on the WEB extensions mentioned above. The proposal was a tool for the improvement of the effectiveness and quality of the services provided by the planning authorities in the case of listed buildings. When there is a question about a case, the planning officer who is charged with it has to retrieve information of various types and probably from different physical places. The prototype tool was a multi-featured Internet multimedia database information system that held visual and textual descriptions of most listed buildings in the U.K. The prototype included all the features that were necessary during decision-making: Architectural Dictionary, Architect's Dictionary, Listed Buildings Database, and Consultation Contacts. Since the system allows data interchange over the Internet, an RCHME (Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England) officer can use it to retrieve archival material, or a LPA to retrieve the listing description of a similar building in another LPA. The information contained

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in the application was still and full-motion video, digital photographs, graphs and textual description of period architectural designs of buildings. Despite the Internet facilities, the strictly multimedia approach of this application does not give the possibility for source data (raw data) exchange between the various actors in the conservation tasks. The latter is very important as it increases the interoperability and renders the system accessible not only to the authorities but also even to the architect or whoever is going to apply for listed building consent or planning permission.

3.3.6. Information modelling

The establishment of databases in the service of the Conservation Industry provides the possibility to the participant actors to access for advice or further elaboration of the stored data. In consequence, the need to optimise the information flow between these actors became tangible. Every subtask of the conservation procedure could gain advantages by the use of these databases. This should be done in an organised approach in such a way that every package of information would run towards the proper actor. This presupposes that all the concurrent procedures of the conservation subtasks, accepted by all the bodies involved and controlled by the existing legislation, have to be modelled as to the processes and the information that is exchanged between the actors through them (the processes). During the last decade, such modelling has been the subject of research (Augenbroe 1994) and development (Owen J. 1997) in the sector of new buildings from the viewpoint of product modelling. Less research, though, has been done to model the conservation procedures. Bikas (1996) proposed an information, archiving, and processing model in an effort to overcome some of the typical problems of restoration procedure in Greece. Such problems were the lack of information, the requisite enhanced use of the building under restoration, and the compulsory combination of the modern materials and methods with the old ones. Moreover the model should help to improve the collaboration between the various actors in

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the restoration procedure. For this purpose Bikas developed a classification system of the involved information, based on the CI/SfB classification system for building information (Jones 1976; Karlsson 1988) but extended to meet the particular requirements of the field.

The result was a relational database composed of six tables for query and filtering information about building area typology, building elements, building forms, materials, construction stages and tasks and pathology of the construction. Furthermore, the models expectations were the external input from all the involved parts (researchers, engineers, industry etc.) and the existing information infrastructure (historical archives, legal or bibliography databases etc). The model has been implemented in an experimental system and according to the developer, the test results were satisfying. Nevertheless the possibility of providing the proposed system with profits of the WEB and G.I.S systems may give results closer to the requirements of the authors. Glen and Lockley (1998), proposed an information model for the conservation processes during intervention in historic buildings. An object modelling approach has been developed based on Coad and Yourdons suggested technique (Yourdon 1994). Six basic domains of interest have been defined: the project, the intervention, the documentation, the organizations, the use, and the environment domain. Under each domain there were the classes and objects of it. For example under the project domain, hierarchically, there is the conservation project, the conservation site and finally the conservation item. Each class, subclass or object has its attributes. These attributes represent the information that flows in the model and also composes the structure which directs the processes of the intervention activity. The model reflects the procedures during an intervention on a historic building. It is worth noticing that the procedural point that connects the model with some of the applications explored in the previous sections is the document domain. In particular, the preintervention document set (term used by the authors) could be the information of a recording stage or information stored in an archive. It is presupposed that the data entry to this point is

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the information collected previously. The quality of this information and the optimisation of the procedures, probably by other information, may be a subject for further research.

3.4.

Summary

In the previous sections various types of information technologies applied to Building Conservation have been explored. Some of them could be considered as computational tools, visualisation and illustration tools, or decision-making and strategic tools. It is clear that from now on the evolution of such ICT tools, for example a CAD system, could not provoke spectacular changes in the conservation domain because in this field progress is already satisfactory. Moreover, this continuously upgrading of software is oriented and limitedly focused on a specific field of the whole of the conservation procedure. The same happens with IT applications in the field of structural analysis, the digital photogrammetry, and even with the databases although their role is more generic and by their nature may combine several types of information (for example G.I.S). It is worth noting the partial contribution of the above ICT tools in the pre-application stage as none of them follows the whole process of the stage of interest (see figure 12).
ARCHIVING Multimedia RECORDING Data Standards Virtual Reality tools Computer Based Structural Analysis INTERVENTION PROPOSAL

Data Bases

Digital Photogrammetry

3D Model(ling) Digital Image Processing

G.I.S. WEB tools EVALUATION & DEC. MAKING

INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT

Fig. 12. ICT applications and tools in the various sub stages of the Pre-Application Stage.

The discussion shows that there is a need for an ICT tool, which would make a difference in the conservation industry, and would act like a joining ring between all the above tools. An

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appropriate information process model could meet the requirements mentioned in 3.1 regarding the proper ICT tool for the information analysis of the pre-application stage. Most of the current use of IT is in applications that are tools or means. However, modelling the processes and organising the information flow between the tasks can be a forward strategy that can improve the control of information and hence the quality of the procedures. It is also clear from the previous review that a repetitive cycle of recording, evaluation, and intervention takes place in the conservation procedure (this is mentioned in detail in the chapter 4). In most of the cases the greater part of the data that will be used is already collected by previous procedures. The last two models proposed by Bikas and Glen focus on the intervention procedure and show the need for further exploration and modelling in order to cover the field between recording and evaluation. During evaluation of the collected information, the required set of data will be prepared and would compose the starting point for the next procedural step of intervention.

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Chapter 4: Information model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent in Greece: - policy and procedures.
This chapter discusses the procedures which take place during the pre-application stage in Greece which is described in the first chapter. These procedures are controlled by the current policy and legislation framework, and this is also described in its main guidelines. Literature has been reviewed for the definition of the procedural system. The procedures have also been investigated through empirical data derived from a case study. The outcome of this investigation and analysis was an activity model for the monitoring of the system under discussion in terms of actions done by participant, and an information model which shows the fluent information between different participants.

4.1. Introduction
When the client of a listed building decides to carry out works on that building, a series of tasks are about to take place. In most cases, these tasks conform to the policies and the legislative framework of the place where this happens. The client authorises the applicant (an architect, engineer, or other...) to carry out the procedures, with the final intention of getting permission from the authorities for the beginning of the works. Conservation, in any of its various approaches, - for example direct or indirect conservation (Feilden B.M., 1995), restoration or maintenance of the building - is the main aim of an intervention on a listed building. In any of the approaches mentioned above, the applicant should make his/her proposals under the constraints and restrictions of the policy and the current legislation. The applicant usually starts the preparation of the proposal with an initial amount of information about the building, and through particular procedures submits his/her final proposal to the local authorities for approval. The quality of the submitted proposal, which in its final version will be approved, depends on the structure and function of these procedures. A qualitative system, in terms of structure and functionality, could have control points which may decrease the probability of low quality issues (for example, by the applicant).

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Academic literature and Building Conservation theories (British Standard, 1998);(Watt, 1996);(Clark, 2001) show that a well structured procedural model for the pre-application stage should clarify the following points: who the participants in the procedures are, what the role of every participant body is, what the interaction of the participants is, how much and what type of information is exchanged between them, and what the control points that could assure the quality are.

This study considers that the above points could set up the bounds for investigation and identification of the existing and/or the proper information model of the pre-application stage. A detailed analysis of such investigation and identification will follow in the next paragraphs as the chapter evolves. This chapter aims to present the information flow that describes the points mentioned above in the framework of the Greek policies and legislation. Secondly, it aims to identify the weak points of the model that affect negatively the quality of the proposal for statutory consent. For the achievement of the above aims firstly an IDEF0 (KBSI, 1993) activity-model has been developed by the author, for the description of the engaged bodies (players) and their relationship. This model answers such questions as which activity is done by whom and

how the activities are connected. In an attempt to focus on the information that runs
between the players, an Object Role information model (ORM) (Halpin, 1998) has been

developed, based on the previous activity model. This model answers the questions what is the role of every player?, what is the informative outcome of an executed role?, how does the information flow between the participants? In order to develop the activity model and trace the information of interest to this study, the author explored the relevant literature, policies, and current legislation in Greece. Personnel of the Local Authorities and the applicant of the case study have been interviewed in order to investigate the practical procedures that are not described by the legislation.

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Sections 4.2 up to 4.5 identify the participant players in the procedural system as well as the procedural system itself. There is also a brief summary of the Greek and English policy system. There are few differences between these two systems but the conducted comparative analysis allowed the researcher to use the English system as a reference model in order to study the Greek one.

4.2.

Players engaged in the Greek procedural system

In the life cycle of a listed building which is under the protection of certain legislation and corresponding policies, the building often becomes the subject of conservation procedures. The term conservation is used in its wider meaning and may contain different approaches of protection as these are defined by British Standard 7913/1998. The same conception about conservation is adopted also in Greece and this is clear when Karavedos and Lavas explain in Principal definitions of protection of architectural monuments (Karavedos G., 2000) the various aspects of conservation. Over and above the specific policy, adopted by the responsible in charge, an organised system of conservation planning provides an archival system of information related to historic buildings and - often - their surroundings (Baker, 1997). This information pool is the preliminary reference source for the applicant who intends to apply for Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission. In the Greek policy system, this archival pool is kept by the corresponding Local Archaeological Department, according to the historical period under discussion in each case. There is the Local Archaeological Department (LAD) for the Prehistoric and Classical period, the LAD of the Post Classical up to the Byzantine period, and the LAD of monuments which are constructed later than 1830. The last one is the Local Archaeological Department of interest for this study as it deals with the listed buildings mentioned in chapter 1 which are strictly related to the architectural identity of Patras. This latter is also responsible for the approval, or not, of every proposal concerning an intervention plan on a historic building. The content of the archive which is kept by Local Archaeological Department will be examined later under the viewpoint of the quantity and quality requirements in order to provide the applicants with the proper and valid initial data set. At this point, the archive will

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be examined by the researcher as it is, with the aim of identifying its relationship and interaction with the other players of the system. The Local Planning Authority has the responsibility of evaluating the structural information of the building and of checking the completeness of the folder containing the rest of the subprojects (i.e. HVAC, fireproof project, elevator project, water supply project, etc.). It is worth noting that in the case of Listed Buildings, the Local Planning Authority accepts the architectural project as it is, providing that the LAD has already approved it. The role of the applicant (architect and/or engineer) is executive and theoretically conforms to the International and Greek policies about conservation (in fact, Greek policies conform to those internationally accepted). The applied policies are, however, restricted by the building regulations about intervention performance, structural calculation and seismic

protection.
Apart from the LAD and the LPA in the Greek pre-application stage, the role of the client should be highlighted. He/she decides the use of the building and he/she may provide information about the historical character of the building, particular architectural or construction details, as well as possibly informing about issues concerning the structural condition of the construction.

4.3.

Conservation tasks cycles

Considering the life cycle of an historic building in a policy procedural frame, it is obvious that the stages of recording, archiving, evaluating, and intervening on the building are repetitive and consecutive in time. This section discusses the repetitive nature of these tasks and defines the complete Conservation Cycle. The section also discusses those particular points within a cycle whereby the applicant could get information or supply information to the system. The understanding of these issues is very important as they provide a wide vision of the whole Conservation life cycle of a building and at the same time they locate the preapplication stage for statutory consent in it. It also is the first attempt to approach the preapplication stage which is the argument under discussion (or Universe of Discourse) in terms of information modelling (Marjomaa, 2002).

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What follows is a description of the tasks of recording, archiving, and evaluation which usually lead an intervention on an historic building. The necessity of recording the historic buildings before, during and after the intervention on them has been discussed widely in the past (Feilden B.M., 1995, Watt, 1996, ICOMOS, 1996). Nowadays it is a task that usually exists in every organised conservation system. The recording stage is the gathering of information, which is usually geometric and descriptive through the survey procedure. Input to the recording task may also arise by the exploration in various types of documents such as diaries, letters, photos, old illustrations like sketches, paintings (although the latter requires the appraisal of an expert as they may be dangerously subjective) (ICOMOS_UK, 1990). According to the Guide to Recording Historic Buildings (ICOMOS_UK, 1990), the initial survey should be carried out by an approved national body in order to ensure the quality of the task and the analysis of the findings, since it requires specially trained personnel. However, in England, due to the great number of the listed buildings, individuals like architects or contractors may also do the initial survey or at least gather important information (Catney, 1999).

The archiving task is the filtering of the gathered information and the storage of the proper data set, for further future use. Over and above the specific policy adopted by the applicant and the authorities in charge, an organised system of conservation planning provides an archival system for the information related to historic buildings and often to their surroundings (Baker, 1997). This information pool is the preliminary reference source for the applicant who intends to apply for Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission. In England, there are archives at National or local level such as the National Building Records or the Sites and Monuments Records kept usually by the Local Planning Authorities. These services exist in order to guarantee the efficient management of the records, continuous updating when this is needed, and the evaluation of new incoming information. Part of this evaluation task is the definition of the lifecycle for every instance or subset of the records.

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The specific role and the informative content of these archives are presented more analytically in the next section. It is important to note that efforts have been made to standardise the documentation profile of the information related to historic buildings. Such examples are the MIDAS standard in England (English_Heritage, 1999), the HOK International practice in the United States (Nichols, 1997) and the Conservation Documentation Research Project in Canada (Douglas, 1995). Moreover, it is important to note that even the policy of the United Europe leans towards this direction with the publication of recommendation No3(95) about documentation methods and systems related to historic buildings and monuments (EU, 1995).

The evaluation task is the stage where a new data set about a building is added to the already existing data set, which is probably stored in an archive. In contrast to the two tasks described above, the evaluation task is less concrete and for their better perception it is helpful to represent them in sequential order as well as by entry points of data. The repetitive task cycles of conservation in relation with the input points between the above tasks are shown in figure 12. This shows an instant of the building lifecycle divided in cycles in order to help the identification of the points (encircled letters A,B,C) where the information enters in the system or a data set is prepared in order contribute to a future task. The sequence of the tasks is theoretical and aims to show the repetitive nature of the tasks in a building lifetime but this does not exclude the case of different sequence but also the repetition of a task within the same cycle. For example after the evaluation of the data of a previous cycle a new recording task could be needed before the intervention.

In order to visualize the sequence of the tasks presented above, a scheme has been developed which combines the conservation cycles in relation with the Information Input or Output of the tasks (see page 59).

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ENTRY POINT OF NEW DATA (SURVEY, BUILDING REGULATIO NS, USE OF

CYCLE A DATA SET STARTING DATA SET

ENTRY POINT OF NEW DATA (SURVEY, BUILDING REGULATIONS, USE OF BUILDING ETC.)
CYCLE C DATASET STARTING DATA SET

CYCLE B DATASET

ENTRY POINT OF NEW DATA (SURVEY, BUILDING REGULATION S, USE OF BUILDING ETC.)
STARTING DATA SET

BUILDING CONSERVATION PROCEDURES IN TIME

INTERVENTION INTERVENTION INTERVENTION

RECORDING

RECORDING

EVALUATION

EVALUATION

RECORDING

EVALUATION

ARCHIVING

ARCHIVING

ARCHIVING

CYCLE A

CYCLE B

CYCLE C

CYCLE E CYCLE n

A
DATA SET OF PREVIOUS CYCLE

C B
NEW STARTING DATA SET

ENTRY POINT OF NEW DATA

Fig. 13. The repetitive task cycles of building conservation

In the above scheme two entire consecutive conservation cycles are presented (cycle b and cycle C. Every cycle contains the tasks of recording, archiving, evaluation, and intervention. The study considers that in a certain instant of time the input from the recording of a cycle is completed. This means that the information that passes from a previous cycle (i.e. cycle B) to a new one (i.e. cycle C) is the one included in the so-called Data Set of Previous Cycle (see point A in fig.13). The archiving task could be considered as the one that contains the outcome of the procedures of the previous cycle in terms of gathered information. At this point it is important to distinguish between the evaluation as the filtering of the collected data within the task of Archiving and the Evaluation Task shown in the schema. The first is an internal process for the quality and the proper management of the archival system and contains updating, filtering, preservation or destruction of the records (Brown, 2000).

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The second is the stage where the evaluation of the data set provided by the archive takes place (point A in fig.13), in combination with the new data that probably may, or may not occur (point B in the figure 13). This new data may occur because of the change of the use of the building or for example due to changes in the Building or Fire Regulations. During the task of Evaluation, further information may be required and a pre-intervention recording stage may take place. Moreover, during the same stage the approach to conservation by the experts is decided. The applicant carries out the evaluation of information, as he/she is the one who prepares the proposal. This is of great importance as through this task the information enhancement takes place, so that the proposal may meet the requirements for the Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission. However, even the authority that will check the proposal evaluates the two data sets to compose an independent judgment about the submitted proposal (Baker, 1997). The informative outcome of this task is the new starting dataset (point C in figure 13). It is clear that the transition from the old dataset to the new one is important. The higher the quality of the Starting Dataset, the more difficult it is to miss the information about the listed building. It is also of great help for the practitioner, as it composes the necessary dataset for the starting of the intervention. During the task of intervention it is very probable that other information may be found. All the stages of the intervention process upon the building and the related information have to be recorded (Baker, 1997). The informative outcome of this recording task is, in turn, the input of the archiving task of the current cycle and the stored data set of the next cycle. The repetitive task cycles of conservation that take place in the lifetime of a building have been presented. The issues presented in this section (4.3) are helpful for the study as the following section presents the physical or institutional bodies involved in the procedural system described above. The various data sets mentioned above will be identified in the information model in section 6 and will be associated with the information enhancement. In relation to the arguments of this section, the next section will analyse the procedural system

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from the task of Archiving (point A) until the time when the LPA approves the proposal, which contains the Starting Dataset (point D).

4.4.

The Greek procedural system an IDEF0 activity model

This section presents the Greek pre-application stage through an information modelling approach. An activity model has been developed for the easiest perception of the Universe of Discourse.

4.4.1. Legislation Background data collection

The Greek legislation system is based mainly on two rather outdated laws. These are the 1469 Law of 1950 About the protection of Listed Buildings and Works of Art which are built later than 1830 and the 5351 Law of 1932 About Antiquities. The first one set the requirements of a building in order to get Listed and the second was a first set of guidelines about the practice of the intervention on a Listed Building. It is worth noting that this legislation background has been completed with several decrees and additional guidelines during the years. Despite the effort about the completion of the two laws, the current legislation background could not achieve the modern requirements (Technical Chamber of Greece, 2002). There was an objective difficulty in investigating all the additional law insets and policy guidelines, which are spread over a range of almost fifty years, for the formation of a theoretical representation of the pre-application stage. In order to overcome this handicap, it has been decided to explore the current procedures and policies applied by the participants and which are the result of the entire legislative infrastructure mentioned above. For the current policy and procedural exploration, an interview has been set out and applied for the collection of the necessary information for the captured activities and the formation of the model. The person interviewed was the architect Fanourakis E., officer of the Local Archaeological Department of Patras. Some of his duties, in the LAD, are the identification of the special features that make a building worthy being listed, the evaluation of the architectural proposals for a listed building and the control of the works carried out on it. Due

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to his involvement in these roles, Fanourakis has been identified in order to provide the required information. This information was about practices and procedures which are not referred to in the existing legislation, but which form a status quo in the Greek system. What Fanourakis said has been reconfirmed by interviewing the applicant for Listed Building Consent of a Listed Building in Patras. The applicant was the architect Pantazopulos, I., and the case was an historical building of the end of the nineteenth century (see figure 14-15).

Fig. 14. View of the building case in Patras

Fig. 15. plan of the principal entrance the facade

Information from the interviews in combination with what was imposed by law N.1469/50 in Greece led to the development of the following activity model.

4.4.2. The IDEF technique An Analysis approach

This section describes the domain of interest of this study, or in terms of information modelling, the Universe of Discourse. In this domain are all the players of the system discussed in the previous sections, each one arranged in its natural place in the system. The developed model aims to make the reader familiar with these procedures and the way that the players are related to each other. It is worth noting that a deep understanding of the Universe of Discourse is important for the following point, which should be kept under consideration. The principal aim of the study is to

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explore (through a model) an already existing system and probably to identify weak points in it; in other words, the study could be considered an analysis of the UoD (Universe of Discourse) in terms of informatics. This issue drives the research in the fields and methodologies used by software engineering and are partially adopted in this section and the next one, where the developed information model is presented. When the optimisation of a system is taking place with the aim of IT, the main steps followed by the developer are the analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation (Poley, 1999). These stages may be repeated until the system meets the requirements of the developer. This sequence can be illustrated in a spiral process first presented by Boehm (1988) (see fig 16). Just as the spiral track in every cycle deviates from the centre, the developer in every cycle deviates/modifies his/her first approach in the same way until the required result is obtained.

IMPLEMENTATION

EVALUATION

DESIGN

ANALYSIS

Figure 16. A simple spiral process (Boehm, 1988)

This section deals with the analysis of the system and the next step is the identification of the core activities of the system (UoD). This is a procedure widely accepted and in a way compulsory for a good understanding of UoD (Halpin, 1998). The depiction of the procedural system requires a modelling language that can represent the UoD at the conceptual level. The abstract character of such model makes the reading of it easier and saves the developer from attributes exploration and assigning in this

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early stage of analysis. The IDEF modelling language has been chosen, through appropriate literature review, for this stage of the study. This technique is generally invented to capture the activities and their relationships in a system. Moreover, its simple semantics combine the input and the output of each activity as well as the constraint, and the starter mechanism of them (KBSI, 1993). The latter has been the main reason for the choice of this technique although, from investigation in related literature, this method apparently has never been used in a similar research. In comparison to other possible alternatives, IDEF is more descriptive than a Cause and Effect diagram (Fishbone diagram) and simpler than a language strictly oriented in programming. At this point it has to be clarified that IDEF is not a language for dataflow models, nor a language proper (and designed) for data analysis or design. It is designed for the development of hierarchical models in terms of activities. In this study the model is only used for the description of the system (UoD) and not for the modelling of the information flow between the players of the system.

4.4.3. The IDEF semantics

As mentioned in the previous section, this technique represents hierarchically the system under discussion. This means that there is a starting point and an ending point to the model and the activities follow a real-time sequence. In fact the model should be read from the upper left point to the lower right. In addition, the model describes activities in which enabled bodies exist (persons or institutions). These bodies may be found in more than one place in the model. This is natural, as during the process an activity may be repeated in time or a player may be engaged in more than one activity. In figure 17 the basic building blocks of the language and the meaning of its components are shown.

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(Constraints on an activity, e.g., procedures, budgets, etc.)

Controls

Inputs
(what is required before an activity can occur

Function or

Activity
(Verb Phase)

Outputs

(What is produced by an activity, e.g., reports, products, etc.)

Mechanisms
(what enables an activity, e.g., equipment, personnel assignments, etc.)

Figure 17. An IDEF Activity Box

From the above figure, the importance of the output of an activity is clarified. For example, when the output enters in the next activity from the left side (which means an input) and when this enters from the top (which means a control factor), (see figure 18).

Activity A A0

Activity A A0

Activity B A0

Activity B A0

Fig.18 The output of an activity may be input or control of the next one.

4.4.4. The activity model

The particular technique has been chosen because of some advantages such as: simple visualisation method, simple and easy-to -use notation, possibility of abstraction into various levels of detail, and descriptive representation of the system (KBSI, 1993). Figure 19 shows a simplified representation to give the reader the concept of the procedural system.

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CHARTERS

BR

APPLICATION OWNER REQUEST OWNER DATA 1 ARCHIVE A1 PROJECT'S APPROVAL (BY LOCAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT) 2 PROJECT FILES APPROVAL DECISION PREPARING ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS

CHARTERS

BR

APPLICANT (ARCHITECTURE AND/OR ENGINEER)

CORRECTIONS

ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION of MIN.of CULTURE SUPPL. DATA 2

PROJECT'S REAPPRAISAL 3 A3 BR

APPLICANT PROJECT FILES FOR SUBMISSION APPROVAL PROCEDURE by LOCAL PLANNIG AUTHORITY 4 1. BR: Building Regulation OTHER SUB-PROJECTS THAT COMPLETE THE PROJECT FOLDER (Water supply - sanitary discharge,HVAC,Elevator project,Fireproof project) PUBLIC COMMISSION PROJECT FILES PERMISSION ISSUE

2. SUPPL.DATA: missed information or information not properly used

Fig. 19. IDEF representation of the activities for obtaining Planning Permission.

The model is presented at an abstract level that allows the appearance of the four core activities of the system. What follows is a brief explanation of the activities, based on the syntax mentioned before, explaining what the outcome of them is, and under what kind of constrains this occurs.

4.4.5. Composition of the proposal.

In this stage the applicant prepares the proposal about the building. The preliminary information input is the archive kept by the LAD and the probable information given by the client. In this activity, a wider data collection procedure may take place which, however, is not mandatory if the applicant is satisfied with the gathered archival information. The outcome of this activity is the application, which consists of the architectural proposal and the structural analysis of the building. Although the rest of the projects (i.e. HVAC, fire protection

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etc. etc.) are taken into consideration for the completion of the project folder, they are not requested by the LAD for further control.

4.4.6. Project Approval.

In this stage the application is examined by the experts of the Local Archaeological Department from the viewpoint of architectural and structural performance. It is important to note that the composition of the proposals and the approval activity are subject to the Building Regulations posed by Greek legislation and the adopted international policies about building conservation (i.e. International charters). The outcome of this stage is the decision of whether the proposals are approved or not.

4.4.7. Project Reappraisal.

The case of a negative decision means that the proposal needs reappraisal. The latter will be carried out by the applicants under the advice and constraints of the corrections given by the experts of the LAD. It is probable that more information input might be required if the rejection of the proposal has been decided due to missing information. At this point it would be very helpful to identify the reasons that lead to a rejection of the proposal. There are two probable points emerging as reasons. The first is the low quality of the task performed by the applicant and/or the pointless evaluation of the existing information (see fig. 13). The second is the low quality of the preliminary information pool; in other words the archive. The first is a subjective reason and outside the interests of this study. Low quality or inadequate information in the public archives could be a reason for further exploration. In the latter case, from an initial point of view, a compulsory survey by the architect is required, in order to enhance the preliminary information pool mentioned before. Although survey is a task done usually by the applicants during the preparation of such proposals, this cannot be a substitute for the responsibility of the national bodies charged with the duty of enhancement and preservation of public archives (ICOMOS_UK, 1990). Both the applicant and the LAD may contribute to the information enhancement but it is considered that the

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input by the applicant could be more subjective for various reasons; for example financial reasons as he/she has a certain budget to respect, set by the client.

4.4.8. Application for Planning Permission.

In this last core activity the Local Planning Authority evaluates the application in order to grant (or not) the requested planning permission. The latter is necessary for the commencement of the works on the listed building. It is important to highlight that the LPA checks all the subprojects of the Folder except the architectural and the structural one. This is evidence of the priority of the Minister of Culture, whose representative is the LAD, in the case of listed buildings.

The sequential structure of the model represents the physical flow of the activities. In fact, the model is readable from the upper left point towards the lower right one (figure 19). The elements of the activities are not unique at every stage but they may be repeated in other activities. For example the architect is the enabler of the preparing alternative proposal activity but also the enabler of the project reappraisal activity. This is a typical characteristic of the procedural nature of the IDEF technique and how this uses the information for the interpretation of the activities. This latter point may be considered as a disadvantage in case the interest of the research focuses on the identification and localisation of the information. For example, suppose that it is requested to identify, in the model in figure 19, the domains in which information enhancement takes place. This is quite difficult as the technique offers analysis in terms of activities and not in terms of information. These points on the model presented demonstrate the need to explore other ways for information investigation within the procedural system. The technique chosen by the author for the development of the information model was the Object Role Modelling technique. The following section justifies the choice of this particular technique, presents the OR model and the domains of interest, from the view of the Information Analysis. Also, an effort will be made to identify the weak points of this information model as it concerns the Greek case.

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4.5.

The information model of the pre-application stage for Listed

Building Consent and Planning Permission. An Object Role Modelling approach.

4.5.1. Theoretical background - Definitions

Several modelling languages are available in the field of Informatics. Although more than one could be suitable for a case under development, usually the choice of the technique depends on the nature of the case and the stage of the development. For example, one modelling approach may be applied for the development of a computational algorithm and a different one in the case of the development of a database. The modelling approach may also be different if the development is in its Analysis stage or close to its final Implementation stage. From the introduction in the section 4.2, it is clear that this study operates in the field of the analysis of the pre-application stage. During the stage of analysis, the developer examines mainly the structure of the system, the behaviour of the core objects of the system, and the information that these objects represent (Halpin, 1999). For these reasons, it is helpful when the modelling approach combines the characteristics of conceptual modelling and is free of attributes. In this study the Object Oriented modelling approach has been used for the analysis of the Universe of Discourse as described by Rumbaugh (1991). According to Hay (1999) there is not such thing as Object Oriented Analysis and based his argument on the fact that OO is weak to analyse the UoD in depth without attribute support. On the contrary, the dissenters consider that this is exactly the advantage of the OO techniques (Halpin, 1999);(Sharp, 2002); Halpin says: when I am performing conceptual analysis, I just want to know what the facts and rules are (), and I want to communicate this information in sentences, so that the model can be understood by the domain experts

The abstract nature of such an approach helps in focusing on the core objects of the system and on their interaction. In addition, the lack of attributes makes the exploration of the UoD more stable and easier for the domain experts to test. This happens because, at the

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conceptual level, attributes tend to evolve in objects or relations of objects. To avoid this, a close collaboration with the domain expert may help, and the making of queries on the model is an efficient way to test its validity. Object Oriented development is a conceptual process independent of a programming language until the final stages. The fundamental nature of Object Oriented Design is the identification and organisation of domain concepts, rather than their final representation in a - object oriented or not - programming language. It is worth noting that in this early stage of development the information is examined in terms of classes of objects. An object is an informative element of a certain importance in the system under discussion (Yourdon, 1994). It can be concrete or conceptual. It has an identity and is unique within the Universe of Discourse. The object is described by attributes. When values are assigned to the attributes, then the abstract object becomes specific and of particular informative contribution. The object can be verified from more than one set of values for its attributes. Objects with the same data structure and behaviour are grouped into a class. The, so-called, class of object (or in abbr. Class) is a representative abstract object with a certain data structure or behaviour. When the attributes of a class receive values, then the class lowers in object. Every object is an instance of a class (Erikson, 1998).

4.5.2. The Object Role Modelling language Semantics.

For the realisation of the chosen modelling approach described above, the Object Role Modelling language has been chosen. Despite the wide diffusion of the Unified Modelling Language (UML), the latter is attribute dependent and at this level an attribute-free language would be more easily manageable without compromising quality. However this does not exclude the possibility of UML adoption in the stage of design. ORM is a method for modelling and querying an information system at the conceptual level. In Europe it is often called NIAM (Natural language Information Analysis Method). It is based on the idea that information systems, at the conceptual level, are best specified using concepts and language that people can easily understand.

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The semantics of the ORM are simple and based on the fact that objects play certain roles within the Universe of Discourse. In this way an object or a class (as this has been defined previously) may interact with other classes, in the way commanded by the role between the classes (see figure 20).

PERSON ... has .../... of ...

POSTAL CODE

information class 1

role played by both classes

information class 2

Fig. 20. Objects related with a role

In figure 19 there are two classes of objects representing two types of information. The role ..has../..of.., between them declares the binary nature of the role or in other words the bidirectional interaction of the classes. The expert of domain could easily read the above example as follows: person HAS postal code or The postal code IS OF person Note that the dot at the left role connector in figure 20 means that each person at its lifecycle has to play the specific role at least once. In other words, this makes it compulsory for the system that each person has a postal code. Now it is clear how the ORM technique is easy and related with the natural language. The whole ORM semantic-vocabulary is of course not limited only to the above notation, as its descriptive potential is not widely explained in this section. It is considered, though, that the above clarifications on the ORM semantic are sufficiently efficient to give the domain expert the possibility to test/read the model. In the next paragraph the model of the Universe of Discourse expressed by Object Role modelling language is described.

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4.5.3. Domains of interest

For a better perception and analysis of the system, the UoD has been divided into four domains of interest. The criteria of choice conform with the aims of the study mentioned in section 1 (introduction), and the issues which arise in section 4.3. The first criterion concerns the identification of the weak points of the Greek system that affect negatively the quality of the proposal. The second criterion is about the identification of the points where an information enhancement is taking place and the relation of the LDA with the information pool. The four domains of interest are: Primary Documentation, Documentation Enhancement, Possible Starting Data Set, and Control Bodies. The Primary Documentation contains the sources of the initial input. In the Documentation Enhancement the new data enrich the information pool and there should be an evaluation of the whole set of data. The Possible Starting Data Set generates the proposal and in consequence the Starting Data Set. The word possible is to emphasise that every Starting Data set could change if the proposal is rejected. The domain Control Bodies contains the mechanisms of public control for the proposals and issues the Listed Building Consent and the planning permission.

It is important to highlight that the route of this particular point of the study is reversed. This is because during the design of a system, what comes first is the definition of the domains of interest and afterwards the modelling takes place. In this case, the Domains of Interest had been tracked on the already developed OR model. This happened because the Greek system already exists and the author is called to identify the above prescribed domains in the model. Through this effort an attempt is made to examine the relationship between the domains and probably identify broken links, discontinuances or conflicts with conservation theories.

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4.5.4. The ORM model

Domain of Primary Documentation

This contains the primary sources of information. These are the public archive, which is kept by the Local Archaeological Department, and the clients data. The contribution of the client to the information pool is not compulsory but he/she may have valuable elements of information and moreover decides about the use of the building. This decision is of great importance to the approach that the practitioners are going to adopt.

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Both sources contribute to the Primary Data Pool and may be of various types. This pool has no physical existence but serves in the modelling procedure as a meeting point of all the information sources.

CLIENT INPUTS .../...GETS FROM PRIMARY DATA POOL ARCHIVE INPUTS .../...GETS FROM

...../...HAS

Text

Local Arcaelogical Department

Orthophot ograph

Digital Text

Drawing Vector

Drawing - Raster

Image

Digital Image

3D Image

3D Model

Structural Analysis

OTHER

Fig. 21. Primary Documentation Domain

There is a possibility for further analysis of the documentation that is related with the archive. This may occur at a higher level of detail for the designing purposes of a future proposed model.

Documentation Enhancement
In this domain the enhancement of the information takes place. The existing information in the Primary Data pool may be augmented in quantity by the addition of supplemental data. The latter consist of information about the change of use of the building and further information gathered through survey. At this point it has to be made clear that although the client decides the use of the building, this does not mean that he/she also provides the necessary information for this change. A different use may require changes in the geometry of the building, in the structural project, or other information that will be added in the Primary Data pool.

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Fig. 22. The Documentation Enhancement Domain

The applicant carries out a survey and gathers information on site or by research in documents or other sources. It is important to observe that in effect, the applicant performs an information feedback on his/hers own findings. He/she collects the information that will be added to the information pool, and from which later he/she will evaluate and obtain the Data Set for the preparation of his/her proposal.

Possible Starting Data Set

This domain generates the Starting Data Set for the beginning of the intervention. The objects Architectural Info and Structural Info are the outcome of the proposal made by the applicant in a certain instant of time. The latter information may change or may not by the probable corrections done by the Local Archaeological Department. So the Architectural Info and Structural Info result as Possible Starting Data Set. Another characteristic of the system is that two different authorities control the architectural and structural information.

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Fig. 23. The Starting Data Set Domain

However, the sub project files, at least theoretically, cannot be generated before the final version of the architectural project, as the latter is usually the platform for the rest of the projects.

Control Bodies
In this domain, the authorities play control and evaluation roles with the correspondent information objects. Firstly (see figure 24) the LAD evaluates the proposal that contains architectural and structural information. If the proposal merits approval then the LAD issues the consent. Otherwise, it issues corrections and the applicant restructures the proposal. The issued consent is a requirement for the LPA in order to examine the completeness of the Project Folder concerning the rest of the projects. Moreover the LAP controls the structural analysis made by the first set of Starting Data Set and finally issues the Planning Permission.

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Fig. 24. The Control Bodies Domain

Through the exploration of the above domains and also in relation to the findings of the conducted interviews, some issues concerning the structure of the whole Universe of Discourse have arisen concerning the Greek pre-application stage. 1. The connection of the archival system within the whole procedure seems to be loose. Although in the OR model the Archive seems to input the Primary Data pool, in effect its contribution is poor. In the case study, for example, there was no information in the archive of the LAD concerning the building under discussion. The applicant structured the architectural documentation of the building through extended survey, in order to perceive the as exist state of the building case. 2. The Domain of the information enhancement is limited, and in a way its quality is doubtful, as it may prove subjective since, mainly, it is based on the information input by the applicant. 3. The LAD does not take part in the evaluation of the new data and the Survey Information at a primary stage, but only indirectly through the proposal. For

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example, as it is mentioned in chapter two, in the building case of Patras, frescos was found on the roof of the basement covered by later plastering. This information was unregistered and therefore difficult to be controlled or evaluated by the LAD. The poor content of the archives in combination with the fact that survey usually is accomplished by the applicant renders the latter, the main decision making actor in structuring the proposal. 4. The upgrading of the Data Set of a previous conservation cycle is based on the proposal information since only this set of information is obligatory to be stored in the LADs archive. However, this point raises questions on the quality of the existing information pool because in every future intervention the new applicant will have only the previous proposal in disposal, with out any previous survey information to compare. It is clear that the probability to lose information as in the example mentioned above is high. 5. There is not an open gate point that could allow the system to get information by expert advisory bodies. The UoD appears isolated from external sources (for example the Greek Association for the protection of the Environment and the Cultural Heritage or the Foundation of the Hellenic World).
o:

4.6.

Summary

In the previous sections the procedural system of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission in Greece has been presented. Two models have been developed for its presentation with two different techniques. The IDEF technique presented the system in terms of activities through a natural sequence. From that activity-model the reader has been familiarised with the procedures and identified the players, the core activities, the input, and the output of the activities. Another model has been developed using the ORM technique, in order to further and clearly represent the information flows in the Greek pre-application stage. Domains of interest have been identified and an attempt to explore the weak points of the system has been made. Due to the fact that the OR model has been based on empirical data derived from interviews, it

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can be considered as the Greek Actual model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent. From the developed Greek Actual OR model, conclusions that may be the subject of further study have arisen. For example, the domain of Information Enhancement seems to need improvement and the role of the Local Archaeological Department could be more active in the evaluation of new data. In addition, in the Greek procedural system, the participation of external advisory bodies is quite limited. The identification of the weak points of the Greek pre-application stage, raise the point of comparing the Greek model with another model, which will represent a time tested and well reputed pre-application stage. The English pre-application stage was hence selected in order to set a comparative analysis. Such compare will not only render more evident the weak points of the Greek model, but may also help the development of an amended model which will be a proposal for the Greek case. The next chapter presents the pre-application stage for statutory consent in England. For its representation similar modelling techniques have been used as in the Greek one. However, the development of the models has been based on literature about building conservation procedures and legislation in England, giving at the Universe of Discourse a theoretical bias.

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Chapter 5: Information model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent in England; - policy and procedures.
This chapter discusses the procedures which take place during the pre-application stage in England. The second section discusses the involved bodies in the system in order to identify the involved players which may be physical or/and institutional. The third section presents the Data Partners and their informative input in the system. In the fourth section just as for the Greek pre-application stage - is the description of the system in terms of activities and in the fifth section the theoretical information model of the system. The latter model shows the information flow between the key players of the system and their roles in it.

5.1.

Introduction

Discussion in Chapter 3 explained the advantages of Information Modelling in enhancing the quality of intervention proposals on a listed building. It has also been shown in chapter 3 that, in distinction from other categories of IT applications, Information Modelling may be applied to visualise the information flow in the whole pre-application stage. Information Modelling can also act as a conjunction tool between the various IT applications already applied in the system. The above points emphasise the supervisory role of this particular approach as it may describe in a global way the system under discussion (or Universe of

Discourse).
Following the systematic analysis of the Greek case in chapter 4, this chapter analyses the English pre-application system for statutory consent. The information analysis came up through literature exploration regarding legislation, policies, and procedures about building conservation and, in particular in its early pre-application stage. Because of the literature provenience of information analysis in this case, a theoretical information model is developed. The term Theoretical is necessary as it denotes that differences may occur in comparison to an information model which represents the actual daily practice in the pre-application stage. For the development of the theoretical model, the concept of the Repetitive Conservation Cycles was adopted as described in the third chapter. This concept applies in every legislation frame which in a systematic way protects the Built Heritage. In consequence, it also applies

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in the English system. According to this concept, during the life cycle of a listed building and when this is subject of conservation procedures, then a series of repetitive tasks is taking place. This series comprises the task of Evaluation (see figure 13 in chapter 4) of the information related on the listed building under discussion. This information may exist in data repositories or through the evaluation it may occur that more or different information is required. The outcome of this task is the New Starting Data Set (mark C in figure 13) which will document the building and its proposed intervention. After the Evaluation task follows the task of intervention which accomplishes the proposal. Afterwards follows the task of recording the intervention procedures and the building information - as this has been settled after the intervention. The last task of a cycle is the task of archiving the information gathered from the recording task. The same information modelling techniques, described in the Greek case, have been used to explore and represent the pre-application stage in the English Conservation system. These are the IDEF (Integration Definition Function Modelling) and the ORM (Object Role Modelling) techniques. The former has been used for the development of an activity model in order to familiarise the reader with the pre-application stage in terms of activities. The latter technique has been used for the development of the theoretical information model which represents the information classes of the system and the way they interact. The following section identifies the physical and/or institutional bodies which are involved in the system. These bodies are presented as classes of information which generate, control, elaborate, and manage the building information.

5.2.

Bodies involved in the procedural system

Investigation of the relevant literature, for the identification of the involved bodies in the repetitive conservation tasks, revealed several similarities/differences between the Greek and the English system. The main similarity is that in both cases two different permissions are essential for the beginning of the intervention and the start of the works on site. The first is the Listed Building Consent which deals with the historical values of the building and in general reflects the conservation policy adopted by the system. The second is the planning

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permission, which is necessary for every constructive action, extension or alteration of an existing building, whether it is listed or not. The difference at this point is that in England the Listed Building Consent and the Planning Permission are provided by the same public service, which is the Local Planning Authority (Mynors, 1999). In England, the role of the L.P.A is firstly to advise the applicants about the requirements of the proposal in terms of information and secondly to evaluate the submitted proposal. Local Planning Authority is the key actor in the conservation area designation and is responsible for the control over listed buildings and demolition in conservation areas (Walker, 1995). An early collaboration between the applicant and the LPA gives the former the possibility to gain a deeper understanding of the character and the importance of the building. This increases the quality of the proposal in terms of collected information and also increases the probability for granting permission in order to proceed to the intervention. It is clear that the applicant has to carry out a research through various sources in order to gather the necessary information for the preparation of the proposal. The first and most important resource about an historic building is the Sites and Monuments Records which is usually held by the Local Planning Authorities. These records are at a critical stage of development with opportunities provided by the Geographical Information Systems. The latter ICT tool is of use to link databases with map-based information, and for relating different types of data sets (Baker, 1997). The Sites and Monuments Records are the first point of reference at the local level. Sites and Monuments Records usually provide sufficient information, because they are normally are supplied with information by the local players (i.e. applicants) of the building conservation industry. On the National level, there are archival bodies that are able to provide information of certain level of details for example the National Building Records that mainly keeps photographs and other unpublished material, the RIBA libraries in London, or the Royal Commission of Historical Monuments. Although there are a great number of other archival contributors for this information pool, their use is not compulsory and depends mainly on the complexity of the project. The study considers the SMR as the main archival tool as their incorporation in

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the LPAs makes their use by the applicant almost certain. However, in the following section where the information pool will be examined, further reference will be made to the several bodies with significant informative input. It is worth remarking on the special role that the client of the building has. He/she entrusts the applicant with the whole procedure and often has his/her own contribution to the information system. In fact, sometimes the client is the source of unpublished information as he/she is closely connected with the past of the building. Moreover, the important decision for the future use of the building is upon him/her. Usually this decision has significant influences on the outcome of the proposal and the type of the intervention on the building. From the presentation of the above bodies (players) in the procedural system, and especially from the fact that several of them could contribute to the collection of information, it is concluded that multiple information resources could be available. Initially such consideration may seem to benefit the applicant who has to gather the required information. However, sometimes this has provoked difficulties in data exploration or data exchange. Moreover, the recording task could succumb to practical obstacles or may cause time consumption. The next paragraph deals with the various Data Partners - a term used by Brown (1999) - of the Sites and Monuments Records and their contribution to the information pool.

5.3. Data Partners and their input in the information pool of Primary Data.
As has been discussed in the previous section, although the Sites and Monuments Records are the first point of reference of building information, several other data inputs may occur from other archival bodies. For this reason, and in order to present and highlight the significant role of this additional information input, the study considers the information pool of these primary data, as a wider domain and not only the SMRs (see figure 25). This is important in terms of information flow as the archiving task becomes wider and the collection of the New Starting Data Set may become more complicated, as explained in chapter 4. According the data sets structured by the author for the development of the model, any information gathered by the applicant from a different archival body, is not New Data for the

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current conservation cycle but information already stored in a previous recording task (Data from Previous Cycle). This distinction of different types of data sets aims to put all the primary data in a common domain which the applicant has at his disposal, and in a different one the supplemental data that may be required for the proposal. This common domain is the information pool of Primary Data. Although special importance has been given to the primary data in this section, supplemental data are also of great importance. These are strictly connected with the information enhancement. This informative upgrade comes through the evaluation task which is explained in the fourth chapter.

The supplemental data may contain information about the new use of the building or changes in the existing Building or Fire regulations. Moreover, supplement data contains any further information about the building that has never been recorded previously. In order to facilitate a probable future implementation attempt of the developed model, supplemental data is also an entry point in the system for any extra information related to the conservation project. The identification of the required supplemental data is a common responsibility of the LPA (especially of the conservation officer charged with the case) and the applicant who, in combination with the information about the use of the building, prepares the proposal. The following figure shows the information pool of primary Data and its contributors.

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Local Archaeological Excavation Units

RCHME

Natioal Building Records

ARCHITECTS

Local Librareis

ARCHAEOLOGISTS

SMR
CONTRACTORS

PRIMARY DATA INFORMATION POOL

Architects Private Archive

Client

CENTRE FOR ARCHAEOLOGY

Survey

SPECIALIST RECORDERS

Other Heritage Records Local Goverment Offices

RIBA Library

Fig.25 Direct and indirect input in the information pool of Primary Data from various players
The bodies shown on the left in figure 25 are the main information contributors at the local level except for the Royal Commission of Historical Monuments, which acts at a national level. This information passes through the SMR at the pool of the Primary Data. On the right of the figure the information contributors from which the applicant may seek information are presented. The applicants survey (if there is a need for it) is included in this list as it is a direct input to the Primary Data. Moreover, there are other Heritage Records from which the applicant may get information (in figure 25 it is the tab labelled Other Heritage Records). A typical list of such records follows (Brown, 1999):

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Airfield Research Group Archive

Jewish Built Heritage Architectural Survey

Anglo-Saxon Site Gazetteer Project Archaeological Investigations Project ASPROM Corpus of Roman Mosaics Church Heritage Records Database of Ironworking sites in Britain

Local Heritage Initiative Medieval Tiles Census National Inventory of War Memorials National Survey of Village Lock-ups Parks and Gardens Records and Central Directory

Database

of

non-ferrous

PMSA National Recording Project

metalworking sites in Britain Defence of Britain Project Images of England Project RAI Corpus of church plans Tiles and Architectural Ceramics

Society Gazetteer Index Record on Industrial Sites Watermill Gazetteer for England

This section presented the possible information resources from which the applicant may gather information. The terms of Primary and Supplemental data have also been defined. The perception of these terms is necessary for the understanding of the information model described later, as well as for the identification of the domains where the information enhancement takes place. The following section will present the procedural system of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission in England. In relation with the terms and the arguments discussed up to this section, the next section will analyse the procedural system from the task of Archiving (point A in fig. 13 of chapter 4) up to the moment that the LPA approves the proposal, which contains the Starting Dataset (point C in fig. 13 of chapter4).

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5.4.

English procedural system an IDEF activity model

This section describes the argument of interest, or in terms of information modelling, the Universe of Discourse. In this, there are all the players of the system discussed in the

previous sections and each one is arranged in its natural place in the system. The developed model aims to familiarise the reader with these procedures and the way the players are related to each other. As mentioned previously, in the introduction of this chapter, the IDEF technique has been used to represent the activities which take place in the pre-application stage in England. The characteristics and the semantics of the technique have been explained in detail in chapter 4. The following figure will remind the reader of the basics for the interpretation of the IDEF models.
(Constraints on an activity, e.g., procedures, budgets, etc.)

Controls

Inputs
(what is required before an activity can occur

Function or Activity (Verb Phase)

Outputs

(What is produced by an activity, e.g., reports, products, etc.)

Mechanisms
(what enables an activity, e.g., equipment, personnel assignments, etc.)

Fig. 26 Basic semantics of an IDEF activity box.

5.4.1. The activity model

The first context model shows the activity of the collection of the required information and how this is a part of the main data input of the second activity concerning the application for statutory consents.

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LPA SITES AND MONUMENTS RECORDS CREATION OF THE INFORMATION POOL OTHER DATA PARTNERS 1

INFORMATION REQUIRED

B.R. & F.R.

E.H. & SofS

APPLICANT

APPLICATION FOR STATUTORY CONSENT 2 A2

PERMISSION ISSUE

APPLICANT

LPA

NODE:

A0

TITLE:

The Information pool as data input of the procedures

NO.:

Fig. 27 the context model

The activity of the creation of the information pool. As described in section 3, the basic informative contribution in this activity comes from the Sites and Monuments Records as well as from other data sources at national or local level. The applicant starts the activity which is controlled by the requirements settled by the Local Planning Authority. The outcome is the information required for the preparation of the proposals.

The activity of application for statutory consent. The input to this activity is the required information. It is important to note that at this point the model is in its abstract shape and other factors like budget or client entrusting are not shown. This study examines the system mainly from the viewpoint of the information analysis. The main players that enable the activity are the applicant and the Local Planning Authority. This activity runs under the constraints of Building and Fire Regulations, and the conservation policies adopted by such bodies as the Secretary of State and English Heritage. The content of the second activity is quite expanded and for this reason the following child

diagram has been developed.

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B.R & F.R.

PPG 15.B3 PPG 15.3.4 ACT 1990.10.2 CIRC 14/97

OWNER ENTRUSTING INFO REQUIRED CORRECTIONS

PREPARING PROPOSALS FOR LISTED BUILDING CONSENT AND PLANNING PERMISSION 1

APPLICATION

APPLICANT
EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS

DECISION

APPROVAL

2 A12 CORRECTIONS

LPA

PPG 15.3.24

LPA

WORKS ON LISTED BUILDINGS

B.R & F.R.

PPG 15.B3 PPG 15.3.4 ACT 1990.10.2 CIRC 14/97

APPLICANT

CONTRACTOR

EVALUATION OF APPLICANT APPLICATION FORCONTRACTOR L.B.C.

APPLICATION

APPROVAL

EVALUATION OF APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION

LPA

NODE:

A1

TITLE:

ACTIVITIES FOR STATUTORY CONSENT ISSUE IN CASE OF INTERVENTIONS ON LISTED BUILDINGS

NO.:

Fig. 28. Activities for statutory consent issue in case of Listed Buildings

Activity 1. Preparing the proposals for Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission The basic input for this activity is the clients entrustment on the applicant and the required information. The activity follows the rules and constraints of the Building and Fire regulations, and the policies and guidelines of the Act of 1990 concerning Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. The activity is ruled by a set of notes about Planning Policy Guidance settled by the Secretary of State. The outcomes of this activity are the Applications for both the statutory consents, and generally for all the other required documents of every nature that have to be evaluated by the Local Planning Authority.

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Activity 2. Evaluation of applications for Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission In this activity the evaluation of the applications submitted by the applicant takes place. Although this activity is shown as a unique activity in the IDEF model, in reality there are two activities running in parallel. The two activities are shown in the inset sub-diagram within the model. The submission of both applications could take place at the same time and the development of the evaluation usually proceeds also in a parallel way. The IDEF technique visualises the activities only in a linear sequence. Thus, the representation of these parallel activities would not be feasible if a modification such as the one shown in the inset did not take place. The Local Planning Authority is responsible for this activity as a whole (both the subactivities are included). In this stage, regarding the Listed Building Consent, the officers of the LPA compose an independent judgment about the application (Mynors, 1999). This judgment is based upon their own findings and requirements concerning the building information, and the proposed methods and techniques of intervention. For this judgment, and in relation to the complexity of the case, LPA may obtain advice from specialists or other advisory bodies in building conservation (for example English Heritage).

The LPA also evaluates the completeness of the application and, if this is in accordance with the Building and Fire Regulations or other constraints, then grants Planning Permission. The outcome may be the approval of the applications or a set of corrections for them. However, it is considered that the corrections are related to the quality of the project, performed by the applicant, and not to the lack of information since the information requirements were already known. These corrections consist of an alternative input of the previous activity and the flow of the procedure as shown in the model retrogresses by one step. After the issue of the Listed Building Consent and the Planning Permission, the start of the works may take place. In this stage, the essential and final outcomes of all the previous stages take place through the proper implementation. It has been emphasised in chapters 1

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and 2 the importance of the pre-application stage as it includes all the tasks for the documentation of the proposals of interventions on historic buildings. It is clear that the more detailed and objective the documentation is, the more chances there are for a qualitative intervention result on the building. As has been mentioned in the previous chapter, the study examines the information flow of the pre-application stage under the perspective of information enhancement. For this reason, a model has been developed in order to show the information that flows through the Universe of Discourse. In fact, the model presented above has given to the reader an image of the argument of interest in its conceptual level. The next section presents an information model in an attempt to identify and classify the required information.

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5.5. The ORM model of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and Planning permission in England
The Object Role Modelling technique has been used for the development of the information model. As mentioned in chapter 4, the ORM technique is a method for modelling and querying an information system at the conceptual level. The semantics of the ORM is simple and based on the fact that objects are playing roles within the Universe of Discourse. In this way an object or a class may interact with other classes, in such a way as is commanded by the role between the classes (see figure 20 in chapter 4).

5.5.1. The information classes

Classes of information have been extracted from a total of informative elements involved in the system for the development of the model. Considering that the analysis takes place under the viewpoint of the information enhancement, the following chosen classes represent mainly this aspect. The system has been divided into subsystems in accordance with the specific characteristics of the classes contained and the running operations. In table 1, these subsystems (domains) as well as the corresponding classes are presented.

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Documentation

Archives

SUB-SYSTEMS Application Appraisal Factors and Certification

Physical and Institutional Bodies

Project

HYPERCLASSES

Document

Use Document Set Supplemental Document Set CLASSES Primary As Exist Document Set Survey Document Set Enhanced As Exist Document Set As Proposed Document Set

Archival Source Sites and Monuments Records

Use

Application

Client Local Planning Authority Applicant Advisory Body

Building Project Building Element

Certification

CLASSES CREATED FROM OBJECTIFICATION Evaluation Information enhancement

Table. 1. The Sub-System and the content Object Classes

Apparently, the Archival Source could be considered as the Hyper-class of the sub-domain because it is a more generic concept that may include the Sites and Monuments Records. However, the SMR is considered as the statutory local archive body (Clark, 2001; ICOMOS_UK, 1990) and although the informative input by other Archival Sources is part of the usual practice, this is not mandatory. Concerning the two objectified classes, it should be clarified that in the ORM technique a role could be considered as an object when it describes a significant process of the system. The objectified role allows other classes to play new roles with them. The next paragraph presents the ORM model.

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5.5.2.

The Theoretical Information model

Fig. 29 The Theoretical information model

The following paragraphs present the sub-systems in a more detailed analysis.

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5.5.3. The Documentation sub-system

"AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET "USE" DOCUMENT SET ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENT SET SURVEY DOCUMENT SET PRIMARY "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

Buiding Element ...... REFERENCES

DOCUMENT

CONSISTS OF..

Buiding Conservation Project

Text

Digital Text

Drawing - Vector

Drawing - Raster

Image

Digital Image

Orthoph otograp h

3D Image

3D Model

Structu -ral Analysis

other

Figure 30. The Documentation Sub-system

This is the core domain of the model as it provides the various data sets about each element of the building which is under conservation procedure. Although there is not a particular entry point in this type of model, the class of Building Conservation Project could be considered as the starting point of the model. This is the entry point of reference when dealing with information related to a listed building. It is clear that a project consists of a number of elements, which in the case of the building is the minimum structural, aesthetical, or other object under conservation. From this perspective, it is more feasible to focus on the minimum element which is the subject of information investigation. For this reason the class Building Element has been considered. This class could be, for example, a window frame or a structural beam and its identity could be a reference number and a description. Further information about this element is in the class Document. The hyper class (general class) Document could describe the building element in various ways. These are shown in figure 32 and they comprise the possible nature of the document. Every element has a document reference.

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Every document may be part of six different document classes in relation to the nature and the origin of the document subset. The Primary As Exist Document Set represents the information of the element, which is already stored in some archival source. The term Primary As Exist aims to point out that this data set concerns the state of the building element as recorded and stored in a previous conservation cycle or generally in a previous instant of time. This class is a set that may contain one or more documents with the characteristics of the Document class and it is structured by the applicant. The Survey Document Set aims to cover the gap between the old data set (Primary As

Exist...) and the current state of the element. This class contains the findings of the
applicant during the act of survey. The type of survey is out of interest of this research but this data set is very important as it is about the update of the As Exist data. Usually the applicant and the conservation officer discuss the additional information required at an early stage of the procedure. Besides, the issue of Briefs, which contain the required information, is one of the responsibilities of the Local Planning Authority towards the applicants. The class Enhanced As Exist Document Set could be considered as the actual document set, which describes the building element at its current state. The class is extracted by the process of the information enhancement, which is described in the following paragraphs. The class Use Document Set is the group of data which affects the current state of the element and may cause changes to it. It is clear that not all the elements are influenced by a possible change of use but the model depicts the general aspect for all the possible values of the classes. In accordance with this attempt to provide a general aspect of the model as much as possible, the class of the Supplemental Document Set has been considered to include possible changes in every form of regulation or other constraint that may cause changes in the current As exist document set. The class As proposed Document Set is the subset of documents containing the proposed state of the building element, described with information about intervention

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technique, calculations or other. This is also a subset of the application prepared by the applicant. It is worth noting that the final form of the data included and submitted with the application should conform with the format specified by the Local Planning Authority.

5.5.4.

The Information Enhancement sub-system

LO CA L P L A N NIN G A U TH O R ITY

A P P L ICA N T

CO NT RO LS

S T RU C TU RE S

SURVEY D O CU M E NT S E T V A R IO U S R E L A TIO N S H IP S

P R IM A RY "A S E X IS T" D O C UM E N TA T IO N S E T

"IN FO R M A TIO N E N H A N C E M E N T"

...... E X TR A C TS

E N H A NC E D "A S E X IS T" DO C U M E NT S E T

Figure 31. The Information Enhancement sub-system

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the primary as exist document set, is the information pool of data gathered by the applicant from sources of archival nature. Such sources are the Sites and Monuments Records and various archival bodies, whose relation with the system is presented in the following sections. The interaction of the primary data with the data gathered by the act of survey and further investigation extracts the enhanced As exist data. This is supposed to be the valid current document set, upgraded and updated under the control of the Local Planning Authority. In terms of information modelling, the role between the primary and the current data set has been objectified as there is a direct relationship of the role (now object) with other objects, for example the LPA object.

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The selection of the criteria with which the transaction from the primary data set to the new enhanced data set takes place is of great importance. The LPA controls and advises the applicant about the required information that he/she should gather. However smooth collaboration between the applicant and the conservation officer is of determinative importance, as well as the quality of their professional judgment. Although there are advisory bodies that could be contacted, the margin between the objective and the subjective decision is rather blurred about which information is required in order to preserve or to present the special character of a building. The study does not examine the philosophical aspects of the argument and considers the relationship between the conservation factors ideal. In other words the quality of service is considered satisfactory. On the contrary it is interesting to explore the quality of the data in the various information pools as they emerge from the study. The various relationships that are shown in the objectified role of information enhancement are a set of internal processes running in the ideal frame described above. Such processes include: evaluation, substitution, exclusion, and elimination. Considering these processes ideally performed, the research burden goes to the linking-relation between the classes and the quality of the context of the class Primary As Exist Document Set. The next paragraph presents the main sources of the Primary As exist Document Set. Also, a data cycle which contains the Primary As Exist Document Set, Enhanced As Exist Document Set, and Sites and Monuments Records information pool is identified.

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5.5.5. The sub-system of the Archives the role of Sites and Monuments Records
Data Partners WEB Archives

Local Archives

National Archives

Private Archives

ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET ......./UPDATES ARCHITECT

Sites and Monuments Records

ARCHIVAL SOURCE

CONTRIBUTES STRUCTURES EXTRACTS

CONTRIBUTES

SURVEY DOCUMENT SET VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

PRIMARY "AS EXIST" DOCUMENTATION SET

"INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT"

CONTROLS

LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY

Fig. 32. The Archive sub-system in relation with the information enhancement

In the previous paragraph the information enhancement sub-system and its classes were presented. This paragraph presents the field of the Archives and its connection with the information enhancement. The class Sites and Monuments Records represents the pool where a previous version of the building element may be stored. The nature of information this class represents may be documents originated from the classes As Proposed and Enhanced As Exist, labelled with the identity of the Sites and Monuments Records in which they belong. Furthermore, more information about the documents for example the insertion date at the SMR - would be helpful for better sorting of and access to the information.

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It is important to emphasise that the class Enhanced As Exist returns the information in the SMR. There is a cycled data-flow between the classes: Primary As Exist > Information Enhancement > Enhanced As Exist > Sites and Monuments Records, and this is evident in figure 32. It is very helpful for the continuous update of the data contained in the class SMR that the enhanced information returns to it. The more consistent the cycle is the more possible it is to have a Primary As Exist info-pool with updated valid information. Of course, with the passing of time various changes will be caused by natural decay or other reasons. In this case, the Survey Document Set will cover the informative gap up to date. At this point various questions emerge about the informative context of the SMRs. Through exploration in specific literature several interesting issues concerning the organizational structure, the data evaluation, and the informative context of the SMRs have arisen. The cycle described above is not the only data entry source of the SMRs. As an archival body (under the auspices of the English Heritage or other authority), the SMR also has the responsibility to gather, evaluate, store, and manage information about built heritage. The use of IT has brought important changes in the way the SMR service is run. 75 per cent of the Sites and Monuments Records services, make use for example of GIS applications for the management and interrelation of the stored information (Fernie, 2000). Nevertheless, the incompatibility of the software systems used by the SMRs, created data sets with different structures and difficulties in data exchange. However, the need for co-operation between the SMRs has been perceived, and the development of a national network is under discussion. In addition, the adoption of exclusive GIS software for the needs of the SMRs leads towards the homogenisation of the SMRs. Such a solution would require a unique data-base model to ensure information compatibility and consistency in the SMRs. The Object Role model developed in this study can be used as a data-base model, at the conceptual stage, and could be the basis for an implementation version of it. A standard perception of the required information about a monument and the common shared terminology about the heritage is also important as well. To these points, the MIDAS data content standard (English Heritage, 1999) and the INSCRIPTION wordlists (F.I.S.H., 2002) may prove helpful.

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With regard to the data structure of the databases maintained by the SMRs, it is necessary to make reference to the Event Monument Archive (EMA) model. It was introduced in 1996 and it is the current database model in most SMRs (Bourn, 1999). The central theory behind this model is that the data structure is based on the creation of a flexible and robust system, capable of recording the archaeological process. This covers the processes from the initial survey and recording to the interpretation and data extraction through a wide variety of activities and sources, of different quality and reliability. The EMA model considers that data without an initial event that caused the extraction of the information could not exist. For example, the initial survey is the event and the collected data is the information. The model highlights that the reference of the event makes the data more reliable. The interpretation of the collected data classifies the monument. In fact the internal procedure of the model is the cycle Event Data extraction Interpretation (which affects the monument) Archive. An interesting point is that with the EMA model, the Information Enhancement comes through the re-interpretation of new data that come from new events. This confirms the model of the sub-system captured and presented in figure 32. Furthermore, the application of such a model could increase the possibility of more qualitative data in the Primary As Exist Document Set. The EMA model seems to be helpful for data evaluation and in combination with the development of the Digital Archives (Brown, 2000) developed by the Centre for

Archaeology (a section of English Heritage), it may improve data consistency in the SMRs.
Despite the decisive steps of improvement described above, there is still a need for more specification on the informative context of the SMRs. Three years after the introduction of the EMA model and with the MIDAS standard in voluntary use, Robinson (1999) highlights the weakness of the SMRs in providing access to National inventories. Moreover the author claims that there is a structural, qualitative and quantitative inconsistency to the services provided by the SMRs. Robinsons statement about the weaknesses mentioned above is characteristic: Researchers wishing to make use of the impressive reservoir of SMR information are confronted with a wide range of systems, standards and levels of interpretation. This statement has been supported recently by Lee (2002). Lee recognised the need for standard data content in the SMRs and proposes a Basic content standard. Of course this is

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still under discussion and the only issue which could have arisen from this exploration is that there is not a standard data content for the SMRs, neither about the type of data nor a specific form of it, nor even their level of accuracy. Apart from the SMRs, other archival sources that contribute to the class of Primary As Exist Document set are represented by the class Archival Source (see fig. 32). The information behind this class could come, for example, from the Private Archive of an architect who had been involved in the past in the same project. The National Building Records or the Local Library could also be another source. As for the Data Partners mentioned in section 3, these could be of National or Local level. The WEB sources due to the World Wide accessibility are considered to be of National level.

5.5.6.

The Evaluation sub - system

ARCHITECT
...... PERFORMS

Updates SMR

ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET ...... EXTRACTS

INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT

"AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET EXTRACTS.../... .

VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

"EVALUATION"
"USE" DOCUMENT SET SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENT SET

PRODUCES

CLIENT CONTROLS.../...

USE

Residenti al

Educatio nal

Transport

Goverme ntal

Industrial

Other

Figure 33. The Evaluation sub-system

This sub-system also consists of the objectification of two roles played between the three document-sets described in previous sections. The correlation of the Enhanced As Exist Document Set with the new data represented by the Use Document Set and the Supplemental Document Set extracts the As proposed Document Set. The

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evaluation is included in the objectified class and it is mainly dependent on the professional capabilities of the applicant. Figure 33 also shows some of the values that the class Use may take. The class Use causes the Use Document Set. The difference between these classes is that although the Use takes values as, for example, Commercial the Use Document Set includes data related with the changes caused by the value Commercial in terms, for example, of geometry or Fire regulations etc. The class Client controls the Use.

5.5.7.

The Appraisal and Certification sub-system

CERTIFICATION Application for LBC Application for Plan. Permission ISSUES

"AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET ...... CONTAINS

APPLICATION ...... EVALUATES

LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY

EXTRACTS

PREPARES

EVALUATION ...... PERFORMS

APPLICANT

Figure 34. Appraisal and Certification sub-system

As shown in the previous section the evaluation process extracts the class of the As Proposed Document. The class Applicant contains data about the identity of the applicant. The Applicant prepares the Application. The class application could represent the identity of the application project folder. The Application might be for Listed Building Consent or for Planning Permission. The class LPA represents the identity of the local planning authority charged with the evaluation of the application. Finally the LPA issues the certification, which is represented by the class Certification. This represents data about the identity number of the consent released.

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In the above sections, the sub-systems of the ORM model have been presented. Their description has mainly been based on the explanation of the classes and only few references have been made in order to associate attributes with the classes. Further association could be made in the Design stage or Implementation.

5.6.

Summary - conclusion

This chapter aimed to explore the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission in England as this emerges through the related literature. Through this exploration, the domains where the information enhancement is taking place have been identified. It is considered that this particular stage may be very helpful for the improvement of the intervention proposals on Listed Buildings. Information modelling techniques have been used for the identification of such domains. The use of such techniques was of great importance as they have proved very useful for visualisation of the pre-application system in terms of informative components and their interaction. The adopted method for the development of the models was the examination of the information flow between the players of the system. Firstly, an activity model has been developed to make the reader familiar with the pre-application stage. Through this the reader obtains information about the basic physical or institutional bodies involved in the system. Moreover, constraints and control keys have been identified over the core activities. A second model has been developed for the identification of the characteristics, the flow of the exchanged information, and the domains in which the information about historic buildings could be enhanced. For this second model a different modelling technique has been used in order to describe the pre-application stage in terms of information. A classification of the most representative information objects that flow in the system has been carried out and 20 different object classes have been identified. It is worth noting that some of them are document sets, which means they are a group of structured information. The structure of this information, included in the document sets, may be a subject of further analysis in the design or the implementation stage. However, there is related literature about the specific structure

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and presentation of this information for some of the document sets in the British framework (Baker, 1997). Through the information model the domain of the information enhancement has been identified. This is the relationship between the archives and document sets such as the Primary As Exist and the Survey Document set. The important role of the Sites and Monuments Records information pool has been emphasised, as this is the main reference point for the applicant. The feedback of the SMRs by the Enhanced Document Set has also been identified as being of great importance. However weak points have been discovered in the service provided by the SMRs. These are mainly related to the inconsistency caused by the different Data content and Data structure stored in the SMRs. Steps towards standard data content and data format should be taken in order to optimise and make the information widely accessible and readable. The utilisation of the WEB is a great contribution to data exchange as it could transform the Primary Data Information Pool (see fig. 25, in section 5.3) in a national level data bank accessible from everywhere. Still, the importance of common data content and data format is emerging especially in the WEB extensions of the SMRs in order to be reliable and of standard quality. It has also been found that evaluation of information takes place when the enhanced information needs to meet the requirements of a possible new use or changes in the technical/design regulations. In this case the As Proposed Document Set is produced through the Data Evaluation. The key factor for the As proposed Document Set is the professional judgement of the applicant, under the control of the Local Planning Authority. Following the development of the theoretical model, further research can be made to develop a concrete model of the pre-application, which would include proposals about the content of the classes in terms of attributes. These could be examined in relation to the already existing (or under development) standards as the MIDAS or the SMR Basic data content.

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Chapter 6: Development of an actual Object Role Model; an English case study - Analysis of empirical data
6.1. Introduction

In the previous chapter the domain of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent or/and Planning Permission has been presented. The domain has been explored from the viewpoint of the information analyst. An information model has been developed and relations and roles have been established between the principle information categories (information classes) of the system. The Object Role Modelling technique, which uses a structure similar to the natural language, has been used for the development of the model. In the previous chapter it has also been shown that this approach views the system in terms of objects which play roles. In other words, the system in its conceptual stage is described by elementary facts. An elementary fact is defined as an assertion that an object plays a particular role (Halpin, 1993). This type of structure makes the capture of the system easy and secure as the semantic of the technique is not far from the real facts that the system describes (Halpin, 1998a). The latter characteristic reduces the danger of loss of information, operations, or behaviour of the factors of the system. However, despite its simplicity, this technique requires the accurate and proper choice of Classes of Objects and Roles (terms explained in previous chapter), in order to reflect the real system. The developed model has been derived through the proper exploration of the corresponding legislation in England. This legislation includes Planning Policy Guidelines 15, the Town and Planning Act of 1990 about Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas, but even policies and procedures that are taking place between the involved players in local or National level. The question that arises with the development of this theoretical representation is whether the model reflects the actual facts that run the system of the pre-application stage for Listed Building Consent and/or Planning Permission. To answer this question, it would be helpful to focus on the different components of the model rather than the general view of the whole system. So the question could be whether each elementary fact (relationship between two classes of information) of the theoretical model corresponds to a fact of the actual

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system. It would also be of great interest to explore possible facts that might be missing from the theoretical model. It would be interesting to identify, vice-versa, possible facts that, although present in the theoretical model, are absent from the actual system. From the previous paragraphs what comes into sight is the need to test the theoretical model in order to determine how accurate the model is and how close it is to the real system. For testing purposes, a case study has been selected and data have been collected. From the analysis of the data, issues about the validity of the theoretical model have arisen. The case study has been chosen from the field of the listed buildings and the data under discussion have been collected from its documentation. The following section presents the selection criteria of the case study. The chapter then proceeds to present the case study, the data selection, and the analysis of the data. An effort has been made to analyse the collected data in terms of quality and quantity. From the overall evaluation of the findings, the theoretical model could be if necessary - modified in order to describe more accurately the actual system of the pre-application stage.

6.2.

Selection Criteria

For the definition of the criteria for the selection of the case study, it is useful to consider the boundaries of the system under discussion from the first fact of the stage up to the last one. It is clear from the previous chapters that the domain of interest of this research is the preapplication stage for Listed Building Consent and/or Planning Permission. The first fact is the entrustment of the client to the applicant who will be responsible for carrying out all the necessary actions in order to obtain the statutory consents. The last fact is the issue of the statutory consents. These boundary facts, and what is between them, form the system under discussion which is described by the model. It is clear that the case study should be selected to test the theoretical model in every level of detail (in the frame of the conceptual stage of the model). The model should also be tested for the two statutory consents (Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission). This is important as different patterns may occur for each case of consent. The

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study of both consents will give a more realistic view as both consents are the objectives of the pre-application stage. Another significant requirement that the case study should meet is to cover as many classes of Information in the model as possible. This characteristic would give the proper level of completeness required to consider the case-study representative of the system. It is clear that the more representative the case study is, the more possible it is to validate (or not) the model. Another considerable factor is the aptness of the case study. Cases of particular importance, or vice-versa, may give results out of the average range that the system deals with. For example, a Grade I listed building of exceptional interest, may enable mechanisms that, although registered by the model, are less sensitive in cases of listed buildings of minor importance. Such mechanisms could be the Advisory Bodies or other non-typical Data Sources. It must be noted that the legislation described from the model is independent of the Grade of Listing. However, more sensibility may be expressed by the involved players in the case of Grade I. As a consequence, the above observation does not mean that the model represents the system only under certain conditions or grades of listing. However, it is important to avoid cases that may give extra load in elementary facts of the model that usually are not key factors in it. From the above paragraph questions may arise about the selection of the case study, and how this could affect the objectivity of the model. In order to overcome this uncertainty, the following assumption could be made: in the frame of the protected historical buildings, the model could be tested for consistency with a case study of Grade II as this could form the minimum incentive (stimulus) for the system. In fact, this state of significance (buildings of special interest) for the Listed Buildings could be considered as the building case which causes the minimum incentive on the system. Besides, if all of the systems components will be enabled in the case of a Grade II building, then the model could also be considered valid for buildings of Grade I. The latter happens because the importance of a Grade I case will activate most of the systems procedures.

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Another important point supports the assumption mentioned in the above paragraph. This is that the overwhelming majority of the Listed Buildings in England are of Grade II (Walker, 1995). The percentage division per Grade is: Grade I (buildings of exceptional interest), about 2% of the Listed Buildings Grade II* (particularly important buildings), about 4% of the Listed Buildings and Grade II (buildings of special interest), the remaining approximately 94% of the Listed Buildings This makes the choice of a Grade II for a case study a reasonable one, as this reflects the majority of the cases without excluding the suitability of the developed model for cases of a higher Grade. The following section presents the chosen case study and its characteristics.

6.3.

The case study

For the selection of the case study, intensive search for a suitable case has been done in the archives of the Local Planning Authority in Newcastle upon Tyne in England. The selection procedure has been carried out according to the criteria discussed in the previous section. Among the several cases of listed buildings that had been granted consents, two cases have been selected for testing the model. The first was an application for Listed Building Consent and the second one is an application for Planning Permission. There are two main reasons for the selection of two cases, instead of a single application for both consents. The first is to study the models behaviour for each consent separately, and the second to improve the reliability of the results through the increased number of documents that the two cases would provide in comparison with only one.

1st case study Eviva Restaurant; application for Listed Building Consent.
The first case is about a property part of a three storey building comprised of basement and ground floor (fig. 35 and 36). At the time of the research, the current use was a

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restaurant and the applicant had applied for Listed Building Consent in order to carry out a series of interventions.

Figure 35. The Grade II building of Eviva restaurant case.

Figure 36. The Eviva restaurant frontage

The building is situated in the centre of the city and it is listed as Grade II (Building of special interest). In this case the client, who was the tenant and owner of the restaurant, applied for Listed Building Consent in order to start a series of works. These works included internal alterations in order to improve the service provided, a new shop-front, the displacement of the entrance, and the erection of halo-illuminated fascia lettering. It is clear that the internal works should be evaluated by the Local Planning Authority in order to secure the overall character of the building. The intervention at the shop-front has been proposed for the aesthetical enhancement of the buildings faade as the existing one was the result of an alteration in the 1930s.

to replace the existing, insensitive, poor quality 1930's shopfront and surround, with a new shopfront which admits more natural light, and improves the view into/out of the restaurant. to improve the quality of the surround to the shopfront to reinstate lost original / early surround design features & to move the position of the entrance into the entrance to provide access for the less abled. To integrate the entrance no. 13 into the overall design (Quotation from the Justification of the proposal)

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This first case meets the criteria discussed in the previous section. In particular, it is a Grade II building with a variety of demanding interventions which, from the viewpoint of the information analysis, cover a wide area of the system under discussion (Universe of Discourse). It would be considered a common case in the conservation field and this makes it a representative sample. From the exploration in the documentation of this case, the researcher aims to obtain useful indications about the validity of the theoretical model in the case of Listed Building Consent. Moreover, he aims to identify possible new relations/roles between the information classes in the model.

2nd case study Murton House, application for Planning Permission

The second case is a three storey building with a fourth attic level in the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne (see figure 37). The building has been classified as a particularly

important building of Grade II*. Fig. 37 The Murton building

The application was about a change of use at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor levels. At the time of the research, the use was retail (class a1) and the client had applied for residential use (class c3) followed by internal modifications in order to improve the arrangement of the apartments.

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change of use of 2nd, 3rd, 4th and part of 1st floor from retail (class a1) to four residential apartments (class c3) comprising of seven ensuite bedrooms at first floor, 11 at second floor, nine at 3rd floor and eight at 4th floor
(Quotation from the application for Planning Permission)

For the above internal conversion, Planning Permission had to be granted. At this point it has to be noted that, as it is about a listed building, a Listed Building Consent had been granted previously and at that time was valid. This meets the relevant legislation in cases of listed buildings.

Over and above the planning permission, is the need for almost all works to a listed building to be given separate Listed Building Consent by the appropriate Local Planning Authority (1990 Act).(Mynors, 1999)

This second case is a typical paradigm of a listed building in which the motive of the interventions are not primarily the conservation of the building but the need of the building to meet new requirements. This particular motive represents a great number of cases of interventions on historical buildings. For this reason it has been considered an appropriate case study to examine the validity of the theoretical model in the case of Planning Permission. From the document exploration the expectations of the researcher are to verify (or not) elementary facts described in the theoretical model or probably to identify new relations/roles between the information classes. The next section presents the document collection of both cases and the method by which the component elements of the model have been extracted.

6.4.

Document Collection

Both cases were about applications that have been already evaluated and the consents granted. Besides, as mentioned in the section about Selection Criteria, the closing fact (the last fact) of the pre-application stage is the release of the statutory consent. The only source to extract the requested information is the documentation that encircles each case-study. In fact, the method used for this data extraction is the Document Analysis. Through this method

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it is expected to identify the component elements of the theoretical model. These are the information classes and their roles. Through the document exploration of the first case (Eviva restaurant) forty eight (48) different documents were identified. In the case of the Murton House thirty six (36) different documents were identified. Each case-study was documented with documents having the following generic structure: The sender sends document to receiver Each Document has a title Each Document provides substantial information (argument) Each Document has type Each Document has date

Document may have external references

The reference is a document

In the above list, the substantial information might be textual, drawing, image, or other kind of data according to the type of the document. It is clear from the above statements that the factors in bold type may take values. For example the sender might be the client or the applicant, while the document might be defined by an identity number and its type might be text document, drawing, or other. From this very first approach at the examination of the documents, the similarity of the internal classification of the documents with the list of the Object Classes presented in chapter 4 is clear. Furthermore, the analysis of the data contained in the documents will be carried out in order to substantiate the verification of the theoretical model and its components. For the recording and the listing of the documents a spreadsheet has been made with the structure presented previously. An extract from this spreadsheet follows:

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A UTHOR/ SENDER
AGENT

TITLE
FLOOR AND PLAN AS EXISTING. DWG: 150:03

RECEIVER
NCC

SUBSTA NTIA L INFORMA TIONCOMMENT

FIRST ISSUE 4/7/01

TYPE
DWG

DA TE
07/04/01

REFERENCE TO..

AGENT

INTERNAL FEATURES ARRANGEMENT.

CONS. OFFICER

INTERNAL FEATURES ARRANGEMENT ABOUT: SOLID FRONT DOOR, COLUMNS, AND CEILING AREAS. DOC-LET

DWG (500:02, 500:01) ELEMENTS (DOOR No13, 08/22/01 PILASTER No 9&11)

LAND USE PLANNING TEAM NORTH NOTIFICATION OF THE PLANNING, NEWCASTL APPL. TO THE GO-NE ENVIRONMENT E CITY (gov. office for the north & TRSANSPORT DIRECTORATE COUNCIL east)

APPL. NOTIFICATION, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF APPL., NOTIFICATION THAT SOME OF THE WORKS HAD BEEN STARTED. DOC-DWG

EXISTING, SUPPLEMENTARY 10/19/01 AND AMENDED PLANS

Figure. 38. A part of the spread sheet used for the recording of the documents
With the use of the spreadsheet the sorting of the documents by sender, type, or date has been easily made. Several conclusions started to appear through this synoptic exploration. For example it was possible to follow the day by day progress of events concerning the application, or to obtain some first quantitative issues about the information flow between the involved bodies. These important points will be examined in detail separately in the following sections. Information from the documents was extracted directly and indirectly: directly when the requested information - or role - had been clearly identified in the string of the document, and indirectly when the requested information - or role - had been derived through interpretation of the string. Figures 39 and 40 show two examples of direct and indirect information derivation, in parallel comparison with the corresponding elementary fact from the theoretical model:
AUTHOR
NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL PLANNING & TRANSPORTATIO N DEPARTMENT

TITLE

RECEIVER

SUB/NTIAL INFO-COMMENT
LBC APPROVAL. IT IS NOTIFIED THAT THE WORKS RELATED TO THE LBC SHOULD BE IN COMPLETE ACCORDANCE WITH THE SUBMITTED PLANS. THE STARTING DATE AND THE FINAL DATE OF THE WORKS HAVE BEEN SETTLED. ALSO, NO WORK SHOULD START UNLESS A SAMPLE OF THE MATERIALS UNDER DISCUSSION IS EXAMINED BY THE LPA.

TYPE

DATE

REFERENCE TO..

GRANT OF LBC REF. NUMB.: 2001/1149/01/LBC

CLIENT

DOCLET

11/08/0 1

ALL THE SUBMITTED DRAWINGS

LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY ISSUES

CERTIFICATION

Figure 39. Document string and the correspondent, directly derived, elementary fact of the theoretical model.
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As shown in the figure above, the elementary fact Local Planning Authority issues

Certification is verified by at least one document as its string declares: The Newcastle City Council (Department of Planning & Transportation) grants Listed Building Consent with reference number 2001/1149/01/LBC
In the following example, the information has been extracted through interpretation of the document.
AUTHOR/ SENDER SUB/NTIAL INFOCOMMENT AS PROPOSED ELEV-PLANTYP. SECTION, EXISTING ELEV, FLOOR PLANS AS PROPOSED, FLOOR PLANS AS EXIST.

TITLE

RECEIVER

TYPE

DATE

REFERENCE TO..

AGENT

DWG'S AS EXIST & AS PROPOSED

NCC-PLAN TRANSP.

&

INDEX

07/19/01

DWD (160:03, 160:04,150:06, 150:03)

From the above document string, the following elementary facts could be verified:

ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET ...... EXTRACTS

SURVEY DOCUMENT SET VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

PRIMARY "AS EXIST" DOCUMENTATION SET

"INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT"

Figure 40. The interaction of As Exist and Survey document set extracts the Enhanced as exist document set.

From the interpretation of the document it has been revealed that the agent has drawn up an As Exist document set. From the daily practice of the agent, it is known that such a document set is a result of exploration in already existing (Primary As Exist) documentation in combination with extra documentation (Survey document set) gathered by metric survey or of any other kind. From the above statement the following role has been verified:

Information Enhancement extracts Enhanced As Exist document set

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The information class that could be verified from the same document is the Enhanced As

exist class. This verification is the result of the existence of the drawings coded by the agent
as: 150:03, and 150:06. (It is clear that during the document exploration the content of the drawings has also been verified visually by the researcher). Furthermore, through the same document the following role results:

ENHANCED "AS EXIST " DOCUMENT SET

"AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET

EXT RACT S

VARIOUS RELAT IONSHIPS

VARIOUS RELAT IONSHIPS

"EVALUATION"
"USE" DOCUMENT SET SUPPLEMENT AL DOCUMENT SET

Figure 41. Verified Role - The evaluation of the various document sets extracts the As Proposed document set
Similarly, this role is verified by the fact that the As Proposed document set is mentioned in the document. In addition, from the daily practice it is known that the composition of the As

Proposed set, results from the evaluation of the As exist situation.

At this point, it has to be clarified that from the interpretation, only the role is verified and not necessarily the information classes. The information classes will mainly be tested and presented separately in the following sections. In the previous examples some issues regarding the methods used for the derivation of the information incorporated in the collected documents have arisen. However, not all of the information was of the same nature. For the better perception of the document context and the evaluation of the included information, it has been decided to classify the documents according to the substantial information that each one contained. The following section presents the classification of the documents in various types.

6.5.

Document Typology

As mentioned in the previous section, not all of the derived information was of the same nature. However, before further analysing the classification of the documents, it would be helpful to define what is considered substantial information for this study.

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Because of the informative approach of the theoretical model developed in chapter 5, every instance of information (value of an Information Class) that could contribute to the verification of the model components could be considered substantial information. In other words, any object instance (Halpin, 1998b) that could be assigned to any information class of the model is considered as substantial. Through the document exploration, it has been observed that the information that had been derived, directly or indirectly, was about: Simple communication between the players (information not relevant to any information class) Information stating control and/or constraints Pure information related with the case of the building under discussion. without substantial information

From this data-driven classification, it is clear that the documents that were about simple communication between the players without any substantial information could be excluded from further evaluation. Conversely, the two other groups of documents provided important conclusions. In particular, for each of the two cases, the followings groups of documents have been accumulated:

Documents About Communication Case of Eviva restaurant Case of Murton House 5

Documents About Controls/constrains

Documents of Pure information 34

Total number of documents 48

Documents that have been Analysed 43

28

36

33

Table 2. Data - driven classification

It is worth noting that the term pure information stands for every instance of information which describes directly the building or the methods of intervention on it. It mainly is expressed by a combination of drawings and texts and tends to verify the information classes while the control and constrain documents tend to verify the roles between the classes. At

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this point the final selection of the documents has been completed, and the analysis of them may proceed. The following section presents the analysis of the documents in three different directions: the validity of the information classes, the validity of the roles (relations between the classes) and the quality of the information exchanged between the various players.

6.6.

Document Analysis

It has been noted in the previous section that the theoretical model will only be valid if its components can be verified. From this perspective, the analysis of the collected data has been undertaken in three different directions. 1. Validity of the information classes 2. Validity of the roles between the classes 2.1. dynamics of the roles (the frequency with which the related objects play a particular role) 3. Quality of the information exchanged between the players within the system As shown in the above list, except for the validity for the roles, an attempt has been made to identify the most prevalent of them (dynamics). This forms a qualitative analysis of the model as strong and weak relations may come into view.

6.6.1 Testing the Information Classes

As mentioned in the previous sections, the first step for testing the validity of the theoretical model is to examine whether the choice of the information classes was correct. This first test consists of the assignment of the derived information from the documents, into the information classes of the model. In practice, this assignment took the form of information references grouped in rounded boxes representing the information classes. For the better perception of the method an example from the first case study is shown in figure 42.

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Application
1. 2. Application for LBC 6i Re-submission of application 8i

Figure 42. Information class verified by two (2) references

The above figure shows the rounded box of the class Application with the two references that verified the class. Beside each reference there is the identity number of the document from which the reference has been revealed. The verbal version of the references would be:

The document coded 6i contains the application for Listed Building Consent
and the second reference,

The document 8i is about the re-submission of the application for Listed Building Consent.
With the method described above, all the derived information has been assigned to the correspondent classes. For the simultaneous visualisation of the findings in both case studies, the following representation mode has been adopted:

Application
Number of references of the first case study Number of references of the second case study

Application For example:

6 11

What follow are the sub-systems with the correspondent information classes, as shown in the above example:

Physical/Institutional Bodies
Client Applicant

1 1
LPA

1 2
Advisory Bodies

5 3

3 4

Figure 43. Verified classes of Physical / Institutional sub-system

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Application Factors

Appraisal / Certification

Use

Application

Certification

1 1

2 1

2 3

Figure 44. Verified classes of Application Factors and Appraisal and Certification sub-systems

Project

Classes Derived from Objectification

Building Project

Building Element

Evaluation

1 1

1 1

Figure 45. Verified classes of Project sub-system and Objectification

Documentation Document - HyperClass

Use Document Set Survey Document Set Enhanced As Exist Doc. Set

3 1

Supplemental Doc. Set

Primary As Exist Doc. Set

As Proposed Doc. Set

6 2

11 20

Figure 46. Verified classes of Documentation

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Archives

Sites and Monuments Records

Archival Source

2 1

Figure 47. Verified classes of the Archival subsystem

Although there is a variation of the number of the information references in both cases, the most important at this stage of the test, is the existence of at least one reference that verifies the information class. The variation of the frequency of the references also depends on the role that the class plays in the system. For example the class Use (figure 44) is verified once for each case study. This issue makes sense because the value of the Use (for example residential or other) is a factor of the application which is settled at the beginning of it and usually remains invariable. On the contrary, the As Proposed class (figure 46) is frequently referred in both cases, with 11 references for the Eviva restaurant and 20 references for the Murton house. This is also expected because in practice, the As Proposed documents are not submitted once during the whole procedure but sub-set by sub-set according to the evaluation done by the applicant and the conservation officer. The latter point will be explained in detail later at the Identification of the prevalent roles in the model. A point that would be interesting to indicate and interpret is the absence of references in some classes. Such cases are the class of Supplemental Document set in the Documentation sub-system and the Archival Source class in the Archive sub-system. The

Supplemental Document set, as has been defined in the previous chapter, aims to include
information about probable changes in every form of regulation or other constraint that may cause changes in the Enhanced As Exist document set. Moreover, from the viewpoint of the data-base designer, this document set could be an open data-entry point into the system from any external informative source that is not predicted by the model. It is clear that the existence and, in extension, the role of this document set is not compulsory but of an

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auxiliary character. Therefore, the fact that there are no references in this particular class is not crucial for the model and does not put its existence in question. Although the existence of the Archival Source (figure 47) has been verified indirectly by the role Archival source contributes Primary As Exist documentation set, there is no reference which mentions a named archival source. However, the existence of the class is imposed by the actual legislation. On the contrary, the statutory archival source Sites and

Monuments Records (figure 47) is mentioned in both the case studies.

Some of the classes seemed to be verified only for one of the case-study. The most important examples are the classes of the Survey Document set and the Use Document set. This could be justified because of the different approaches the two statutory consents cause to the procedures. In the first case of the Eviva restaurant, the Listed Building Consent is the objective of the application. A great part of the procedure is oriented to the conforming of the proposal to the guidelines of the Local Planning Authority and the legislation constraints. This has the result of directing the bulk of the information traffic towards the documentation sub-system and especially on the document sets of: Survey, Primary As Exist, Enhanced As exist, and As Proposed. This conclusion is more evident if compared even numerically with the second case of Murton House. Another class that states this first case orientation is the objectified class of Evaluation. Six references gave evidence of the Evaluation between the Enhanced As Exist document set and constraints posed by the Local Planning Authority. Four of them were about document amendment (in particular drawing amendment). This last evidence verifies the information flow between the applicant and the control body (Local Planning Authority). These flows will be shown later at the validation test of the roles. The case of Murton House was oriented towards the change of the use of the building. The objective of the application was the Planning Permission as the Listed Building Consent had previously been given. This resulted in a great number of references (which corresponds to drawings) in the As Proposed documents and a single reference (concerning the new building-use) in the Use Document set (figure 46).

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The rest of the classes are proportionally balanced between the two cases and some differences can be justified by the different character of the consent under application.

The conclusion about the validity of the information classes is that the information classes of the model are verified. This is inferred because the majority of them were confirmed by at least one document which contained information relevant to a specific information class. Two information classes were not verified, but their existence is posed by the legislation or practical reasons of the modelling technique. The justification of their existence has been explained in detail in page 121.

Despite the verification of the Information Classes, some sensitive points concerning the testing of the classes are worth noticing: The study, and in particular the model, had faced the various types of information as pools of documents classified in accordance with similarities in structure and behaviour (definition of object class from Rumbaugh (1991)). This approach allows further exploration of the information instances in terms of context, structure, and level of detail for every information class. However, the study has shown that document analysis used as the only method may not be sufficient to reveal some of the information characteristics described above. For example, in the frame of the specialist, it is known that the composition of an As Proposed document set presupposes access to any kind of some Primary data and the composition of a Survey Document Set of any quality or detail. But through the document analysis it has only been possible to prove the existence of the Survey Document Set without the direct identification of the information in terms of level of detail, structure, or sometimes context. The change of the use of a building creates a document set which consists of regulations and constraints on architectural, structural, health or other matters. This document set has been kept under consideration in both cases and it has been included in the theoretical model. However, through the document analysis the Use

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Document Set could not be revealed, but it has been included in the informative model as it is strictly connected to the value of the class Use. Although both case studies have used Archival Sources other than the Sites and Monuments Records (it has been proved by the interpretation of the roles), this does not result in terms of a particular named Archival Source. This means that, in the documents explored in the Local Planning Authority of Newcastle upon Tyne, there were no references to the source of certain documents. This might be a drawback in a future conservation cycle and it is a point for further research as it may cause discontinuance in the information flow of the system. There were no references to the objectified class of Information Enhancement. Yet, this particular class has a cause and effect relation within the system. This means that it can be identified by tracking the effect caused by the enhancement of the As Exist Document set. This permutation takes place at various points in the model and it has also been used for the verification of classes and later of roles.

In this section the validity of the information classes of the theoretical model was tested. The validity of the classes is considered fundamental to the perception of the Universe of Discourse (system under discussion) and these are the solid base of the whole model. The results of this testing satisfy the requirements of the model, and some particular cases of uncertainty have been discussed and justified. The second stage is to test the validity of the roles between the classes which is presented in the following section.

6.6.2. Testing the roles between the information classes.

The verification of the roles, the information classes played, has also been undertaken through documentation analysis. In this case, the existence of each role between two or more classes and the roles behaviour has been checked. As in the previous test of the classes, the document analysis has identified information within the documents directly or indirectly. The substantial difference of this test is that the exploration focuses on references

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relevant to the relation between the classes and the relation existence itself. The identified relations (roles) have been registered in a simple way directly on the model scheme. It is obvious that the use of Object Role Modelling Technique does not provide such visualisation tools as its purpose is different. However, the registration has been recorded directly on the scheme in order to accumulate all the analysis findings in the theoretical model, already familiar to the reader (see figure 29 in chapter 5). The verified roles are presented with a green line and the un-verified roles are presented with a dashed line (see figure 48, page 126). In the same diagram, new identified roles, which were not considered in the theoretical model, are presented with a red line. For testing purposes, the two case studies are presented and commented upon separately in order to focus on the particularities of the two different consents that the cases applied for.

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6.6.2.1

The actual OR model for the Eviva-Restaurant. A case for Listed Building Consent.

Figure 48. The actual OR model

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The majority of the roles of the theoretical model have been identified through the document analysis. In particular, the majority of the references proved the relation between the classes as these are presented in the theoretical model. Despite the relative compatibility between the two models, there are some points that were not predicted by the theoretical model and others that were not verified. As discussed in the previous section about the validity of the information classes, the Supplemental Document Set is not verified by any document. Also none of the roles that include this particular class has been identified (roles with dotted line in figure 48). From the latter observation two main conclusions could be derived. Firstly, that the Advisory Bodies (verified class in the actual model) did not provide any supplemental information in the system and especially for the evaluation procedure. The consultancy role of these Bodies is well expressed by the legislation and the procedures of the pre-application stage (Mynors, 1999) and although they may affect the case in various ways, their contribution may be considered of informative type. Secondly, that the Evaluation has been done by the interaction of the Enhanced As Exist

Document set and the Use Document set. At this point it is worth highlighting that Evaluation
is the key procedure for the quality standards of the proposal as this will extract the As Proposed Document set. Moreover, the un-verified class of Supplemental document set has as a result the inactivity of its relation with the Hyper-class Document. An interesting point concerning this class is a new role that is derived from the document analysis. This is that the Advisory Body controls Application (See figure 48, noted with red line). Indeed, although this role had not been evident from the exploration in related literature, it has been revealed that sometimes a consent is required by the Advisory Body in order to proceed with the application. For example, English Heritage and the Government Office for the North East had to give their consent to the proposal before the issue of the Listed Building Consent by the Local Planning Authority. Through this last example it seems that the

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Advisory Bodies, except from their informative contribution, may also take part in decisions concerning the application approval. But also in this case, their consent is advisory as the only responsible body for the evaluation of the proposal is the Local Planning Authority (Walker, 1995). Another role which has not been included in the theoretical model is that the: As Proposed Document Set updates Sites and Monuments Record (See figure 48). In the theoretical model, this role had been attributed to the Enhanced As Exist document but the testing of the roles showed that both document sets update the statutory records. This is important as it complies with the concept of the conservation cycles explained in chapters 4 and 5. In fact, the Enhanced As Exist Document Set, coincides with the New Data set of the current cycle (see chapter 4 page 59), which represents the updated data in order to document a proposal properly. Moreover both document sets (As Proposed and Enhanced As Exist) will comprise part of the Primary Data of a next, future, conservation cycle.

It is well known that in the pre-application stage, the LPA advises the applicant about the requirements of the proposal, and starts an early collaboration in order to give him/her the possibility of gaining a deeper understanding of the character and the importance of the building (Walker, 1995). In the theoretical model, it has been considered that the above collaboration contributes to the objectified class of Information Enhancement and consequently in the extraction of the Enhanced As Exist Document Set. In addition, in the theoretical model there is no relation between the objectified class of the Evaluation which is carried out by the applicant - and the LPA. This issue complies with the policies as there are discussions only in the early stage in the form of Briefs (Baker, 1997) and the officers of the LPA are composing an independent judgement about the application (Mynors, 1999). However, through the testing of the roles, a new role has been identified that reveals the consultant role of the Local Planning Authority also in the Evaluation procedure. This is represented as the following role:

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Local Planning Authority controls Evaluation (See figure 48) During the Evaluation procedure, a great number of documents were communicated to the Local Planning Authority. The context of these documents was of informative nature about decisions on the proposal taken by the applicant. Every step on the Evaluation procedure or every partial composition of drawings concerning the proposal was communicated to the LPA for an informal but very important consent. This continuous collaboration and information exchanging between the applicant and the LPA has the advantage of the clear knowledge on the behalf of the applicant as to whether the consent has changes to be issued or not. In other words, the step by step evaluation of the proposal helps the applicant to meet the requirements posed by the Local Planning Authority more easily. The use of this different actual policy in the daily practice of the system may be more efficient in terms of productivity as the inconvenience of the rejected proposal, which could be a withdrawal at the whole conservation procedure, could be avoided. The actual policy applied in this case is in conformity with a wider approach expressed by Clark (2001). The author examines the continuous relationship between the

significance of the case under conservation and the proposed changes of it. According to the
author this could be achieved through the impact assessment of the proposal. Moreover, the value of the significance could affect the Conservation planning for which it would be decided to apply. Although the author considered this repetitive assessment in the frame of the extended Conservation Planning, it is not out of place to consider this re-assessment cycle on a smaller scale, that of a Listed Building. The result would be a cycled alternation as shown in figure 48.

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SIGNIFICANCE

PROPOSED CHANGE

Figure 49. The issue of the consent depends on the impact assessment of the proposed change.

The interpretation of figure 49 is that for every proposed change on a listed building by the applicant, the LPA measures the impact that this change may cause on the significance of the building. The issue or not - of the consent depends on this assessment. The actual model (see figure 48) showed that this assessment does not take place once for the entire informative package of the application but for every informative instance of it. The continuous collaboration between the applicant and the LPA is evident from the high appearance frequency of the relevant verified roles. The next section presents the second case study which is about Planning Permission. The same method will be applied to the theoretical model as in the previous case for Listed Building Consent. It is expected to identify similarities with the first case but also differences due to the diverse consent.

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6.6.2.2 The actual OR model in the case of Murton House. A case for

Planning Permission.

Figure 50. The actual OR model in the case of the Murton House.

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In figure 50 the Actual Object Role Model in the case of the Murton House is presented. It is called actual because after the conclusions upon the classes and their roles, the model takes its final actual shape and shows the structure of the system for this particular case study. Just like in the previous case, the class of Supplemental Document Set has not been verified, neither has the role, with the Advisory Body, been verified by any reference. The reasons as previously are focused on the facultative nature of the class and the fact that none of the Advisory Bodies have provided information for the Evaluation procedure. There was no reference which verified the class of Survey Document set. The latter is considered to be one of the most important document sets for the composition of a new As Exist Set. However, it appears that for the composition of the Enhanced As Exist Document set, only the Primary As Exist documents had been used. In other words it seems that the Primary As Exist and the Enhanced As Exist are identical. Besides this apparently paradoxical conclusion, it is also observed that the Local Planning Authority did not apply any control at the stage of the Information Enhancement. This is clear as the role Local Planning Authority controls Information Enhancement, has not been confirmed. Moreover, a third fact confirms the previous two. The Enhancement As Exist document set did not update the SMR. This means that no document appeared to be forwarded to the SMR or at least that a document from a previous conservation cycle has come from the As Exist doc. set. However, the answer to these three un-verified roles may be given from the fact that a Listed Building Consent was issued prior to the application for Planning Permission. This means that the Information Enhancement at the time of that second application was valid and also valid was the - already composed previously Enhanced As Exist Document set. This conclusion also justifies the absence of the Survey Document set, as probably the task of survey had been done in the previous stage. An overall view of the model, and in comparison with the correspondent of the first case, gives the impression that the system is focused on the extraction of the As Proposed Document Set by the Evaluation procedure. The three new roles that have been identified in the first case have also been presented in this actual model of the second case. In fact the control role of the Local Planning Authority and the Advisory Body has created two new relations that were not

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predicted by the theoretical model (see chapter 5, fig. 29). The continuous collaboration of the applicant with the LPA is evident and some of the characteristic points of the first case are apparent in this case as well. These are the facts that the Advisory Bodies did not provide any supplemental information in the system, and that the As Proposed Document Set updates the Sites and Monument Records. From the first conclusion mentioned in the previous paragraph, emerges that the Evaluation has been done by the interaction of the Enhanced As Exist Document Set with the Use Document Set. In the next section an effort has been made to show the most active roles in the actual Object Role model. Such visualisation aims to draw conclusions about the potentiality (dynamics) of the model in terms of information flow and to explore whether further adjustment in some of them would increase the overall quality.

6.6.3 Dynamics of the Roles (in the actual Object Role Model).
After the definition of an actual model for both the cases of the Eviva building and Murton House, it is important to identify the key-roles in the system. Through this exploration, it is expected to detect groups of classes and roles (topologies), with similar specific weight in the model. Moreover, it is important to explore how the adjustment of the specific weight of some of these topologies could affect the model. The appearance-frequency of the roles has been visualised on the OR model with a numeric tag, placed close to the role notation when this particular role has been identified more than once. The value declares the number of the references from the document analysis that verify the role. In addition, the more frequent the role, the thicker its shape is. It has to be highlighted that the conclusions should be gathered through the interpretation of this quantitative analysis and not just from a simple rating according to the appearance frequency. This is important because some of the roles by definition have a low appearance frequency. For example, usually the role Client controls Use would be verified only once.

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6.6.3.1 The Dynamics of the roles in the OR model for the Eviva

building.

A case for Listed Building Consent.

Figure 51. The dynamics of the roles

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A first visual estimation of the model supports the observation in section 6.2 about the repetitive cycle of re-assessment between the applicant and the Local Planning Authority. In fact, as revealed by the numbers of references, the applicant communicated the outcome of Evaluation 19 times through the various document sets. Almost the same number of controls was applied on the Evaluation procedure by the Local Planning Authority. It is worth noting that the responsible role for the extraction of the As Proposed Document set has been activated almost half of the times from the Perform role. This means that not all of the proposed changes by the applicant have been accepted by the LPA and consequently declares the discussions between them. These three roles attributed to the objectified class of

Evaluation, compose an informative topology that may be considered the informative

barycentre of the actual model. Although the theoretical model emphasises the importance of Information Enhancement, this was not clearly identified through the document exploration of the case study. In fact, the topology that includes the Information Enhancement, the Archival Sources (SMR included) and the Local Planning Authority as control body were of low specific weight. The contribution of the Archival Sources was not as important as expected. However, this might be a consequence of the importance (or aptness) of the case study that was of Grade II listing. It is possible that in the case of a Grade II*, or Grade I, more informative resources will be involved as more information will be required. On the contrary, the role of: Advisory Body controls Application has been proved active also in this case, although it was not predicted in the theoretical model. The topologies of the Use-Client and the Application-Appraisal have a low presence in the system. However, this is justified by their role which becomes active at the opening (client controls use) and closing fact (LPA issues Certification) of the system. The topology of the hyper-class Document has not been rated, as this would create a wrong (at least visually) impression about the prevalence of the roles. This is justified as all the document sets contain the hyper-class Document and a highly rated topology of this kind would not be significant for the system. However, the role Document references Building Element, has been proved frequent as much as important for the Object Role Model.

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The analysis of the documents that verified this particular role revealed that seven of them (mainly As Proposed documents) were focused on building elements and not on the entire project. This proves that the model as a data-base background is operational with entry data of the level of a single building element as a pilaster base or door details (structural elements mentioned in the documents). In fact, the system could perform information management of this level of detail and correlate each building element with its various stages. For example any building element would have a Primary As Exist version, later an Enhanced As Exist version, and finally an As Proposed one. When all the accumulated building elements compose the whole Building Conservation Project, then the Application package is completed. This issue is very important for the operational value of the Object Role model, because it renders the model not only a tool for the visualisation of the system but also an operational database background. However the developed model is at the conceptual stage and its

implementation, as a data-base, is out of the scope of this study. The next section presents the Dynamics of the roles in the second case of the Murton House, a case for Planning Permission. It is worth noting that in previous analysis about the validity of the roles, the case of the Murton House has shown that it is more oriented towards Evaluation. This has been related to the fact that the Information Enhancement had been done in a previous stage and the Listed Building Consent has been issued. It would be interesting in the following analysis to examine the Dynamics of the roles under this condition and compare it with the previous model of the first case.

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Data Partners It is controled by the Advisory Body CERTIFICATION Application for LBC 2 4 ISSUES Local Archives National Archives Private Archives It is Updated by the "Enhanced As Exist Document Set" Application for Plan. Permission

WEB Archives

.......UPDATES APPLICATION ...... CONTAINS ARCHIVAL SOURCE 3 ...... PREPARES APPLICANT Updates SMR STRUCTURES ...... PERFORMS 18 CONTROLS CONTAINS CONTRIBUTES CONTRIBUTES ...... EVALUATES Sites and Monuments Records LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY

"AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET

CLIENT ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET 19 ...... EXTRACTS

EXTRACTS

18 ...... CONTROLS VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS SURVEY DOCUMENT SET

CONTROLS

PRIMARY "AS EXIST" DOCUMENTATION SET

"EVALUATION"
SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENT SET

"INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT"

USE

PRODUCES........

"USE" DOCUMENT SET

CONTAINS. ./ PROVIDES ...

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

House. A case for Planning Permission.

Figure 52. The dynamics of the roles at the case of Murton House
DOCUMENT HAS../...IS OF ADVISORY BODY 4 Controls the Application

Reside ntial

Educati onal

Transp ort

Buiding Element

Goverm ental

CONSISTS OF..

VERIFIED ROLE UN-VERIFIED ROLE NEW IDENTIFIED ROLE

Drawing - Raster Image Digital Image

6.6.3.2 The Dynamics of the roles in the OR model for the Murton

Industri al Text

Buiding Conservation Project

Digital Text

Drawing - Vector

VERIFIED VALUE UN - VERIFIED VALUE

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Orthoph otograp h

Other

3D Image

3D Model

Structural Analysis

OTHER

The ternary of the most prevalent roles of the first case are also verified in this case. The Applicant performs Evaluation, LPA controls Evaluation, and in consequence Evaluation extracts As Proposed Document Set. However, the fact that the Listed Building Consent has already been given, influences the dynamic of the roles in terms of the effectiveness of the Evaluation. In the first case of the Eviva Restaurant for LBC, the topology of Applicant -> Evaluation -> LPA was more active than the topology of the extracted As Proposed Document set. In this case, it is clear from the frequencies of the verified roles, that the three roles are balanced (almost 18 references per each role). This means that the LPA had accepted almost every As Proposed document, and this could be justified because the sensitive discussions between these two players had been done during the application for Listed Building Consent. The different nature of the applied consent also justifies the weak topologies of the archives. On the contrary, the role of the Advisory Body is active and its contribution to the system is also verified. In conclusion, an overall estimation shows a major similarity of the Dynamics of the roles with the first case. This confirms the conception of the theoretical model which tends to take its final shape. Another important issue for the complete analysis of the model is the type of information that flows in the system. An investigation in the light of the information quality would be an index for the overall quality of service provided by the system. The following section discusses the quality of information and attempts to correlate it with the information requirements suggested by the legislation and the contribution of the IT in the field.

6.6.4. Quality of information

The verification of the information classes and their linking roles has been tested in the previous sections through document analysis. The results proved that the theoretical model describes the pre-application stage for statutory consents in a verisimilar way, although some new roles emerged. Moreover, the dynamics of the roles have been examined and the most

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prevalent topologies have been identified. The assumption of a system with active communicative nodes between the verified classes composes a basic platform for an information model. However, for the improvement of the pre-application stage, apart from the definition of an information model, the type of the exchanged information is also important. In the first chapter (pages 6-7, paragraph 3) there are examples from the Greek system in which, although information exchanging had been referred, the exchanged information was of doubtful quality. In the English system there are also references related to the low quality of information caused by the defective structure of it (Robinson, 1999), and to the efforts for the standardisation of the exchanged information ((English Heritage, 1999),(F.I.S.H., 2002)). The arguments of data standards in Building Conservation, and the information structure and content of the Sites and Monuments Records have been discussed in the third (3rd) and fifth (5th) chapters. Further study of these arguments would be outside the aims of this study. However, the examination of the type of the exchanged information would render the study of the pre-application stage more complete, and could give rise to several issues about the total quality of the system.

In the case of the pre-application stage and in particular in the frame of this case study, the quality of information is in connection mainly with three different parameters, which are also discussed in the Building Conservation Industry. These are the Information typology, the quantity of information needed and the extent of the involvement of Information Communication Technologies. For the first of them (information typology), an attempt has been made to register the types of information that run the model. Various identified types of data have been traced on the actual model of the first case study. Although the Object Role Modelling technique is not an information flow diagram but a static one, it has been decided to track different types of lines for every type of information from class to class. This is based on the extended idea that the roles may have a transitive character; for example, Evaluation extracts As Proposed Doc. set. From the roles statement it is clear that Evaluation generates information of various

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types. These two classes of the example could be linked with distinctive lines that each represent a different type of information (see figure 53).

Drawing - Vector
"EVALUATION"
EXTRACTS/......... .. "AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET

Text Fabric

Figure 53. Evaluation extracts in the As Proposed Doc. set information in the form of drawing (digital), Text, and Fabric (sample).

The next paragraph presents the information typology in the first case of the Eviva restaurant, and discusses the quality of information in relation to the three parameters (information typology, quantity of information, and the involvement of Information Communication Technologies).

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6.6.4.1 Information typology in the Object Role Model The Eviva Building case. A case for Listed Building Consent

Figure 54. Different line-types stand for different information types

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As shown in the annotation of figure 54, the following information types that ran the model have been identified: Text- Descriptions Layouts from Digital drawings (Drawing-vector) Drawings (classic and sketches) Digital Photos Material Fabric (Samples)

As in the previous analyses, which have been made from different perspectives, even in this one it seems that all of the available types of information have been used in the topology of Applicant-> Evaluation-> LPA -> As Proposed Doc. set. This happens because this topology is the most active and is also responsible for the generation of the important As Proposed Doc. Set. In the objectified class of Evaluation, with the several internal mechanisms for the interaction of the document sets, the applicant elaborates information from different sources and of different types. Following information through the document sets in a procedural sequence, the following can be concluded: The Primary As Exist class included text and classic drawings by the Sites and Monuments Records, and digital drawing from other Archival Sources. Concerning the SMR, it was expected that the involvement of the digital information would be greater. More than 75% of the SMRs in England are using GIS applications to manage and correlate the (digital) archives (Fernie, 2000). However, in this case study there was not any digital input in the system by the SMRs. The identified documents were photocopies of two drawings of 1889 and 1937. It is obvious that under those conditions the documents could be mainly used as sketches. There was no further information for the previous source although the creators identity was visible - and there were no digital versions of the drawings. A document with textual description of the building has been identified. In the latter there was information about its internal and external characteristics and the name of

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the architect. Although for the importance of the case such information could be considered efficient, the available information is presumed poor of quality. The Survey Document set has been structured by the applicant and in this case digital forms of information have been used, including digital photographs for the As Exist state of the Eviva Building. This is indicative that the new technologies are adopted by the contractor. His/her potentiality in the documentation field - could be expanded if it were possible to gather and communicate digital information with the other components of the system. Although there has been significant progress in the computerisation of SMRs, the question about the efficiency of the adopted systems and the level of embodiment by the human sources (Newman, 2002) arises. This latter indication is also amplified by the pro rata low informative participation of the Archival Sources in the system during the two previous analyses. Several reasons have led to this. For example if the feedback that the SMRs obtain by the contractors is poor, the context of this statutory archive might be equally poor. The relation between the contractor and the SMRs has been discussed previously and it has also been proposed that the contractors prepare information in suitable formats for SMR input (Catney, 1999). On the other hand, the digital input cannot always ensure fluent information recycling (between the conservation cycles) as incompatibilities between the input data and the current ICT infrastructure in the SMR may exist (Kilbride, 2001). The Information Enhancement mainly extracted printed layouts of digital information. The Evaluation class extracted digital information also and formed the final As Proposed Document Set. It is worth mentioning that the information exchange between the applicant and the LPA has been communicated using the original layouts of the digital information. This ensures that the Local Planning Authority controlled the information, at the same level of detail of information as the originals.

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Data Partners CERTIFICATION

It is controled by the Advisory Body Application for LBC ISSUES It is Updated by the "Enhanced As Exist Document Set" Loc al Archives National Archives Private Arc hives Applic ationf or Plan. Permiss ion

WEB Archiv es

.......UPDATES APPLICATION LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY ...... EVALUATES Sites and Monuments Records ARCHIVAL SOURCE ...... CONTAINS

"AS PROPOSED" DOCUMENT SET ...... PREPARES APPLICANT Updates SMR CONTAINS STRUCTURES ...... PERFORMS CONTROLS CONTRIBUTES

CONTRIBUTES

CLIENT ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET ...... EXTRACTS

EXTRACTS

CONTROLS ...... CONTROLS VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS SURVEY DOCUMENT SET

PRIMARY "AS EXIST" DOCUMENTATION SET

"EVALUATION"
"USE" DOCUMENT SET SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENT SET

"INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT"

USE

PRODUCES........

CONTAINS. CONTAINS. ./ PROVIDES ...

CONTAINS. CONTAINS.

CONTAINS.

Residen tial

CONTAINS.

House case. A case for Planning Permission.

Educatio nal

Buiding Element DOCUMENT ...... REFERENCES

ADVISORY BODY

Figure 55. Different line-types stand for different information types

DWG Vector
Controls the Application

Transpo rt

Gov erm ental

CONSISTS OF..

Text

Indus tria l Text

Buiding Conserv ation Projec t

Digital Text

Drawing - Vec tor

Drawing - Raster

Image

Digital Image

6.6.4.2. Information typology in the Object Role Model The Murton

144
Orthopho tograph

Other

3D Image

3D Model

Struc tu-r al Analys is

OTHER

MURTON HOUSE INFORMATION TYPOLOGY

The case of Murton house has proved to be a simpler case in terms of information typology. The Evaluation orientation of the application and the lack of Survey Document set had as a result the identification of two dominant types of information. These are Text Descriptions and Layout from Digital Drawings (Drawing vector)

The information gathered from the SMR was a textual index of previous interventions on the buildings including the consents issued for every case. This document was of great importance as it provided information about the intervention background of the building. A location plan has also been provided by an archival source. The plan gave information about the position of the Murton House in the town centre of Newcastle. Although the contribution of the archival sources is considered poor, this may be justified by the nature of the application (Planning Permission), as theoretically, the archives mostly contribute the application regarding Listed Building Consent. In terms of quality, the drawings submitted by the applicant comply with the architectural standards and in terms of content with the guidelines proposed by the ALGAO (Baker, 1997).

6.6.4.3. Data Structure and overall Quality

In both cases the adoption of the digital information which provides characteristic precision is evident. An exception to this latter point is the poor quality of the information gathered from the SMR. Although the adoption of digital technology might be a precise tool for the creation of qualitative information, this condition by itself is not enough to assure the quality of informative system. The structure of the exchanged information and the content of the SMR are two parameters of the overall quality of the information. It is important to note that the interest of this study in the Sites and Monuments Records is justified, as these are the statutory informative pools. Moreover, about 82% of the material on the Listed Buildings in England (Newman, 2002) is kept in these archives. ,At the time of this research the adoption of a Data Content Standard (Lee, 2002) concerning the structure and content of the SMRs was under discussion.

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This Data Content Standard would be the outcome of the application of the MIDAS information schemes in the SMRs in order to set the informative patterns of the SMRs content. To achieve this, it would be helpful to define the informative content of the SMRs. According to Bryant (in (Lee, 2002)), the SMRs content would be graded in two levels, the Basic and the Advanced. The Basic information standard would cover the needs for the basic functions of the SMRs. If further functional requirements existed, then an expanded information scheme would form the Advanced information standard. However, the standardisation of the archives is a concept more general and wide than the status of the SMR. The Centre for Archaeology in England has developed a conceptual model to guarantee the efficient description and management of the archives (Perrin, 2000). Similarly, under the auspices of the Getty Institute, the International Core Data Standard for

Archaeological Sites and Monuments (Thornes, 1998) has been developed. This standard is
the result of collaboration between the documentation committee (CIDOC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the archaeology documentation group of the Council of Europe. Another proposed standard, which uses the Object Oriented philosophy of this study, is the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) (Crofts, 2002). It concerns a project under development whose greatest part is completed and already forms an ISO standard (ISO/AWI21127). It represents an ontology for cultural heritage information and describes the explicit and implicit concepts and relations relevant to the documentation of cultural heritage in a formal language. The examples mentioned above give the directions which are followed by the specialists for the standardisation of the information related with Building Heritage. The Data standards, in combination with the powerful modern Information Communication

Technologies, compose a significant tool for the improvement of the quality of information in systems like the one under discussion. However, these two conditions alone are not efficient to assure the overall information quality. For the perception of this latter statement it is necessary to focus on the following particularities of the system under discussion.

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6.6.4.4. Information Quantity and overall Quality

The pre-application stage is quite wide and poly-parametric. The developed theoretical model has two main aims, firstly to explore and model the pre-application stage and secondly the development of a data base model at the conceptual level that could relate the information classes of the system. The objective of this exploration is to identify the factors that could improve the content of the application in terms of information. However, the breadth of the Universe of Discourse includes some points where the human intervention is essential. In particular these points could make a great contribution to the improvement quality of information in the system. These points are the objectified classes of Information Enhancement and Evaluation. The normal classes are connected with simple roles that usually declare hierarchy, control, and cause and effect relations. The objectified classes though, include much more complicated roles based in poly-criterion decision making and obviously are beyond the boundaries of a simple document management. These roles are denoted in the model as

Various Relationships.
A significant parameter of these relationships is the amount of information needed for every case of a Listed Building. This amount of information is independent of the two factors discussed in the previous paragraph (Information Typology and data structure). According to Clark (2001), the quantitative estimation of the required information depends on the significance of the building case. For this reason Clark stressed the importance of the understanding of the significance of the case under conservation by all the involved players. Furthermore, the estimation of the significance will set the limits for the acceptable impact consequences from the proposed changes.

In this section the types of information have been discussed. Also, an attempt has been made to evaluate their quality in three different directions. These are: the involvement of the Information Communication Technologies, their data-structure, and the amount of the necessary information for every case. These three parameters play a decisive role to the overall information quality of the system. According to Clark, the more significant the case,

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the more information is required. In a Conservation frame with modern infrastructure, the use of ICT is of great help when it is dealing with large amounts of data. Moreover, the application of specific data structure becomes more essential when dealing with a large number of cases and matches with the ICT infrastructure. It is obvious that these three factors increase simultaneously from lower values to higher in accordance with the significance of the building case. Moreover, there is a level of initial values for the three factors. The Significance has an initial value because it deals with Listed Building cases. The Data Structure and the ICT are the Significance elementary infrastructure in a modern frame of conservation. The information Information Amount Data-Structure amount has also a basic initial value. The increasing of the Significance requires more Information and this drags the ICT need for Data to Structures higher and ICT This infrastructure levels.

relation is represented in the figure 56.

Level of initial Values

Figure 56. The increasing of the Significance requires more information and this is dragging the need for Data Structures and ICT in higher levels

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6.7.

The final Actual Object Role Model of the pre-application stage

for statutory consent.

The previous sections analysed the empirical data that had been collected in the Local Planning Authority of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Two case studies were chosen in order to gather empirical data. The aim of the analysis was to verify the developed theoretical model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent. The analysis has been made from four different perspectives. The verification of the information classes. The identification of the roles between the classes. The Dynamics of the roles (role prevalence) and the quality of the information that runs the model

Analysis and investigation proved that the theoretical model depicts the pre-application stage effectively in all of the four directions mentioned above. However, some new roles have emerged with substantial impact on the system. These roles were not predicted in the theoretical model and this imposes the amendment of it with the new elements identified in the actual (figures 48 and 50). For the final actual shape of the model (see figure 57), the new roles were added to the theoretical. Some of the elements of the theoretical model that were not verified are still kept in the final shape as their existence is posed by the legislation or the needs of the conceptual modelling technique.

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The Final Actual Object Role Model

Figure 57. The final Actual Object Role Model of the pre-application stage for statutory consent.

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6.8.

Discussion of the main characteristics of the Greek and English

models

The main characteristics of the actual model of the pre-application stage in England have been considered from three different angles. The legislative background The structure of the system, and The ICT infrastructure

The main legislative background is based in the Planning Act in 1990 for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. The 1990 Act empowers the Secretary of State to make regulations on conservation. The regulations have the form of Circulars and Planning Policy Guidance (PPG). The current planning policy guidance is PPG 15 which has been implemented since September of 1994. PPG 15 describes a wide range of government policies relevant to the Historic Built Environment. In particular, for Building Conservation, a total framework of advice and guidelines is available about the protection and management of the Listed Building stock. Moreover, PPG 15 is the most important reference dealing with applications about statutory consents. The advantage of the English legislative background is the accumulative character of the 1990 Act that offers a quite complete framework for most of the cases of interventions on Listed Buildings. In addition, PPG 15 seems to be the executable outcome of the policies posed by the 1990 Act in terms of guidelines. The key point of the policy applied by PPG 15 is the statutory Consent for Listed Buildings (Listed Building Consent). The issue of LBC, in parallel with the Planning Permission comes to guarantee that the intervention proposals on a protected building are in accordance with the guidelines of the 1990 Act. In the case of the Greek pre-application stage, there is no such accumulative legislative framework to globally protect the Listed Buildings. As mentioned in the second chapter, the current legislative framework in Greece is based on two laws, the N.5351 in

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force since 1932 and the N.1469 in force since 1950. The N.5351/32 is about Antiquities and in its article 51 poses the guidelines about interventions on antiquities. The N.1469 is

About the protection of Listed Buildings and Works of Art newer than 1830. The latter,
introduces the term Listed Buildings for the first time in Greek legislation, and poses the argument of new constructions on protected areas of exceptional natural or historical interest. Although in the 1950s these two laws could form a competent legislative framework, there was no continuation of their evolution. During the development of this research, a law draft (Technical Chamber of Greece, 2002) about The Protection of Antiquities and the Cultural Heritage has been issued and finally voted in 2003. This new law provides a global legislative framework about the protection of the immobile and mobile cultural Heritage. It also sets the guidelines about interventions on Conservable Buildings (term used by the Greek legislation and it corresponds to the term Listed Buildings which is used by the English legislation). It is interesting to note that in the frame of the new law in Greece, an effort has been made in order to increase the participation of society in taking decisions regarding the listing or even the management of the Built Heritage. This latter characteristic is similar to the people participation that is predicted by the Act of 1990. Moreover, the draft makes reference to a central National Monument Archive which will be under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. After the approval of the law, a decree will dictate the recording of the monuments, data structure and protection and other functional details. In the first chapter the gap in the legislation evolution, between the 1950s law and the new one, which has been voted in the first months of 2003, has been identified. This legislative discontinuance may be a factor that could justify in a way the structural differences in the two systems. The second chapter indicates that the policies and procedures of a system depend on the legislative framework of it. In consequence the daily practice of the pre-application stage in both Greek and English cases, depends on the corresponding legislative framework. This is more evident through the examination of the two actual models.

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Although in both cases the applicant is one of the motivational players of the system, in the Greek reality he/she seems to have a central role in making decisions upon intervention matters. This may happen due to the outdated policy framework that is not capable of coping with the actual needs of conservation, permitting the applicant to take initiatives on matters about aesthetics, methods and techniques of conservation. Figure 58 shows the main roles played by the applicant in both systems under discussion.

SURVEY-INFO USE INFO INFO - POOL

ARCHIVE

IS GATHERED BY../..GATHERS ...

ARCHITECT GRANTS INFO./GETS INFO TO FROM

APPLICATION IS PREPARED BY .../..PREPARES

Greek system

IS GATHERED BY../..GATHERS ...

"INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT"
...... / CONTROLS

LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY ..../EVALUATES

..../EXTRACTS APPLICATION ENHANCED "AS EXIST" DOCUMENT SET ...... / CONTROLS ........./PREPARES STRUCTURES

VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

VARIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

APPLICANT ...... PERFORMS

SURVEY DOCUMENT SET

"EVALUATION"
"USE" DOCUMENT SET SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENT SET

English system

Figure 58. The central role of the applicant in the Greek system in comparison with the central role of the Local Planning Authority in the English system.

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In both cases the applicant carries out a survey and prepares the Application. In the Greek system, the applicant gets information from an information pool which mainly contains the survey document set gathered by him/her self. In the Greek case-study, the contribution of the Archive has been insignificant and the Information Enhancement primarily depends on the applicant. On the contrary, in the English system the applicant makes use of the Enhanced Document Set, which is the information from the archival system amended with the Survey Documents set. In the English system the Local Planning Authority seems to have the central role, since it controls two critical components of the system, the Information Enhancement and the Evaluation. The continuous collaboration of the applicant with the LPA does minimize the possibility of initiatives of doubtful results. On the contrary, in the Greek system this could be possible due to the loose controls but even, sometimes, due to the weakness for a documented proposal on behalf of the Greek Local Archaeological Department. It is worth noticing that in the Greek case study an analysis similar to the one applied to the English case-study may not be possible due to the low frequency (term used in the section 6.3) of the roles. In particular, the roles were identified in the system virtually only once through the interviews taken from the persons in charge. Only the role Local Archaeological Department evaluates Proposal has been played twice when a proposal about the internal arrangement was rejected and the Applicant had to resubmit. The low frequency of the played roles may reveal a low traffic of information and in extension it indicates a poor collaboration between the applicant and the other players of the system. Another statutory difference is the use of the Archives. In the Greek case, the National Archive of Monuments is not the appropriate for the daily needs of the system and at the time of this research it is without a concrete form of information. At the level of the Local Authorities, the Sites and Monuments Records in Greece provide poor information and do not cover all the cases of Listed Buildings. This means that in some cases of Listed Buildings, there is no information at National or Local level. It is important to emphasise that in the case study in Greece, a poor updating of the contained information has been identified and the use of the ICT was inadequate. Basically, the updating of the SMR in Greece is a

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matter of willingness and conscience of the applicant. This last point may change in the future according to the proposals about the National Archives made by the new law draft of 2002. In both systems there are two consents to guarantee the conforming of the proposal with the planning, building regulations, and conservation policies. In the English system the two consents are issued by the Local Planning Authority. In the Greek system two different bodies share the control task and in consequence the issue of the consents. These are the Local Planning Authority and the Local Archaeological Department. As it is presented in chapter four, the Local Archaeological Department focuses mainly on the aesthetical part of the building and the protection of the artefacts that caused it to be Listed. The Planning Authority mainly controls the structural part of the proposal, putting faith in the architectural proposal that would already be approved by the LAD. This structural approach adopted by the LPA is sometimes justified due to the intense seismic activity in Greece. Indeed, the seismic activity is a factor that sometimes gives the priority to the LPA decisions overriding the sense for conserving the Listed Buildings. In the English system, the Local Planning Authority keeps a central role in controlling both consents. Indeed the LPA deals globally with the dual identity of the building as a Listed one, but also as a structure that would guarantee the extended life of the artefact. Another significant difference in the Greek system is the inadequate presence of Advisory Bodies and the deficient participation of the people in taking decisions about the Listed Buildings. Leaving the people (who form the end user of the enhancement of the built heritage) outside the Conservation policies, makes it more difficult to form a social conscience about Conservation.

The ICT infrastructure constitutes a significant factor for the consistency and efficiency of the model in both systems. Through the exploration in the ICT tools in the field of Conservation various applications have been identified and some of them have been presented in the third chapter. In particular, applications such as GIS for the management of

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spatial and aspatial data, and modelling techniques for the development and monitoring of conservation strategies could be of great help in the systems under discussion. Such tools have been adopted by the English system and the trends continue to lean towards that direction. For example most of the SMRs have incorporated GIS databases for the management of the information related to the monuments (Fernie, 2000). Moreover, there is the example of the EMA model (Event Monument Archive) (Bourn, 1999) from the modelling field. As explained in the previous chapter the EMA model composes the basic database model of the SMRs and sets a pattern for the archaeological process from the initial discovery up to the data extraction. Information modelling has also been applied in order to structure the essential information about the monuments and finally to structure and propose a data standard on Building Conservation. The cases of MIDAS and CIDOC as data standards are examples of the data structure needs in a model such as the English one. In the Greek system, the adoption of GIS applications for the storage and management of the information related to the Listed Buildings is still at an elementary stage. The use of GIS applications in the LADs is up to the conservation officer in charge, but currently there is not any further inducement on the behalf of the Ministry of Culture. Besides, the non systematic use of GIS in the Greek LADs may face the problems touched by Fernie about incompatibility of the GIS systems, incompatibility of data-capture and data structure. These latter points are critical arguments that are not yet under discussion at a statutory level but only at the academic/research level. For example, the Centre of Cultural Informatics in Crete has worked out research on a large field of topics about Cultural Heritage, applying information techniques. Some of the results of this research are the POLEMON project (Bekiari, 1998), the MAISTOR project (Constantopoulos, 2000), and the Terminology Systems (Doer, 2002). The Polemon project is a combination of informative services for the documentation, management, and promotion of the cultural heritage at National level. The MAISTOR project has been developed to support the recording of the Listed Buildings, the classification of the historical, structural, typological and morphological elements of it, and the documentation of the interventions on the building. The Terminology

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Systems is a thesaurus of terminology related to the cultural heritage similar to the INSCRIPTION wordlists in England. The Centre of Cultural Informatics has made a significant effort to contribute to the ICT infrastructure of the Greek system but the fruits of the research are mainly concentrated around the Ministry of Culture and none of these projects has been applied at local level. This creates an infrastructure and informative gap between the Local Archaeological Departments - and in consequence the applicant and the higher level of the Ministry of Culture. It is probable that the operation of the new law about the Antiquities will change the policies and will permit these ICT solutions to enhance the quality of the Conservation field.

6.9.

Summary

In the previous chapter the developed theoretical model of the pre-application stage in England has been presented. That model has been derived through the exploration of the corresponding legislation. The Greek model has been derived through direct interviews with the persons in charge in the Greek case-study and in consequence this could be considered the actual model. In order to compare and discuss the two models, these should represent both the actual systems in terms of information content, and roles between the engaged players. In consequence, the question if the theoretical model reflects daily practice in England has been posed and a final shape of the model that would form the actual should be settled. In this chapter the validity of the theoretical model has been tested in order to determine if and how closely this reflects the actual model of the English system. For this, empirical data have been collected from two case studies in Newcastle upon Tyne. The case studies were representative Listed Buildings, and have been chosen to cover both the consents that the LPA issues. Document analysis has been undertaken in order to extract information that verified or did not- the theoretical model. The testing of the model has been done at the level of its structural components, in three different directions: 1. Validity of the information classes 2. Validity of the roles between the classes and

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2.1.

dynamics of the roles

3. Quality of the information exchanged between the players within the system Through the first validity test, the players and the type of the exchanged information have been verified. The information classes that were predicted in the theoretical model have been identified in the practice. Through the second validity test, the interaction of the information classes has been verified in terms of roles and some new relations between the classes have been identified. The detection of the new roles proved the validity of the information modelling as the proper ICT tool for the visualisation of the information flow and the capturing of the exchanged class of information. Such methods could improve the procedures in the pre-application stage providing at the same time a Data Base platform at the conceptual stage. The new identified roles are of great importance as they were not clear from the legislation and, moreover, they have a significant functional role in the system. Furthermore, the most active topology of the system has been identified to declare the continuous collaboration of the applicant with the Local Planning Authority during the pre-application stage. The third test has been undertaken regarding the Information quality. Different types of information have been traced on the model showing the typology of the exchanged information between the players of the system and the grade of the ICT embodiment in it. Finally, the theoretical model has been adjusted in order to conform to the daily practice of the pre-application stage and an Actual Object Role model has been formed. The derived model composes a database background in its conceptual stage that captures the document sets that are indispensable for efficient performance of the conservation cycles. Through the discussion between the Greek and the English models, several issues have arisen. One of the most important is the deficient legislation framework in Greece that influences the poor structure of the model. The poor quality of the Archives at local level is also another factor that restrains the conservation capabilities. The applicant-centric approach of the Greek reality in comparison with the English system that has the LPA as its central decision body has also been identified.

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Deficiency has been identified in the ICT infrastructure of the Greek system also. A greater degree of incorporation of ICT in the Greek pre-application stage could contribute to capturing the appropriate information of Listed Buildings, managing the information, monitoring the system, and tracing policy strategies.

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Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusions

This chapter presents the conclusions which have been drawn from the research. These are brought forward through the summary of the study so that the reader can follow and relate the conclusions with the flow of the research.

7.1

Proposal documentation and Pre-Application Stage

In the first chapter the doubtful quality of Building Conservation in Greece was discussed and Patras is taken as the case study of the research. A great part of the Architectural Heritage was lost in the early seventies when the modern block of flats proved to be more profitable for the owners of the old buildings. The lack of a proper legislative system, which would protect the Architectural Heritage, has also been considered one of the key factors for the loss of the Listed Building stock (Orfanoudakis 2001). Several testimonies showed the general appeal for saving the Listed Building stock that still remains. Although during the last decade there is a trend to accent the Built Heritage in Greece, the sparse background of architectural information impedes the documentation of the Listed Buildings (Rigopoulos D. 1999). The documentation of a Listed Building is an essential procedure for the assessment of any interventions proposed. Consequently, the proper control and management of architectural information is strictly connected with the final outcome of the interventions on the buildings. This latter point happens because missing information and/or information misconception may negatively affect the conservation procedure. The definition of the preapplication stage was necessary in order to include in one term all the activities which lead to the formation of the proposal by the applicant. It is apparent that a qualitative proposal depends on a strong informative background (Walker 1995). This presupposes organised archives and other information sources. Moreover, the linking of these sources with the participants of the system is also important in order to ensure that the applicant and the Local Planning Authority will share an initial but also reliable amount of architectural information. The applicant needs a global but also deep understanding, in terms of

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information, in order to base his/her proposal. The LPA needs access to the same information pool in order to advise but also to control the proposal.

The research aims to show that a proper Information Model could be a significant means towards the improvement of the pre-application stage and in consequence of the Conservation procedure. Such a model depicts the players of the pre-application stage and the information exchange between them. Moreover, it gives the possibility to monitor the current policy system and forms the bedrock for a database model at the conceptual level which correlates the information classes of the system.

7.2

ICT and Building Conservation Industry

The research analysed the domain of the pre-application stage from the viewpoint of the Information Modelling. This technique has been considered to be the appropriate ICT tool in order to identify the factors which could improve the informative content of a proposal. What led to this illation was the review of a wider field of ICT applications in the Building Conservation Industry, and the conclusion that some of them are tools contributing to a very specific and narrow domain of the pre-application stage. The ICT exploration revealed six different domains where the use of such applications is of great help. These are the domains of Structural Analysis of Listed Buildings and Monuments, Recording and 3/4D modelling, Archives, Data Standards, GIS - Databases, and the domain of Process and Information Modelling. There follows a brief description of these domains and their contribution in the pre-application stage:

Structural Analysis
The main objective of such ICT applications is, precisely, the analysis of the structural elements of a building/construction; this consists of the calculation of the tensile and compressive strengths and the estimation of the optimum dimensions of the elements (supports, beams, etc.). The theoretical background of these calculations is based on mathematical theories and structural analysis techniques, and the use of IT is practically

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mandatory. Through the various cases upon this domain a typical example of structural analysis on historic buildings is the application developed by Stavroulaki et al . Pre-stressed cables of steel or carbon fibre for the reinforcement of the building, finite element method, and simulation and optimisation techniques have been used in order to extend the lifecycle of the building. However, not all of the applications of this domain approach the structural analysis in the same way. For example the IKTINOS project (Vamvakeridou 1997) used fuzzy logic techniques for the position reassignment of each structural element of the Parthenons walls. ICT technologies also allow data analysis of existing structures through free-observation or indirect disturbance techniques. Such examples are the visual examination of the foundations of Hagia Sofia (Friedrich 1998) or Moltedos (2000) visual analysis and degradation simulation. In the frame of the pre-application stage, it is clear that ICT in structural analysis could be applied during the composition of the structural project which is part of the proposal. In particular the outcome of such applications will be part of the Enhanced As Exist Document Set or/and of the As Proposed Document Set (see chapter 5 section 5).

Recording and 3/4D Modelling

IT has much to offer in the Recording domain as classic methods have been automated and controlled through computer systems. The advantages of Digital Recording are rapid data elaboration, secure data storage, high quality visualisation potentiality, interoperability, and the collaboration of different types of information, thus giving multimedial extension. Photogrammetry is a rapid data acquisition method which, in combination with CAD applications, is a powerful recording tool in the Building Conservation Industry (CIPA 2002). Several examples have been explored through the relevant literature. The C.A.R.T. tool (Nickerson 1998) stood out for its time-saving abilities as it can read coordinates from an electronic theodolite and converts them to a 3D CAD model without manual drafting. Modern ICT techniques, such as digital video and 3D laser scanning, could also been applied for the

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recording and 3D modelling of artefacts of minor dimensions (Pedersini 2000; Pierachini 2001). The conversion of various types of architectural information into digital form allows the diffusion of architectural information through the WEB. It is clear that ICT tools which support the WEB, could also support the visualisation of architectural information through the Internet. JAVA, XML technology, and the VRML visualisation technique are powerful tools which extend the WEB communication capabilities. Several examples showed that the WEB is helpful in Building Conservation, for data exchange between the players in the pre-application stage (Marini 1997; Beacham 2001). The WEB could be a useful infrastructure for the information flow in the Building Conservation Industry, not only for the data-flow between the engaged players of the pre-application stage but also for the dissemination of the Conservation outcome in society. Regarding the Pre-Application Stage, ICT applied in Recording and 3D modelling could be met in the stage of Information/Documentation Enhancement (see chapter 4 section 5.4.2 and chapter 5 section 5.3). During this stage the applicant enriches and/or updates the Primary As Exist Documentation with new information. To accomplish this information enhancement the applicant carries out a survey. In other words the task of recording takes place which leads, with the aim of ICT, to 3D modelling.

Archives
It is important to highlight the importance of the archival system in the pre-application stage. Archival sources, statutory or not, are the initial information pool which the applicant accesses in order to document his/her proposal. Recording is strictly connected with Archives as, indirectly, the Survey Document Set returns to the public archives through the As Proposed Document set. However, ICT is involved in the archives not only through the Recording. The Digital Archiving Strategy, developed by the Centre for Archaeology of English Heritage, supports almost all the digital resources and sets a methodology for a modern archival system which meets current requirements.

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Data Standards
The use of organised archives accentuated the need to establish what information should be gathered and how this should be structured. The Monument Inventory Data Standard

(MIDAS) (English Heritage 1999) has been defined in England in order to facilitate the recording task. The application of the MIDAS information schemes in the information pool of the Sites and Monument Records, raises a point on the definition of the Data Content Standard (Lee 2002). Similar standards for the standardisation of the archives have been defined as, for example, the International Core Data Standard for Archaeological Sites and Monuments (Thornes 1998), and the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (Crofts 2002). In Greece, the MAISTOR project has been developed to support the recording of Listed Buildings, the classification of the historical, architectural, and structural information of the building, and the documentation of the proposed interventions on it. The MAISTOR project seems to be the appropriate ICT support for the Greek pre-application stage and could prevent information loss and improve the Conservation outcome. However, for the moment, this application is limited to the academic level. The use of Data Standards helps to set the patterns of the information which, in the majority of the cases, is a set of other instances of information relating to Built Heritage. It is also important to ensure that all the participants who are pertinent to gather the above data perceive in the same and the in right way - the required information. To this latter point, the Terminology Systems in Greece and the INSCRIPTION wordlists in England aim to retain a common perception of Conservation arguments. In the pre-application stage, the use of Data Standards is very useful during the Information Enhancement. In particular, Data Standards can ensure the qualitative composition of the Survey Document Set but also the quality of the Primary As Exist Document Set already stored in the archives.

GIS Databases
An information pool would be of relatively little use if there were no possibility to interrelate the data contained. A Database system is a useful ICT tool for accessing, managing, linking

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the stored architectural information, but also for decision making (Addison 2001). The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Building Conservation, gives the possibility of making queries regarding spatial information from the scale of a building up to historic sites or even a group of sites. The linking of more than one pole of interest and the zoom in capability render GIS a powerful tool in Building Conservation Industry. A wide range of research and application has been done in the GIS field. Through the exploration among the various applications, it has been revealed that such databases are used for information management, monitoring, and the illustration of the Cultural Heritage. GIS are incorporated in the statutory archival system (Sites and Monuments Records) in England and aim to improve the services provided (Fernie 2000). The combination of the GIS concept with other visualisation techniques may give different layout approaches directed at different clients. For example, in the case of the Tower of London, Worthing and Counsell (Worthing D. 1999) used a common pool of data which, through different elaboration, gave different layouts for visitor interpretation and orientation, visitor management, and maintenance management. In the pre-application stage, databases could be very helpful in the Evaluation of the existing state of conservation in combination with the already stored information. To this end the GISbased application developed by Elkadi and Pendleburry (2001) aimed to support the evaluation task carried out by the applicant or the LPA officer. Such applications help to document, but also to control, an intervention proposal especially when interrelating architectural and social/cultural values. The benefits of these databases are multiplied when these are WEB based (Angelides 2000) and accessible to all the applicants but also to other SMRs with insufficient informative content.

Partial ICT contribution in the Pre-application Stage

From the exploration of ICT applications in the pre-application stage it is concluded that the applications described in chapter 3 and briefly in the previous sections can only partially contribute to the Pre-Application Stage and in consequence enhance the Cultural Heritage. For example, CAD applications, computer based structural tools, Data Standards, and the

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many-valued databases are applied in sub-domains of the Pre-Application Stage, such as Documentation, Evaluation, or Information Enhancement. The following table shows some typical contribution of ICT applications in the sub-domains of the pre-application stage.

SUB-DOMAIN

RECORDING
ICT - APPLICATION

ARCHIVING

INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT

DOCUMENTATION/ EVALUATION

DECISION MAKING

3D MODELING DIGITAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY DIGITAL ARCHIVING WEB TECHNOLOGIES DATA STANDARDS COMP. BASED STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS IMAGE PROCESSING G.I.S. / DATABASES

Table 3. ICT contribution in the pre-applications sub domains.

It is clear that nowadays, the evolution of the above ICT applications could not cause spectacular changes in Building Conservation because their progress is already satisfactory. Moreover, from the viewpoint of the Informative Contribution in the pre-application stage, they are not able to follow the information flow involvement in the system. of the stage due to their discontinuous

7.3 Information Modelling

The conclusions of the previous paragraph led to the choice of Information Modelling as the relevant ICT application which would improve the outcome of the pre-application stage in terms of quality. An information model could capture the information which flows between the various participants of the system. Information and participants (players) compose the nodes of the model. Such a representation visualises globally the informative patterns of the system and helps to identify weak points on its structure. The latter possibility allows the

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development of new strategies in the conservation policies without the re-engineering of the system. Setting the information tracks of the system in combination with the setting of the information content of each class of information is a powerful tool in order to capture the missing information which complicates the Greek case. To deal with this, Bikas proposed a model which aimed to cover the fields of documentation of the Listed Buildings, archiving issues, and the process of interventions on it. The effort to classify the related information and to improve collaboration between the players in the restoration procedure has been the first approach in Greece to standardise the exchanged information in Building Conservation. The advantage of Information Modelling in establishing strategies and policies is evident in the Sites and Monuments Records with the Event Monument Archive database model since 1996 (Bourn 1999). The model is a robust system capable of recording the processes of survey and recording. Moreover it helps to accomplish data extraction through a wide variety of activities and sources. The model is based on the concept that the reference of the event makes the data more reliable. The cycle Event > Data Extraction > Interpretation > Archive is an internal procedure of the EMA model which practically accomplishes Evaluation and Information Enhancement inside the Sites and Monuments Records. The similarity of the above cycle with the Information Enhancement -> Evaluation > Proposal cycle of the Object Role Model of this research, points to the need for a model which will recycle and update the information in order for it to be used in the Intervention Proposal. The EMA model helps to improve the quality of information in the SMRs and, in combination with the Digital Archives, may enhance the quality of services provided by the Sites and Monuments Records. Glen (1998) proposed an information model for the conservation processes during intervention in historic buildings. Although the domain of interest is beyond the preapplication stage, the technique which has been used to visualise the system under discussion is interesting. This was the Object Modelling approach based on Coad and Yourdons technique (Yourdon 1994). The model is a noticeable effort to depict the system from what was planned to be the intervention on the building, up to what actually has been

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done during the intervention. It is clear that the proposed model depicts the field after the pre-application stage and it would be interesting, in a future study, to conjoin that model with the English actual model of this research in order to visualise a wider view of Building Conservation.

7.4

Object Role Modelling in the Pre Application Stage

The Pre-Application stage is an already existing domain of interest. Consequently it has been concluded that this study operates in the field of Information Analysis. During information analysis what mainly is examined is the structure of the system, the behaviour of the core objects, and the information that these objects represent (Halpin 1999). For the analysis of the Universe of Discourse (Pre-Application Stage), the Object Oriented approach has been used as this is described by Rumbaugh (1991). According to this approach a conceptual modelling technique free of attributes helps to focus on the core objects of the system and on their interactions. The Object Role Modelling language has been used for the realisation of the chosen modelling approach. The ORM is a method for querying an information system at the conceptual level. Its semantic is simple and based on the fact that objects are playing roles in the Universe of Discourse. It is easily understandable by the domain expert due to its

similarity to the natural language and, in the case of this research, it has successfully depicted the developed models. It is worth noting that the structure of the language permits the domain expert to test the model, in consequence the right application of the ORM technique, by querying it. Moreover, the developed model can be used as a database model at the conceptual stage and this point renders the technique useful for further research.

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7.5 Analysis of the Pre-Application Stage in Greece and England An Object Role Modelling approach
For the exploration of the Greek Pre-application stage two models have been developed in chapter 4 using two different techniques. The first one, developed with the IDEF technique, showed the Greek system in terms of activities. Its development helped the reader to perceive the procedures, the players of the system, and the core activities in their actual sequence. The second one was an OR model based on empirical data derived from interviews with domain experts. For the latter reason the developed model has been considered the Actual Model of the Pre-Application stage for statutory consent. The English pre-application stage has also been explored and used as a reference model in chapter 5. This choice has been justified due to the complete and time-tested English legislation and policies in Building Conservation, in comparison with the Greek status quo. For the analysis of the English pre-application stage, the following method has been followed: an IDEF model for the perception of the system in terms of activities and an OR model for the informative depiction of it. Initially the exploration of the English system was undertaken in the relevant legislation and policies and through them a Theoretical Object Model was developed. However, it has been considered necessary to verify if the Theoretical model was the one applied in daily practice in order to conclude in an Actual OR model. The verification has been carried out through the application of the model in two different cases of Listed Buildings. The results have been satisfactory as a limited number of corrections and additions turn the theoretical model in the Actual Object Role Model of the English Pre-application stage. The verification of the theoretical model emphasised the advantages of the ORM technique in querying a system. In addition the English pre-application stage has been analysed from two more directions: the Dynamics of the Roles (Roles Prevalence), and the Quality of the exchanged Information. The first one showed topologies (Classes and Roles) of the system with intense information flow. The second aimed to discuss the type and quality of the exchanged information.

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7.6 Statutory Archival System and Information Enhancement

The quality of the proposal is strictly dependent on thorough knowledge of the building case in terms of information (Baker 1997). The role of organised archives is of great importance in order to provide reliable Primary Data to the applicant. The English model showed that the interrelation of the Primary As Exist Documentation Set with the Survey Document Set is the Information Enhancement required to acquire thorough knowledge of the building case. On the contrary it has been concluded that in the Greek case the content of the archives is rather poor and in consequence its contribution in the system is limited. The continuous updating of the statutory archives with the As Proposed document set and the Actual

Intervention Set (Glen 1998) assures the qualitative content of the archives and complies
with the EMA model applied by the SMRs. The adoption of GIS and Data Standards in the service of the archives is also of great importance. In the English case the use of GIS is quite extensive and the use of MIDAS and INSCRIPTION ensures the informative bedrock of the archival system. The application of systems like Digital Archiving Strategy (Brown 2000) enhances the quality of the stored information and could permit the use of the WEB as a port for the exchange of information. In the Greek system the use of GIS systems is still at a low level and there are no Data Standards for the exchanged information. The application of ICT solutions such as the POLEMON (Bekiari 1998) project and the Terminology Systems (Doer 2002) is considered requisite for the Information Enhancement in the Greek Pre-application Stage. Another factor which indicates the value (or not) of Building Conservation as a social benefit, is the contribution of the Advisory Bodies to the informative background. The Greek model seems to be isolated from external bodies which could contribute to information or/and control and this is important because society is the end user of the conservation outcome.

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7.7 Information Evaluation and Control Bodies A Core Topology in the Pre-Application Stage.
The analysis of the pre-application stage in both the Greek (chapter 4) and the English case (chapter 4), revealed the important task of Information Evaluation. During this task the Enhanced As Exist and the Use Document Set interrelate in order to extract the As Proposed Document Set. The importance of the latter document set for the composition of the Intervention Proposal on Listed Buildings is clear. The analysis of the Dynamics of the Roles in the English pre-application stage showed that the prevalent topology of Classes and Roles is the following: Applicant performs Evaluation -> LPA controls Evaluation -> Evaluation extracts As Proposed Document Set. The following figure shows the core topology of the English Actual model.

Fig. 59. the English Core Topology

The central role of the Local Planning Authority and the continuous negotiation with the Applicant from the beginning of the Evaluation task gives the possibility of secure steps on the composition of the proposal. On the contrary, the Greek model revealed that the Applicant plays the central role in the Pre-application stage. It has been concluded that this happens due to the - up to the moment of this research loose legislative and policy system and the inadequate archival system. As shown in figure 60, the information pool is mainly enriched by the survey carried out by the applicant.

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The particularity of the existing status in Greece extenuates the power and the control ability of the Local Archaeological Department. Moreover, it allows the applicant to take initiatives upon the proposal sometimes of doubtful quality - that are not easily controlled by the LAD.

Fig. 60. The low level contribution of the statutory archives makes Survey Document Set the main information pool.

In addition, the updating of the statutory archives at local level is a matter of good will and the conscience of the applicant as there is not a clear statutory way for the updating of the archives. However, this is about to change according to the proposal for National Archives made by the new law of 2002.

7.8 Quality of Information - ICT requirements.

In the case of the pre-application stage and, particularly, in the frame of the English case study, the quality of information is in connection mainly with three different parameters. These are the Information typology, the quantity of information needed and the extent of the involvement of Information Communication Technologies. In the Greek case the low-level information flow in the system and the poor contribution of ICT in the Archives and the LADs shift the burden of the quality on the document sets composed by the applicant. However such an approach without the use of Data Standards and concrete policies is rather subjective and depends mainly on human factors. The latter point is the problem posed in chapter 1 and makes reference to the hypothesis of the research. On the other hand, the English pre-application system has been a useful case to

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study the quality of information. The expanded informative pattern and the significant ICT embodiment in the system allowed such analysis. The information typology of the English model has been explored and it has been observed that the type of the exchanged data were mainly digital except for a part of Primary As Exist data. The computerised task of Survey and the adoption of new technologies from the applicant introduced digital information in the task of the Information Enhancement. In consequence the As Proposed Document Set could be considered digital as well. Although the Archival sub-system, and especially the SMRs, have been fairly well computerised, their contribution to the system with digital information was not as expected. The low informative feedback of the archives from the contractors is a factor which affects their archival content in terms of quality and relevant policies should be adjusted to prevent this. However, digital data does not always assure information quality in the Pre-Application Stage. The structure of the stored data in the archives is considered very important for reliable data content and consistency in information exchange between the actors. The adoption of Data Content Standard (Lee 2002) in the archives in combination with Data Standards, as Midas and the ISO/AWI21127 (Crofts 2002), for the documentation of the Built Heritage composes a significant tool for the improvement of Information Quality in the Pre-application Stage. The amount of the required information has also been considered an important parameter which affects the quality of the Intervention Proposal. It has been concluded that the more significant the case is, the more information that is needed. The latter point complies with the common perception in Conservation about profound knowledge of the case but extends the matter towards the consequent impact of the proposed changes (Clark 2001). The discussion of the overall quality educed that several parameters, related with the ICT, should act together in order to obtain the optimum Intervention Proposal; some of them could be the following: Information patterns which could assure the data flow to the players Terminology Systems to assure that all the players perceive the system in the same way. Data Content Standards in the archives for reliable Primary As Exist Data

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Data Standards to assure reliable Survey Document Data Digital formats which could assure precision and long-lasting life Data format Standards for system compatibility The above parameters deal with Data Structure and ICT solutions applied in the PreApplication Stage and both compose the ICT background of a system. Figure 58 in chapter 6 shows the increase of the ICT requirements in combination with the perception that the Information Amount increases in relation to the Significance of the building case. In a Conservation frame with modern infrastructure, the increasing of the Significance requires more Information and this draws the need for Data Structures and ICT infrastructure to higher levels.

7.9

Limitations of the theoretical Object Role Model

While the Final Actual Objectl Role Model presented in page 149 provides a wide view of the pre-application stage showing the actors of the system and the exchanged information, there are however some limitations which should be referred:

The model as a diagnostic tool

It is clear that the ORM technique is a helpful tool in order to explore a system in terms of information and to propose improvements on it. Nevertheless, the extended pre-application stage and the complexity of the roles sometimes render the precise depiction of the system difficult. Indeed, some actors in the system are playing a double role at different times in relation of the case under discussion. A typical example is the English Heritage (as Advisory Body) playing a controlling but also advisory role regarding the application.

The objectified classes

The two core classes from which, mainly, depends the quality of the proposal are the Evaluation and Information Enhancement classes. Contrary to the other classes of the system, the content of these classes is quite difficult to be identified and registered in the model. This happens because the content of Evaluation and Information Enhancement is

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not some kind of pure information but the elaboration of information itself. The physical actors (applicant, conservation officer, etc) elaborate the various information according rules and guidelines set by national and/or international bodies. It is clear that such human intervention for the generation of a new document set, is quite difficult to be depicted on the model.

Data standards and basic data content: precondition for the implementation of the data base model.
As mentioned in previous chapters, the Final Actual Object Role Model of the pre-application stage (page 149), it could be used as a data base model at the conceptual stage. However, the extended domain of the pre-application stage and the large informational content of some of the classes, raise two main questions for the implementation of a data base. These are the information consistency and the required minimum information. Although steps have been done towards Data Standards and Basic Data Content (see chapter 5), for the implementation of such extended data base, the adoption/definition of Data Standard and of the minimum quantity of required information seems to be a precondition.

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7.10 Recommendation for future work

UML for database modelling
The Object Role Modelling technique, used in this research, is a fact-oriented approach specifically designed to facilitate Conceptual Analysis and to minimise the impact of change in a current system such as the Pre-Application Stage. However, for the utilisation of the Actual OR Model which has been concluded in chapter 6 as database background, a design modelling language should be used. The Unified Modelling Language is suggested for the design stage of a database which could manage the information of the Pre-Application Stage in a holistic way. UML is widely used as both a database and a software modelling, and was adopted in 1997 by the Object Management Group (1997) as a standard language for object oriented analysis and design. ORM harmonises well with UML since both approaches provide direct support on roles, associations and objectified associations. The following table shows some of the correspondences of the two modelling languages which may allow the transition from the OR model to UML model.

Data instances/structures
ORM Entity Value Object Entity Type Value type Object type Use relationship type 2+ -ary relationship type Object Data value Object or Data value Class Data type Class or Data type Attribute Association UML

Fig. 61. Basic correspondence between ORM and UML for conceptual data models.

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As a standard modelling language, UML notation includes diagrams for use cases, static structures (class, object), behaviour (state chart, activity), interaction (sequence,

collaboration), and implementation (component, deployment). Its class diagrams constitute the static structure of the UML and provide an extended Entity Relationship notation which facilitates the transition from the ORM to the UML. The use of attributes and values describe Objects and their data structure. Such an approach provides a better perception of the informative content of the Pre-Application Stage and puts in the scene the structure of the Document Sets treated in this research. An example of the transition from ORM to UML is presented in figure 64 where the objectified Information Enhancement class is depicted.

Information Enhancement in ORM and in

UML.

Fig. 62. Information Enhancement in ORM and in UML.

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Object Oriented approaches in GIS

It has been discussed that GIS in the Conservation Industry is a useful ICT application for information management and Conservation monitoring. The extended use of such systems in the LPAs and their ability to combine spatial and aspatial data render their evolution necessary. The current trend towards Object Oriented GIS (Hardy 2000) gives new capabilities in network analysis, cartographic generalisation, and the maintenance of the integrity of large multiproduct topographic databases. In distinction from the relational databases, in an object database model values are not only restricted to those which can be held in tables, but can also be geometries, and rasters. The application of such tools in the pre-application stage, based on the object model presented in this research, could extend the capabilities of the GIS systems used until now. Moreover WEB interfaces through ThinClients architecture (Woodsford 2001) could improve the interoperability and render the O-O GIS a common open source for all the players of the Pre-Application Stage.

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