Understanding historic buildings – an interview with Dr Helen Lawrence Beaton

Dr Helen Lawrence Beaton has worked as a researcher and historian at ADAM Architecture for more than 20 years. Her expertise spans British architecture and garden history, and she has extensive experience of writing the heritage statements, pattern books and local character studies that underpin ADAM Architecture’s work on new houses, restorations and urban planning.

In 2015 she completed her PhD at the University of Bristol on Thomas Archer and is now the leading authority on this key architect of the English Baroque.

What is your academic background and area of expertise?

Broadly speaking my expertise is really early 18th century architecture and the English Baroque, but the great thing about this job is that you become a mini expert in all sorts of areas quite quickly, so I’m always learning.

My background is in fine art, and I was sure that was what I would go into professionally. However, during my art foundation, I took an extra A level in art history and was hooked.

I liked the academic discipline that studying history gave me. It led me on to the University of Bristol to do a BA in art history. In almost every module I found an element of architectural history that fascinated me, and it was there that I met Professor Tim Mowl, the architectural historian who introduced me to classical architecture and the development of Bath and Bristol. He taught me to walk around places, really looking at them, analysing them and researching them.

He showed me that to fully understand buildings you need to understand the people who have lived there and made them what they are. That is what I find so interesting.

My BA thesis explored how the Greek Revival, although often perceived as stark and austere, could also be romantic. I learned about the contemporary classical architect Robert Adam through a unit on 20th Century architecture. He presented Robert as a contemporary architect interpreting classical architecture in a modern way. I was intrigued and so when I left university, I wrote to what is now ADAM Architecture and although there wasn’t a specific role for me, they took me on.

I began as a researcher, helping with any kind of background research that might be needed for a project. Gradually, it evolved to the more formal role of architectural historian.

The practice has been enormously supportive of my academic research, enabling me to do a master’s in garden history, again run by Professor Mowl. It encompassed everything I already loved about architectural history because, like buildings, gardens are very much about the people who created them. It was during that course that I fell in love with Thomas Archer’s garden buildings. I was looking at Wrest Park Pavilion and the Cascade House at Chatsworth for example, and I couldn’t understand why nothing substantial had been written about these important buildings and their architect. My master’s thesis looked at Archer’s garden buildings, questioning whether he might have been involved in the design of the landscapes around them. I concluded that he was, via a gentlemanly collaboration with his patrons, rather than as a paid landscape designer as we would recognise today.

Professor Mowl, who has very much been my mentor, encouraged me to continue my research into Archer beyond my MA. He suggested I write a PhD on Archer’s life and work, which could eventually provide the basis for a book. I researched and wrote that part-time while working at ADAM, as with my master’s. It has all led to a publishing contract for a new monograph on Archer, which is due for publication in 2026.

When and why did the practice start writing formal historical development reports?

In the early days, my work was primarily sourcing precedent images, and some history of the building, but this was only quite a small part of what I did.

Over the last decade, appreciation for the value of understanding a building’s heritage has increased dramatically, not just at ADAM Architecture, but within planning departments, and amongst contractors and clients too. Today my job is exclusively historic development reports, pattern books and character analysis documents.

Do other practices produce historical reports in the same way or is ADAM unique?

I think we’re relatively unique in having an in-house history team – there are quite a few historical consultancies these days, to which studios will outsource their research, and of course there are lots of conservation architects, but they’re not necessarily going to research a property in as much detail as we do.

What is the value of historical reports to the practice and the client?

Our reports are a huge benefit to the client: understanding their property’s history gives them confidence in their ownership. They have documentary evidence to guide the next iteration of the house’s history.

From the very first contact we have with a property, it’s about instilling confidence in the client that we are thorough, fully informed, diligent and setting high standards.

Then, as we meet with the client and relevant heritage bodies, we nurture collaborative relationships so that if problems arise, we can iron them out quickly.

From a business perspective, we have become known as a practice with this particular expertise in heritage buildings. We never take it for granted, it has to be earned. People expect a certain standard of us, that our work will be diligent, intelligent and practical. We don’t treat it as merely an academic exercise, it’s about looking at the building, analysing it, walking around it and getting into the bones of it, so that we can understand the changes that have happened over the years, and the effect they’ve had on the building today.

Historic research can also be extremely liberating – sometimes our research can prove that certain aspects of a building, or buildings on an estate, are not actually that important. We can unlock any false narratives that have been created and in turn open up the potential that certain things previously thought impossible, actually are possible.

What is the most extraordinary or unusual building you’ve researched?

If you include the buildings I researched for my PhD, undoubtedly I would say the parsonage in St Paul’s in Deptford, by Thomas Archer. It was demolished relatively early on in its history, but it’s been a complete puzzle as people have struggled to work out its triangular-plan form with a staircase in the middle.

It’s an absolutely bonkers house. But it’s what I love about Archer. His buildings are a bit crazy; they capture the imagination. It was clearly really unpopular and unpleasant to live in as it had to be adapted when he had his costs cut back, but stylistically it’s a little gem that can still be seen in engravings.

What is your favourite historic building?

I think this might be an obvious one but Blenheim Palace by Sir John Vanbrugh. It’s pretty austere but I remember the first time I walked up to it was the first time I was struck by the power of English Baroque architecture and what it can do. It really got me.

It’s different to anything else around the world, uniquely English, and from a very specific time. I’m not sure it’s necessarily my favourite building, but it’s certainly the one that had the most impact: it’s the one that led me down the rabbit hole of English Baroque and eventually to Thomas Archer.

Some of my other favourite buildings are simpler, and not necessarily all from one particular period: you walk through them and because there are so many different periods of building it’s like walking through history, which I love.

They’re not palaces or grand houses, but smaller buildings that we don’t already know as much about. Researching them will take you on a journey, following in the footsteps of the interesting characters associated with them: often you can really feel their presence and see the effect they have had on the architecture.

Do you have a favourite city in the UK?

I have a soft spot for Bristol, I feel it’s often overlooked. Bath is perceived as the beauty of the south-west but to me Bristol is more interesting and varied, and its architecture reflects its history as an important port.

There are wonderful Georgian houses dotted around the city, which just has more of a human touch about it. To me, Bath is more of a stage set – it’s like a gorgeous wedding cake while Bristol is more of a buffet with the sausage rolls everyone really wants to eat!

Which is your favourite city in the world?

It would have to be one of the possibly rather predictable Italian cities, Florence or Rome, but I think probably if I could only choose one it would be Rome. There are so many layers to discover. You could go on one trip and just look at Roman architecture, then the next time just focus on Italian Baroque churches, and another time 19th century classical revival. You will always find something new and always find something to keep everyone interested and inspired.

Have you continued with fine art alongside your architectural research?

I still love creating art, but I’ve moved away from figurative work to textiles and ultimately to abstract screen printing. I find it so satisfying to focus on colours and textures, which is what I love, and the depth that can be achieved. I find it interesting that some people struggle to reconcile my abstract art with my work in classical and traditional architecture. I always argue that they are not mutually exclusive. Many of our clients choose to live in classical houses but have art collections that are quite strikingly modern. Why should the two be at odds?