Inclusive Heritages: An exploration of accessible conservation by Kirsty Watt

Inclusive Heritages opens at Custom Lane on 3 July. It is a new exhibition by Kirsty Watt, GRAS architect and accessibility specialist and the first showing of research she has spent years building.The work began at Leeds Beckett University, in Watt’s study of inclusivity and accessibility in historic buildings. Historic fabric resists change. Conservation sets limits on what can be altered and those limits are often read as reasons to stop. The exhibition asks a different question: how far a building can go before those limits are reached.

“The intention of the work is to create a benchmark for inclusivity, with architecture and conservation projects using this as a tool for achieving inclusivity as far as reasonably practicable, and practicable being more than not at all.”

The exhibition is built to the standard it argues for. The opening evening offers access packs, face masks, air purifiers, braille and tactile drawings, and a BSL interpreter. Drinks are chosen for sober, gluten-free and vegan guests alongside those who are not. A quiet opening follows the next morning, for anyone who needs the room calmer.