My friend Stephen Bond, who has died aged 69 of heart failure, was a groundbreaking heritage consultant and conservation surveyor.
Stephen’s reputation as a leading heritage practitioner was cemented by his directorship of the Tower Environs Scheme (TES), which ran from 1997 to 2005. A regeneration initiative for the area surrounding the Tower of London, TES was innovative in pioneering a holistic understanding of heritage assets within their historical, cultural and built environments.
TES brought Stephen global attention. He subsequently worked as a consultant for Unesco’s World Heritage Centre on a number of projects spanning the last 20 years, and cultivated a successful academic career, publishing two editions of the seminal text Managing Built Heritage: The Role of Cultural Values, with Derek Worthing.
Stephen designed and validated a conservation diploma at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He led courses at institutions including the University College of Estate Management, in Reading, the University of the West of England, Bristol, and Oxford University. In 1998, De Montfort University in Leicester awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contribution to building surveying and conservation. In 2000, he was scholar in residence at Roger Williams University, Rhode Island, and at the University of Savannah in 2008.
In 2008, Stephen established Heritage Places, with offices in the UK and Italy. He consulted on architectural and historical projects in countries including Lebanon, Georgia, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Bali and Vietnam. As heritage adviser to a World Bank project in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2014, Stephen created an urban plan that recognised the importance of built heritage in preserving community memories and saving cultural landmarks threatened by high-rise development, developing a legal protection framework that safeguarded them for the future.
He was born in Ruislip, Middlesex, to June (nee Woolman), a homemaker, and Frank Bond, a lecturer at the London College of Printing. I met Stephen when we were both pupils at Trinity school of John Whitgift, Croydon. Until his final year, Stephen was determined to study astronomy, but, in his words, the “almost shiny new school building – a cornucopia for learning … made me first consider architecture’s potential to influence lives and life”. He pivoted to take a BA in ancient Mediterranean studies at Bristol University, and a master’s in environmental archaeology at Sheffield University.
These courses honed his lifelong commitment to preserving cultural heritage. Stephen subsequently became a chartered building surveyor and partner at Tuffin Ferraby Taylor. A secondment to Historic Royal Palaces led to his appointment as the first surveyor of the fabric, managing conservation projects at Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London and other Crown properties.
Stephen was married and divorced twice, first to Sue Sherburn, with whom he had two children, Lucy and Roanna, and then to Bridget Litchfield.
He is survived by his partner, Helen Gillman, by his two daughters and his sister, Sue.
