HOLT Ops

(left to right): HOLT Ops director Malcolm Crowder (now retired), HOLT Ops trustee Julian Spicer and English Heritage's former Chairman Sir Neil Cossons at the re-opening of the Waterpoint in 2006.

This "sister" but legally separate Trust was set up in 1993 with the encouragement of English Heritage. Its primary purpose is to undertake restoration projects on the English Heritage "Buildings at Risk" Register for Greater London.

The Trust seeks out derelict buildings, evaluates their potential and, having determined an end use, raises funds for restoration. The restored buildings are sold and the capital generated is re-invested for the management and funding of future projects. The Chairman is Julian Spicer and the Project Organiser is Malcolm Crowder, who was the first Chairman of the Association of Preservation Trusts.

The Trust's first project, which was completed in 1997, was the grade II listed terrace of eight houses in Tower Hamlets with ownership transferred from the Borough to the Trust. Restoration was funded by the Heritage of London Trust, English Partnerships, English Heritage and the Architectural Heritage Fund. The restored terrace was purchased by the Spitalfields Co-Operative Housing Association.

St Pancras Waterpoint . The waterpoint at St pancras had to be moved to make way for the new Eurstar high-speed link. It was cut into pieces and moved to a new site next to the rail lines. HOLT Ops oversaw the restoration.

The Trust's second project, completed in 1998, was Thorpe Coombe House in Waltham Forest, a grade II listed villa built in 1792. It had become derelict and vandalised and was transferred to the Trust by the Forest Healthcare NHS Trust. The project was funded by a Heritage Lottery grant, English Heritage, the Heritage of London Trust, Forest Healthcare NHS Trust and the Borough Council. The restored building has been leased back to the Forest Healthcare NHS Trust as its headquarters building.

Our third project, which was completed in June 2000, was the restoration of the former Doctor's House at Langthorne Hospital in Waltham Forest. This derelict building was handed over to the Trust by Forest Healthcare NHS Trust and has been restored with support from English Heritage, Waltham Forest Borough Council and the Heritage of London Trust. Now the building is complete it is leased back to the Forest Healthcare NHS Trust.

Projects under way at present are the former Poplar Library in Tower Hamlets and the relocation of St Pancras Waterpoint from St Pancras Station to the St Pancras Yacht Basin. Projects under consideration include Queen's Park Hall, Harrow Road, Westminster.

All these buildings are Grade II listed and on the English Heritage "Buildings at Risk" Register

Bromley Hall. On the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road, this building is all that remains of a Tudor manor house where Henry VIII entertained his mistress. HOLT Ops kick-started the regeneration of the area around the hall, which is now in use by Leaside Regeneration.