Case Study

Boutique restaurant in a listed building: deciding before design (heritage + fire safety)

1) Context

A developer planned to convert a listed building into a boutique restaurant, involving interior and exterior alterations. The building contained highly sensitive decorative and artistic elements — frescoes, carved woodwork and sculpted ceilings.
The operation also included a commercial kitchen, introducing significant fire safety requirements associated with a high-risk area.

The objective was to make an informed decision quickly, before committing to design and before assuming irreversible technical or heritage risk.

2) Initial risks

Three critical risks framed the decision:

1. Heritage risk — potential impact on irreplaceable artistic and decorative elements

2. Technical compatibility — risk of intrusive fire safety solutions incompatible with conservation

3. Institutional process — authority-dependent validations (Human Gate) affecting programme and scope
   
   

Without a structured approach, the likely outcome would have been premature design investment followed by late-stage redesign or partial infeasibility.

3) Euritmia methodology (Ecosystem)

Phase 1 — EURITMIA RP (Preliminary Assessment)

• heritage and regulatory context

• identification of critical risks, including fire safety implications

• risk matrix (Green/Amber/Red)

• data gaps and confidence level

• identification of Human Gate items
  
  

Conclusion: the level of heritage and technical risk justified integrating objective evidence of existing conditions prior to impact assessment.

Phase 2 — EURITMIA RP+ (Existing Conditions Evidence)

• point cloud survey (TLS / laser scanning) for metric control of interiors and façades

• architectural and heritage photogrammetry for material reading and documentation of sensitive elements

• targeted excerpts and ortho-images, proportionate to scope
  
  

Result: assumptions were replaced with verifiable evidence, enabling:

• precise identification of Sensitive Heritage Elements (SHE)

• reduced subjectivity in impact assessment

• early avoidance of irreversible or overly intrusive solutions
  
  

Phase 3 — EURITMIA AIP (Heritage Impact Assessment)

• formal identification of heritage attributes and SHE

• assessment of impact magnitude and significance

• impact matrix, mitigation measures and recommendations

• consideration of alternatives where applicable

• explicit authority-dependent steps (Human Gate)
  
  

The HIA was structured to support decision-making and prepare the process for institutional dialogue.

4) Deliverables

• Preliminary Assessment Report (PDF): context, risk matrix, rule log, gaps and next steps

• Existing Conditions Evidence: point cloud + photogrammetry with supporting excerpts

• Heritage Impact Assessment Report (PDF): impacts, significance, mitigation and dependencies

5) Decision and outcome

The developer was able to decide before design, with:

• explicit protection of sensitive heritage elements

• a technically viable strategy to reconcile fire safety with conservation

• a clear sequence of authority validations (Human Gate)

• reduced risk of late-stage redesign or project blockage
  
  

6) Value delivered

• reduced uncertainty prior to design investment

• defensible, traceable decisions proportionate to risk

• objective evidence used only where necessary

• prevention of irreversible interventions in a listed building
  
  

Products used: EURITMIA DECIDE (RP + Existing Conditions Evidence + AIP)