Stabilising the past for the next century.
Masonry, timber, stone — and the patience to learn how 19th-century craftsmen built before we touch their work.
What this discipline covers.
Hextal's Heritage and Restoration division was founded in 1979 following the successful restoration of the Ridderzaal in The Hague. Today the practice is responsible for 67 UNESCO and nationally listed restoration projects across Europe, making it one of the continent's largest specialist heritage engineering teams.
Heritage work demands a fundamentally different engineering mindset. Before we touch a structure, we must understand how it was built, what materials were used, what has changed over the centuries and what the original builders intended. Our teams include trained stonemasons, timber frame specialists and conservation engineers who work alongside structural engineers and materials scientists.
Every intervention follows the principle of minimal disruption: we stabilise and conserve, using original materials and techniques wherever possible. Where modern engineering is required for structural safety, it is designed to be reversible and clearly distinguishable from the historic fabric.
Selected works.
How we approach this discipline.
Forensic survey
Before any intervention, our conservation engineers conduct a full forensic survey: material analysis, structural monitoring, environmental assessment and historical research.
Minimal intervention
We stabilise and conserve using original materials and techniques wherever possible. Modern engineering is used only where required for structural safety and is designed to be reversible.
Craft-led execution
Our heritage teams include trained stonemasons, lime mortar specialists and timber frame carpenters who work alongside structural engineers and materials scientists.
Long-term monitoring
Post-intervention structural monitoring using wireless sensor networks, ensuring that restored structures remain stable and that any movement is detected early.
The people behind Heritage & Restoration.
Our heritage & restoration team includes engineers, project managers, site supervisors and specialist consultants working across the full project lifecycle.
Other disciplines.
Bridges, tunnels, rail & highways.
From cable-stayed crossings to bored alpine tunnels — the load-bearing arteries of European movement.
Renewables, transmission, storage.
Offshore wind foundations, HVDC interconnectors, pumped storage, hydrogen-ready substations.
Quays, locks, dry docks, breakwaters.
If a continent rests on its coastline, we work where the rock meets the salt.