Paper on treatment of weathered globigerina limestone in Madrid

Tabitha Mifsud has recently returned from Spain after delivering a paper at the Heritage, Weathering and Conservation Conference (HWC-2006) in Madrid. This scientific meeting took place between June 21 and 24 and brought together over 200 international professionals involved in the field of heritage conservation.

These included architects, chemists, geologists, geographers, conservators, historians, physicists, biologists and engineers.

A multi-disciplinary approach facilitated an exchange of the diverse aspects pertaining to the latest research that relate to the conservation of cultural heritage.

The paper, presented by Ms Mifsud deals with the local Maltese globigerina limestone and its treatment once in the weathered state. It concerns research being carried out at the Institute for Masonry and Construction Research of the University of Malta in connection with Ms Mifsud's postgraduate studies for a Master of Science in Conservation Technology for Masonry Buildings.

Dr JoAnn Cassar is a co-author of the paper which forms part of the proceedings of the conference and have been published. Tabitha Mifsud is a conservation architect at Architecture Project (AP). She formed part of the team at AP that undertook the rehabilitation and development of the Valletta Waterfront for Viset (Malta) plc.

The project was recently granted a European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage in Architecture - the Europa Nostra Award.