What We Kept at Foundry No. 4

The survey took eleven weeks. That is longer than the concept design took, and it was the most valuable part of the project.

We catalogued every element of the hall — the frame, the crane rails, the charge bunkers, the three distinct floor slabs poured across sixty years — and scored each one on condition, carbon and meaning.

Anything scoring well on the third column stayed, even where the first two argued against it. The crane rails carry no load now and cost money to retain. They are also the reason the building still reads as a foundry.

New work is hung, bolted and shadow-gapped so that a future survey can undo it without damaging what we inherited. That felt like the minimum obligation.