Corrosion of Building Materials due to Atmospheric Pollution in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The lifetime for which buildings are designed can vary enormously. Secular buildings designed for a specific purpose tend to become obsolescent because that purpose disappears, and the structure is too inflexible to enable it to be adapted for modern purposes. Such obsolescence generally occurs within a period somewhat shorter than a century. If such buildings have been well maintained, corrosion of the fabric due to attack from the atmosphere is rarely life-determining (though there have been spectacular exceptions to this rule in the post-war period). On the other hand, ecclesiastical buildings, monuments and works of art have, notionally at least, a design life of infinity.