Last week David attended a workshop on energy-retrofitting the traditional hygrothermal envelope. This included preparation, mixing and casting bio-aggregate mixture of hemp and lime onto existing masonry. The workshop, run by Neighbourhood Construction, taught the installation through kinaesthetic learning, a process that worked very well in understanding all the elements of delivering a project like this for a potential client.
Neighbourhood Construction also integrates some key principles that they are developing as a company. One of the first principles that underlie their approach is the shift away from the static categorisation of people such as homeowners/contractors/specifiers etc, that may limit confidence and dialogue when looking at renovating a house, towards the concept that we are all Practitioners. A forward-thinking definition that empowers the individuals.
The workshop also goes through their working model of project management for an informed renovation of traditional structures. This approach values a traditional learning style of constructivism or ‘learning by doing’, a refreshing antithesis to the prevalent, learning by listening, the model of today.
![dscf8279](https://hawklandec.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/dscf8279.jpg?w=1140)
Starting with the Scientific Principles of Internal Weather (a very interesting theory being developed by Simon James Lewis), Thermal Envelope and Human Comfort, Neighbourhood Construction emphasises a knowledge-led approach to renovation. We touched on their Project Management Strategy that supports the delivery of an efficient and cost-effective installation. This merged into on-site and off-site Protocols during the construction stage, which highlighted some really important considerations when working in a team such as communication, welfare, tidiness during the job and waste management. Finishing on People, a stage that talked about the importance of user centred design and planning, non-egotistical management and how occupant behaviour can have a large influence on the success of an energy-retrofit in damp remediation.
February 2019 – Exciting new research results
When: Friday 1st February 2019, 7 – 9 pm
Where: The Portcullis, 3 Wellington Terrace, Bristol BS8 4LE
Cost: Free event
https://www.meetup.com/nghbrhdcnstrctn/events/257862988/
4 thoughts on “Process, protocols and principles; a practitioners-perspective”