Building Blocks

The British public have been brought up to regard good old bricks and mortar as the only acceptable materials with which to build a house.

This is a deep rooted belief in that a brick dwelling embodies the key requirements for stability, security, resistance to weathering and perhaps most importantly in our wealth based society, to maintain a monetary value.

The Victorians were the main promoters of a brick built environment as a statement of civic pride, philanthropic intentions and a property based wealth.

In the harsh Northern European climate that both afflicts and characterises the UK there were obvious limitations in the durability of historic traditional methods and materials. Mud washed away, wattle and daub eventually failed, timber frames rotted away or were attacked by insect and all of the foregoing were in peril from accidental or even intentional burning down to the ground.

A systematic approach by our Victorian forefathers saw architectural blueprints take shape as actual buildings. A high proportion of these still survive and perform a sustainable function as homes, factories, offices, churches, schools, institutions and for many other purposes but faced with issues of our era such as fuel poverty for a tangible proportion of our population many shortcomings are now apparent.

Brick in a solid wall form which prevailed in the Victorian period has very poor thermal efficiency.
Dampness and condensation have implications for health and lifestyle. In flood prone areas masonry takes the longest time to dry out and recover from inundation. An acid atmosphere can eat away and erode clay bricks. Such buildings can be quite inflexible and unable to adapt to modern living,If Listed or protected there can be restrictions on making alterations.

In all, they may still be great and striking structures but with an increasing risk of becoming obsolete or redundant.

The realisation of these factors has led to the research and development of alternative construction forms and over the last fifty years or so the UK housing stock has seen experiments in prefabrication, systems building, various timber frame methods, metal frame, cast in situ concrete and many more variations.

In more recent years technologies have progressed and we are now seeing the emergence, albeit in extremely limited numbers and rather dispersed locations, of polystyrene insulated concrete forms, structural panels and modern versions of what were previously regarded as sub standard and non-traditional, primarily seeking that key mantra of ultra energy efficient and zero carbon emissions.

Unfortunately the British public are largely unaware of these innovations which is a shame as they would be the ultimate beneficiaries of lower running costs, adaptable multi-generational accommodation and minimal repair and maintenance liabilities.

The main reason for this apparent ignorance is down to the stranglehold of the high volume house builders in this country who throw up brick built houses and promote them relentlessly as the only acceptable type of construction to meet what I described earlier as the fundamental requirements.

Some of the more prestigious companies do offer alternative methods of construction but usually well out of the financial reach of the largest proportion of the house buying public.

It is yet to be seen if the next generation of materials and methods will be as easily suppressed.

There are revolutionary ideas for the buildings of the future brought about through a collaboration between architects and scientists.

One such direction is the potential use of living materials and the prospect of a structure being able to repair itself, grow and resist threats such as flooding is fascinating.

We are determined currently to insulate and protect our ageing housing stock against the influences of nature so how about a complete re-appraisal and  striving to connect to nature instead?

A possibility is in metabolic materials.

Protocells are a microscopic fatty based chemical entity with no DNA but they behave like a living organism. They shed skin and can form a solid shell. In some ways they resemble the composition of limestone. Any casual examination of the wall of an old limestone built house reveals a natural amalgam of fossilised shells and animal skeletons and this has proven to be an ideal building material. Protocells can be used to form building blocks or can be directed to form an artificial reef beneath failing buildings as has been proposed as a means to save the World Heritage Site of Venice from sinking on its timber stilt foundation piles.

The mass of protocells is also able to absorb carbon dioxide and encourage natural habitats, two new but fundamental criteria for the survival of humans and the wider ecology of the planet.

(Source document; TED lecture by Rachel Armstrong 2009. Inspired by The Museum of Curiosity August 2016)