Future Skills Future Challenges

On June 5th 2015, at the Heriot Watt/CITB Research showcase held in Edinburgh, my PhD project was unveiled to the participants. They were given an insight into the Future Challenges facing Heritage skills.

With the increasing demand for maintenance and refurbishment in the historic built environment, current government policy presents delivering high quality repair and maintenance with the added challenges of not compromising the building’s historical features while minimising the impact on the natural environment. In order to address these challenges, we urgently need to modernise the construction practice of building conservation.

The question then is, how we can address it? We need to invest in new technologies in practice and in training, and the benefits of implementing innovative technology could be truly outstanding. From 3Dlaser scanning to BIM these superhero technologies can enhance the way we practice historic building conservation and in turn how we can deliver training.