Knowledge-Gap Opinion
GBE > Encyclopaedia > Opinion > State of the Industry > G#41163
About:
Knowledge-Gap Opinion
What do I know?
- Problems:
- Since I studied 50-40 years ago education of architects has changed, not least of all due to computers and software, we only had to dabble in MS-DOS programming to sort a column of numbers.
- ARB syllabus or its interpretation and RIBA university course assessments are wholly inadequate for the job of an Architect.
- Having studied ONC and HNC Construction part time first, I was in a strong position to technically design buildings, without it, Architectural Education could have left me and does leave current students incapable of the basic tasks.
- I have been teaching for 16 years and know what is currently offered to students.
- I am discouraged from teaching them too much, “they won’t remember it”.
- And yet at 18 to 23 years of age they are like sponges wanting to know more.
- Teachers are discouraged from giving feedback for fear of retaliation by ‘students with rights.’
- And yet students are desperate for feedback to be able to learn.
- Universities are cutting back on hourly paid lecturers to reduce overheads and increase top salaries of Vice Chancellors or increase profit margins?
- Tutors especially hourly paid lecturers are paid the minimum and expected to deliver the maximum.
- Specialists are invited to lecture on ‘Carbon’ for free.
- Or the philosophical jargon spewing incumbents will lecture on carbon poetically, metaphorically.
- My concerns are confirmed by many students from many universities that I meet at national and international construction exhibitions, national and international CPD seminars and mentoring.
- It’s not just Architects: Technician, QS and Surveyors seem to have similar issues.
- I hope Structural and Civil Engineers are doing better.
- American architectural education seems to be significantly more technically competent.
- But they still must pass UK ARB interview/exam process to practice here.
- Double standards.
- The Chinese are doing better, they intend to take over the world, if there is anything left worth having.
Knowledge-Gap Opinion
Current Architectural Education:
- Problems:
- Needs to include some awareness of the industry as a whole:
- Education is living in a cocoon isolated from the realities of the construction industry.
- Lacking any awareness of any of the initiatives to close skills- and knowledge-gaps.
- Government’s shrinking environmental objectives, legislation, contracts, procurement methods, responsibilities, state of the art anything, assessment schemes, environmental initiatives, authoritative bodies, publications, campaigns, information sources, software, websites, databases, etc.
- Awareness not competency:
- The subject is so vast that RIBA and ARB will argue you cannot be competent in everything.
- So, they only aspire to awareness of any subject, but no competency, until now.
- The scope of learning is severely limited.
- So, they do not expect a broad understanding of the issues.
- Problem solving is probably the most important skill they acquire.
- Part 1 Degree may no longer be needed to qualify.
- Part 3 Professional Practice: may be dropped, thinking it can be learned on the job.
- Years-out between RIBA Parts are still considered valuable by the professionals.
- if only as an eye opener about the reality of the job of an Architect.
- Philosophical Issues:
- An essential part of architect’s theoretical education?
- Not taught as a series of lectures but acquired by hearing of them during critiques of studio project designs.
- Philosophy is embodied not embedded in building.
- Architects Jargon:
- A language that is not taught but spoken fluently at students as if a foreign language.
- A private language that nobody else speaks, which alienates architects from clients, project team members and constructors.
- Snappy Graphics:
- Might include floor plans and elevations.
- With blurred out undeveloped areas: Work in Progress (‘WIP’).
- No cross sections of building and no construction details.
- Developed in 3D CAD software then exported to turn into graphics.
- Encouraged to work towards end of year exhibitions, emulating AA end of year exhibition.
- Encouraged to show unbuildable buildings, or non-buildings, mostly mesmerising meaningless graphics for a ‘wow factor’ for the visitors, course assessors and journalists.
- Are the visitors not capable of seeing the meaningless graphics or are they mesmerised too?
- Students question the purpose or merit of meaningless wasted time.
- Is it about RIBA & ARB continuing recognition of the course?
- Are they not capable of seeing through the snappy graphics?
- If not, they should not be on visiting panels.
- Don’t they know how hard the University staff work to convince the visiting panels?
- Muddily models:
- 3D version of the mesmerising meaningless
- Materiality:
- Awareness of construction materials as experienced by the 5 senses.
- Philosophical take on materials: E.g. Structural morphology?
- At the expense of materials know-how, technical knowledge, application competency.
- Building performance:
- The kneejerk reaction of RIBA and ARB after Grenfell fire: they shall learn about fire.
- Later they cottoned on to the Carbon Dioxide crisis and added that to the priorities.
- As if building performance is limited to Fire and Carbon, what about all the other issues?
- Next on the syllabus? Structural integrity and RAAC?
- Case Study: LSBU Architecture course, RIBA Visiting panel:
- One panel member frowned at and asked the purpose of cross sections:
- “What will they learn or show other than a bit of insulation?”
- How dumb can an RIBA visiting panel get?
- How wrong can an RIBA visiting panel be?
- Solutions
- Awareness of the industry as a whole:
- Government shrinking objectives, legislation, contracts, procurement methods, responsibilities, state of the art everything, assessment schemes, environmental initiatives, authoritative bodies, publications, campaigns, information sources, software, websites, databases, etc.
- Building Performance:
- Thank goodness for TGR, AECB, PHT, ASBP, ACAN, etc. training for graduates and practitioners to help fill the skills-gap left by an RIBA ARB accredited education.
- Jargon busters: See Appendix: Lists _____
- https://greenbuildingencyclopaedia.uk/encyclopaedia/code/jargon-buster/entries/gbe-jargon-buster-entries-navigation/
- Awareness of the industry as a whole:
- Might include floor plans and elevations.
- Needs to include some awareness of the industry as a whole:
Knowledge-Gap Opinion
Absent or Inadequate education on:
- Problems:
- Building Physics: (just a sample of the issues that need to be addressed and understood)
- Building Performance: (those particularly relevant to timber buildings)
- Principles of Element Design: Back to basics:
- Principles: Actions reactions, performance, regulations, code of practice, standards.
- Approaches to detailing: Standard details v Standard approaches with job variation.
- Learning and capturing know-how to avoid having to relearn later.
- Jargon Busting: learning the correct meanings enabling competent communication.
- Understanding that details dictate sequence of assembly, fixing and fastening.
- Being radical does not mean ignoring all the rules, it means understanding them and overwhelming them, in a competent manner.
- Future-Facing:
- Meeting real carbon targets for human survival:
- No longer viable:
- Cement, Concrete, Steel, Plastics, Aluminium, Fired clay, chemistry.
- Increasingly essential:
- Natural stone, Earth, Timber, rapidly renewable plant-based materials.
- Reducing energy demand, increasing energy efficiency, reducing carbon dioxide in supply, behaviour change.
- Timber know-how:
- Books and Publications, Webinars and CPD activity.
- See Appendix: Publications
- Sub-structure:
- Actions, reactions, forces, failure modes, transfer of loads down to foundations, comparing materials.
- Flood prone sites: materials tolerance to flood water, design to resist erosion.
- Structure:
- Actions, reactions, forces, failure modes, dead and live loads, transfer of loads down to foundations, progressive collapse, connections, materials, fire performance, comparing materials.
- Fire:
- Fire resistance, combustibility, propagation, surface spread of flame, timber charring rates, etc.
- Comparing different materials reactions to fire:
- Mineral fibres, Steel, Aluminium, Timber, Concrete, Plastics, plant-based materials.
- Case Study: Grenfell disaster must be taught as a case study of the whole industry’s systemic failure, to emphasis the responsibility of architects to scrutinise test and certification evidence, writing materials specifications, policing of what gets built.
- Construction:
- Methods of construction & materials and elemental assemblies.
- Understanding the purpose of each component in an assembly.
- Understanding the relative positions of each’s purpose to perform competently.
- Acoustics:
- Understanding: airtightness, absorption, isolation, insulation, impact sound, etc.
- Thermal Insulation:
- U values, k values, g values, specific heat capacity, decrement factor and delay.
- Conductivity (winter heat loss through insulation, thermal bridges).
- Convection (wind washing, thermal bypass, thermal eddy currents).
- Radiation (summer overheating through opaque and glazed areas).
- Thermal bridges, Thermal breaks.
- Airtightness/Acoustics.
- Moisture:
- Slogans:
- Insulation – ventilation = condensation GBE 2023
- No insulation without ventilation PAS 2030 & 2035
- Moisture permeability and airtightness.
- Vapour open and vapour closed construction.
- Condensation prediction and consequences: Interstitial and Surface.
- Hydrophilic, Hydrophobic, Hygroscopic, etc.
- Membrane and grommet systems, performance and purpose.
- Detailing for competency.
- Slogans:
- Ventilation:
- Passive ventilation activated by relative humidity.
- Active ventilation activated by air wind pressure and heat buoyancy.
- Mechanical ventilation, with/out heat recovery, summer bypass, smokers boost buttons.
- Air conditioning: (high energy, high carbon, legionella’s health risk).
- Elemental Assemblies:
- Methods of Construction:
- Historic, traditional, conventional, modern and innovative methods.
- Light Timber Frame
- Vapour open and vapour closed construction.
- Appropriate approaches to detailing to meet all performance requirements.
- For timber construction in particular:
- construction moisture risks.
- moisture exclusion detailing, moisture ingress control, moisture release.
- moisture management, vapour open v vapour closed.
- air and wind tightness.
- approach to detailing.
- Products as solutions
- Structural systems, framing, panels,
- Boards: Decking, Linings,
- Thermal, Fire and Acoustic proofing linings and insulation.
- Proofing: Seals, sealants, strips, gaskets, grommets, membranes, systems.
- Water, gas, damp, air, wind, vapour, tanking, ground water
- Anchors, staps, fixings and fastenings
- Fail-safe solutions (ones that give early indication of failure) (JR) (JR)
- The principle of fail-safe was introduced on the railways.
- When something fails it must fail in a safe condition.
- I am not sure stopping a burning train in the channel tunnel is the safest option with potential catastrophic failure.
- Fail-safe has been adopted in buildings too.
- g. Electromagnetic fire door hold open devices, when the power fails the magnets release and the fire door closers close the fire doors.
- Mode of failure and life expectancy:
- For every performance requirement there is a corresponding mode of failure, sometimes more than one.
- In the case of timber and moisture:
- Direct:
- Water or moisture vapour led to condensation: surface or interstitial, leads to mould, then wrot, insect infestation, structural failure, toxic mould.
- Storage of resources, materials or products in damp or humid conditions can lead to mould developing on or in those materials before the materials are anywhere near a building site.
- Straw bales, plant-based insulation materials must be free from mould before installing in construction or unhealthy conditions can prevail.
- The moisture content required in the growing field or storage site in plant-based materials may be dictated by the manufacturing process.
- Plant-based insulation that is free from mould, may have a high tolerance to moisture content but if it is placed against light timber framing or heavy timber framing it does not want to be over 20% moisture content upon installation.
- External:
- Mould can lead respiratory distress, asthma, uninhabitability, in extreme cases death and toxic mould preventing extraction of goods and exclusion of people.
- Many modes of failure lead to low building life expectancy and un-insurability.
- See Durability and Life Expectancy
- Materials Properties:
- Materials appropriate to application and ALL performance requirements.
- Writing robust specifications of those properties or performances.
- Defending specification against substitution, value engineering and cost cutting
- Ensuring competent building for client and future climate.
- Retrofit of Existing and Historic Fabric:
- This will be a significant part of architect’s workload for the next 3 decades.
- Introduce PAS 2030 & PAS 2035:2019 including risk approach.
- Victorian terraced housing needs to be well understood.
- Awareness of specialism in higher risk historic quality buildings.
- Leave them to conservation specialist architects or aspire to become one.
- Working on 8 eras of building to achieve >80% energy and carbon reduction.
- Working Drawings & Specification
- At least one studio design
- 3 days exam open-book open-discussion can visit library (just like office/studio conditions)
- Working drawings of a corner of the building,
- including: foundations/basement, roof, wall, floor, stairs
- Size: minimum: 3 x 3 x 3 m, minimum: two storeys.
- 1 day: Specification of that corner, construction and all materials
- Challenging:
- on paper no longer practical?
- on computer with internet access for technical and product information,
- risk of work being done by others and emailed in?
- For timber construction in particular:
- Methods of Construction:
- Principles of Element Design: Back to basics:
© GBE GBC GRC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan ****
16th November 2023
Images:
© GBE GBC GRC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan ****
21st September 2018 – 16th November 2023
About:
GBE Opinion
GBE State of the Industry
Knowledge-Gap Opinion
- Knowledge-Gap (this page)
- Current Architectural Education (this page)
- Absent or inadequate education (this page)
- Financial-Gap
- Time-Gap
- Skills-Gap
- Performance-Gap
- Building Regulations Approved Documents A-Z & 7
- Durability-Gap
Sectors
- Barriers Drivers towards more Sustainable Profitable UK Cement Industry G#182
- Barriers Drivers Sustainable Profitable UK Cement Industry G#1920 N#1771
GBE Greenwash
- GBE Greenwash (Navigation) G#734 N#756
- Polished Concrete Floors (Greenwash) G#737 N#759
- Green Cement (Greenwash) G#735 N#757
- Fibre Cement Cladding (Greenwash) G#948 N#966
© GBE GBC GRC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan ****
21st September 2018 – 16th November 2023
