A document management system for the conservation of cultural heritage buildings

A document management system (DcMS) for the efficient organization and visualization of the data related to conservation projects in cultural heritage buildings applied to a case study is presented. The objective of the system is to allow for the interchange of information between different specialists, to prevent the loss of data through time and to promote technical awareness of general public. For this purpose, a database for the management of the information involved in the works carried out in the Monastery of Santa Maria de Salzedas (Portugal) was created. The newly developed system collects the information about the Monastery produced in a period of five years by different specialists (architects, engineers, geologists, physicists and material scientists). The system is fully web based and includes a Back-End for easy uploading of information and a Front-End for automatic visualization and downloading of the information. Both Back- and Front-End are accessible via an Internet connection.The DcMS presented here is part of the project POCTI-HEC-60431-2004, Integrated approach for conservation and valuation of monuments, funded by FCT (Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation). F. Pena acknowledges funding from the FCT grant contract SFRH/BPD/17449/2004. The system was programmed by Engineers Ana Lima and Daniel Oliveira of the Centre of Computer Graphics (CCG)

The writing on the wall: the concealed communities of the East Yorkshire horselads

This paper examines the graffiti found within late nineteenth and early-twentieth century farm buildings in the Wolds of East Yorkshire. It suggests that the graffiti were created by a group of young men at the bottom of the social hierarchy - the horselads – and was one of the ways in which they constructed a distinctive sense of communal identity, at a particular stage in their lives. Whilst it tells us much about changing agricultural regimes and social structures, it also informs us about experiences and attitudes often hidden from official histories and biographies. In this way, the graffiti are argued to inform our understanding, not only of a concealed community, but also about their hidden histor

Suspended timber ground floors: heat loss reduction potential of insulation interventions

There are approximately 10 million suspended timber ground floor constructions in the UK and millions more globally. However, it is unknown how many of these floors are insulated and their performance has not been widely investigated. This study investigates the impact of retrofitting insulation on the thermal performance of suspended timber ground floors through the detailed investigation of a UK case study dwelling. Practical and buildable interventions were undertaken: fully-filling the floor void with EPS beads, and 100mm woodfibre insulation between the joists. The performance of both interventions was monitored by high-resolution in-situ heat-flow monitoring in 27 floor locations, allowing for comparison with the uninsulated floor and with modelled results. While floors often remain uninsulated due to the disruption of retrospective works, this study highlighted potentially significant heat loss reductions: the mean whole floor U-value dropped by 65% for woodfibre insulation and 92% for bead-insulation which also benefited from sealed airbricks. A disparity between the in-situ measured and modelled performance was observed; this gap reduced the better insulated the floor was. The findings have implications for policy, retrofit decision-making and carbon emission reduction stock models, especially given the modelled underestimation of floor heat loss, impact of interventions and assumed financial payback for this study

Historic landscape characterisation in the urban domain

Landscape characterisation has emerged as an important means for assessing the context and broader setting for decision-making as it facilitates thinking outside of the site boundary. Within the domain of heritage planning, this is congruent with a new appreciation of the cultural landscape as heritage with the current English Heritage programme of historic landscape characterisation emerging as an important tool to support this approach. Although initially providing a predominantly rural emphasis, historic landscape characterisation surveys now provide comprehensive coverage of many urban areas and so potentially offer the urban planner and designer with a key source of map data outlining current urban character and its readable historic time-depth. The summarised findings result from participatory action with Sheffield City Council in exploring potential urban applications of historic landscape characterisation. The emerging themes were drawn from numerous practice scenarios and aim to outline opportunities for incorporating historic landscape characterisation in urban decision-making and design