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Towards a digitised process-wheel for historic building repair and maintenance projects in Scotland

Scott McGibbon (The School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK)
Mohamed Abdel-Wahab (School of Engineering and Computing, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, UK)
Ming Sun (The School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK)

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development

ISSN: 2044-1266

Article publication date: 29 January 2018

Issue publication date: 13 November 2018

363

Abstract

Purpose

With the increasing demand for high-quality economical and sustainable historic building repair and maintenance (R&M) allied with the perennial problem of skills shortages (project management (PM) and on-site practice) investment in new technologies becomes paramount for modernising training and practice. Yet, the historic R&M industry, in particular small- and medium-sized enterprises have yet to benefit from digital technologies (such as laser scanning, virtual reality and cloud computing) which have the potential to enhance performance and productivity. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative participatory action research approach was adopted. One demonstration project (Project A) exhibiting critical disrepair, showcasing the piloting of a five phased digitised “process-wheel” intended to provide a common framework for facilitating collaboration of project stakeholders thereby aiding successful project delivery is reported. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry employers to facilitate the process-wheel concept development.

Findings

Implementing only Phase 1 of the digitised “process-wheel” (e-Condition surveying incorporating laser scanning) resulted in an estimated 25-30 per cent cost and time savings, when compared to conventional methods. The accrued benefits are twofold: provide a structured standardised data capturing approach that is shared in a common project repository amongst relevant stakeholders; inform the application of digital technologies to attain efficiencies across various phases of the process-wheel.

Originality/value

This paper has provided original and valuable information on the benefits of modernising R&M practice, highlighting the importance of continued investment in innovative processes and new technologies for historic building R&M to enhance existing practice and in form current training provision. Future work will focus on further piloting and validation of the process-wheel in its entirety on selected demonstration projects with a view of supporting the industry to digitise its workflows and going fully digital to realise optimum process efficiencies.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for McLaren Stone Ltd, for their continued support and collaboration on this project. The authors would also like to thank the interviewees from the following organisations: Heath Architects and Stone Consultants, Hutton Stone Ltd, Stoneworks Ltd, Frew Conservation, and CBC Ltd Finally, the authors would like to thank Hobs Studio Glasgow for contributing to this project via delivering the laser scanning application and 3D modelling applications. This project was partially funded through the Scottish Innovation Voucher scheme (which is co-funded by the Scottish Government and the European Development Fund).

Citation

McGibbon, S., Abdel-Wahab, M. and Sun, M. (2018), "Towards a digitised process-wheel for historic building repair and maintenance projects in Scotland", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 465-480. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-08-2017-0053

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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