Keeping Ireland Modern: Twentieth Century Schools Masterplan and Retrofit Research
Building on a project example of St Brendan’s Community School, located in a decarbonising peatland in Ireland, we have developed a social value based methodology for conservation and retrofit of 20th century school buildings. The school is an internationally recognised exemplar of modern architecture. It suffers from material degradation, environmental issues and reliance on carbon technologies. Our research is exemplary for the conservation of social ideals and built fabric of the 20th century
National
Ireland
County Offaly
Mainly rural
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): John McLaughlin Architects Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: John Last name of representative: McLaughlin Gender: Male Nationality: Ireland Function: Architect Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: 5 Adelaide Street Town: Dún Laoghaire, Co.Dublin Postal code: A96 XA33 Country: Ireland Direct Tel:+353 1 284 5175 E-mail:info@johnmclaughlin.ie Website:http://johnmclaughlin.ie/
Building on a specific project example, we have developed a social value based methodology for conservation and retrofit of 20th century school buildings. The methodology overlaps three core elements of modern architecture; Social, Technical and Aesthetic value.
This Conservation and Retrofit Masterplan builds on the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) research co-produced by John McLaughlin Architects in collaboration with Professor Gary A. Boyd of Queen’s University Belfast under the Getty Foundation ‘Keeping It Modern’ initiative (2018). St Brendan’s Community School in Birr, Co. Offaly by the architects Peter and Mary Doyle is an internationally recognised exemplar of post-war modern architecture. Like many buildings of this era, the school suffers from material degradation and thermal and other environmental issues. The award-winning CMP research analysed the significance of the school as a 1980’s structure under a number of categories and introduced social science methodologies to map the significance of the building to its users. This enabled identification of the relationships between the physical fabric of the building and the social experience of the students and teachers; mapping relationships between the Social, Technical and Aesthetic.
The CMP has been adopted by the Irish Department of Education and Skills (DoES) to guide the future development of the school and as a template for conserving its wider estate. Testing this as a model, the St Brendan’s Masterplan is led by John McLaughlin Architects engaging with the DoES and school management to implement the principles set out in the CMP. To date this has involved 20th century conservation consultancy on proposed extensions and fabric upgrades as well as the design and analysis of a Masterplan for future conservation, expansion and retrofit of the school. With support from the DoES, we aim to transfer this methodology to other 20th century schools facing similar issues to upgrade and conserve them.
Decarbonisation
Conservation
Retrofit
Education
Social Value
This initiative is focused on developing a new conservation methodology, specific to mid-20th century construction & social agendas. The specific case study in Birr enables the continued use of an exemplary existing building which is constrained by its construction at a time when technology and attitudes to energy use differed greatly from today. Retrofit of such buildings is central to sustainability agendas in the built environment including UN SDGs and the European Green Deal, and this initiative presents a transferrable model. Furthermore the project is located in an area of Ireland that is rapidly decarbonising as it transitions from extractive peat bog use. The Irish peatlands have been noted as a critical test case in Europe for the development of a just transition, with the rewetting of these peatlands also acting as a significant carbon sink.
St. Brendan’s is located in the small town of Birr in Co. Offaly. Peat bogs are a significant aspect of Offaly’s landscape, while also being a significant employer in the 20th century. The bog is noted as of exceptional value relative to the school’s social role, and peat was used as the primary fuel source in the school. Enabling a Green Transition for the school alongside the surrounding landscape and community is a key objective.
The school has continuously served the community of Birr for 40 years. The CMP was developed with significant community input, and this engaged approach forms the basis for the Masterplan. The continuing strong stewardship of the school along with its key role in the community has created a high degree of social value and capital for its users. Its continuing use as a school is of high sustainability significance.
The wider sustainability objective is to conserve modern buildings as important social and cultural artefacts, marking our ambitions and achievements in 20th century, and as holders of significant amounts of embodied carbon / case studies for keeping what we have already.
Our methodology maps and overlaps three core elements of modern architecture; Social, Technical and Aesthetic value. The value users hold in the school is closely related to aesthetic experience. Conserving and retaining this experience is a key objective. How a school building functions from a social and pedagogical perspective can also uncover its architecturally exemplary qualities. Beauty facilitates good learning and positive social experience.
As an internationally recognised exemplar of post-war architectural modernism the school exhibits many of the hallmarks of this period. These include: the development of an innovative concrete portal frame system that provides a flexible and adaptable grid plan; technical detailing that expresses the means of construction; the use of off-the shelf, ordinary inexpensive industrial materials; the qualities of transparency, created by the significant amount of glazing and the internal courtyards that blur the relationship between outside and inside.
The CMP is a comprehensive study of how the aesthetic, technical and social overlap in this building. The original design intention was grounded in a strong social agenda, realised through an innovative spatial plan and an economic construction methodology. Conservation of Birr is an exemplary model for retaining the democratic educational ethos and social life embodied by the school, retrofitting and upgrading the building to meet current energy and curriculum standards, while retaining its unique expression of 20th century construction.
One challenge of the project is to manage change while adhering to the original grid and retaining the significance of nonthermally broken construction. Integrating passive ventilation, heat recovery and sustainable heating systems into the existing building also forms part of the challenge. The school also requires the adaptation of a variety of specialist classrooms to reflect the change in teaching methods and modern technology.
The school at Birr embodies the progressive education and social policies of the 1960s that ‘democratised’ education in Ireland. The school was built after a 1974 architectural competition, for the design of new community schools. Social inclusion was a key driving ideal of the original award winning design for this school and remains its ethos. It grew out of the Irish government’s 1960s policies to ‘democratise’ education, such as the Free Post-Primary Scheme (1967). Inclusion and participation were central to the way the research approach was designed and to the progression of the Masterplan. The initiative is exemplary in this context. There is a clear focus on stakeholder participation. School users participated in interviews and creative user driven surveys. School users were seen as citizen experts, and their knowledge overlayed with other types of scientific expertise informs a full picture of the performance of the school and the Plan for future conservation and management. Innovative ways to engage the building users were developed including walking interviews, photographic responses to their feelings about the school, and documentary film. Post occupancy evaluation methods were employed within the conservation sphere in the Conservation Management Plan (CMP). Dissemination also focused on inclusion, with exhibitions mounted within both the professional arena and also locally in the school during its 40 year celebrations. We undertook a seminar to broaden the international research with European exemplars. The Masterplan for the School, which followed the CMP, involved a consultation with the School management, gaining an understanding of The School’s social and educational agenda for the future. This included Government recognition of the School’s location in an area economically disadvantaged by the ecological policies divesting from bog cutting. The Masterplan acknowledges the impact of this recognition on the School’s future growth and operation.
This initiative to retrofit and conserve St Brendans’ School directly benefits citizens including school users and stakeholders , students, teachers, management and the local community of Birr. As a model it indirectly benefits citizens through contributing to new knowledge and best practice within the Irish Government Department of Education and Skills (DoES) and a Professional audience responsible for design and conservation of education environments.
St. Brendan’s School is located in the town of Birr (population 5,750) in Co. Offaly, Ireland. The school has continuously served the community of Birr since it opened in 1980. Many of the 900 pupils are children of past pupils and many teachers are also former students. Our project engages with the students, staff and wider community as stakeholders. The Conservation Management Plan was developed with significant direct input from the school community, and this engaged approach forms the basis for the Masterplan and Retrofit research and implementation. The continuing strong stewardship of the school since its opening in 1980 along with its key role in the community has created a high degree of social value and capital in the school for its users which will be conserved through this initiative.
Our project also engages with the DoES as a community of interest. The DoES are custodian to many schools across Ireland, and this project presents a model for how to conserve these schools into the future. Engagement with the DoEs has been through meetings, workshops and knowledge sharing. Working with the DoES as stakeholders this methodology can be a model to guide the upgrade and continued use of twentieth century school buildings in Ireland and Europe.
A professional audience who will benefit from new knowledge have been involved in this initiative through a seminar and exhibition events. Connecting to the NEB Education Network further widens this potential impact.
From the outset stakeholder engagement was core to the design of this initiative. This began with an approach that included engaging the Department of Education and Skills (DoES) as collaborators and high level research partners, while simultaneously engaging directly with the school students, teachers and wider community as stakeholders.
Staff members of the DoES as stakeholders and collaborators were directly involved from the outset of the Project, including being involved in study visits and international workshops run by the Getty Foundation as part of the ‘Keeping It Modern’ Initiative.
There was a strong focus on local stakeholder participation in the research including interviews and user driven surveys, and the findings from this shaped the further development of the research through filmmaking techniques with the students. Innovative ways to engage the building users included creative visual responses to the research question by students through photography. Post occupancy evaluation approaches which put the users at the centre were applied in the architectural conservation sphere where the building fabric is often thought of first.
National and professional stakeholders were engaged through exhibition and seminar events within the professional arena. A local audience were also engaged through an exhibition and events in the school during its 40 year celebrations which were primarily driven and organised by the school community themselves.
A Seminar was held in the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin to broaden the international research and engage with stakeholders and research partners on a European level.
There is ongoing engagement with the Department of Education and Skills developing how to apply the principles and findings of the research to other schools in Ireland. Connecting to the NEB Education Network further widens potential engagement.
The disciplines / knowledge fields involved in the implementation of this initiative included: Architecture; Engineering; Conservation; Education; Architectural history; Passive buildings / ventilation / air quality; Visual arts; Photography / videography; Thermographic imaging; Sound engineering and acoustic performance; Archivists; Citizen experts; Government Agencies / Policy Development.
The above skills and disciplines were represented by a variety of specialist consultants, artists, the School student and teaching bodies and educational experts from the Department of Education and Skills. John Mc Laughlin Architects acted as a research leader, co-ordinating and distilling the research inputs, and facilitating engagement between the different specialists and stakeholders. The process of including a wide variety of disciplines and stakeholders in the process added exceptional value to the project. It ensured a thorough scientific understanding of the building fabric, an understanding of its social, environmental, artistic qualities, significance of the building in the national and international context.
A special value was gained through working with the students and recording images and interviews, to gain an understanding of the intangible qualities of the School as experienced by its current and past students. The overall research led to a rich tapestry of values, which were examined through a conservation-led process, and distilled into policies to shape the future development of the School.
An innovative approach to developing a Conservation Masterplan for a 20th century school with the three overlapping values of Social, Technical and Aesthetic at the core.
The approach is new in terms of how it is examining Post occupancy evaluation, overlaying scientific and technical data with social research methodologies.
The research applies and develops the conservation masterplan methodology, developed by UNSECO to address heritage structures, to a late 20th century building.
Taking a participatory and social value driven approach is innovative in a conservation context, as is the use of creative and comparative photography. Ordinarily contemporary scientific methods, for example air monitoring, are not overlapped with more traditional conservation research, and the scientific and social are not so closely brought together in this way.
The distillation of the research into drawings and images as well as a graphic matrix is an innovative approach to making complex research accessible and replicable.
Working as a multi-disciplinary team comprising engineering, conservation and design skills in collaboration with the building owners and Educational Policy makers from the Department of Education and Skills presents a new and innovative working model.
Our research presents a clear methodology that could be applied to other buildings. Our research has identified a number of School buildings in Ireland, which potentially have similar values to those uncovered at Birr, and similar issues with adopting late 20th century building fabric to today’s standards. The Conservation Management Plan (CMP) presents a clear pathway to decarbonising a poorly performing building, and sensitively adopting it, while keeping it in active use. This ties in to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular aims for a Green Transition under Goal 13 Climate Action.
The school at Birr is an exemplary building, but also represents issues faced by many 20th Century buildings which combine a strong social agenda and architectural ambition with failures around climate resilience. Our methodology which combines in depth exploration and expertise on building fabric performance with a framework for mapping social performance could be transferred to other buildings, in particular 20th century schools or civic buildings, across Europe.
We have developed a social value based methodology for conservation and retrofit of 20th century school buildings. The methodology overlaps three core elements of modern architecture; Social, Technical and Aesthetic value. This methodology could also be applied to other typologies of 20th Century building heritage.
Graphic and drawing techniques utilised in the work help to make it transferrable and accessible in other contexts, including other jurisdictions and languages.
The methodology maps and overlaps three core elements of modern architecture; Social, Technical and Aesthetic value. A wide variety of techniques are used to record significance across these three elements.
The methodology used in this initiative combines archival architectural research, scientific appraisal of building fabric and performance, site investigation and social research including interviews, creative responses and documentary photography and videography. These various elements of the research are all given equal weighting in developing a matrix mapping the significance of elements of the school building, and developing a clear Conservation Management Plan that enables decision making on the future of the school building.
The methodology combined extensive surveys across the historical, scientific and social elements of the school followed by developing clear graphic and visual ways to translate the findings.
The methodology draws on Post occupancy evaluation methods, and innovative approaches to overlaying scientific and technical building sciences with social research.
This initiative is focused on enabling the continued use of an existing building which is exemplary but which is constrained by its construction at a time when technology and attitudes to energy use differed greatly from today. Retrofit of such buildings is a clear element of sustainability agendas and meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the agenda of the New European Bauhaus in fulfilling a European Green Deal. Furthermore the project is located in an area of Ireland that is rapidly decarbonising as it transitions from extractive peat bog use, and the project addresses this Green Transition and the impact of a this transition for the school and surrounding community. The Irish peatlands have been noted as a critical test case in Europe for the development of a just transition.
The research focuses in depth on a specific case study of a school in Ireland, but through this local study addresses global challenges including retaining social value in the conservation of 20TH Century and other historic buildings and places; implementing post occupancy evaluation; Energy retrofit in 20th century modernist architectural heritage; Decarbonisation.
In depth research leading to the creation of a Conservation Management plan for St. Brendans Community School Birr has already been completed, and this has been adopted by the Irish Department of Education and Skills for the stewardship of this school. Successful dissemination of the innovative Conservation Management approach has been undertaken through an international seminar, and a series of exhibitions for various audiences as well as local press and critical publications. (national and local newspapers; Architectural journals and periodicals). The aim of this is to generate buy in at local, community and professional and political levels.
Following the successful completion, dissemination and adoption of the CMP the focus now is on implementation as well as how this may become a transferable model for other schools in the stewardship of the Department of Education and beyond. There is ongoing engagement with the Department of Education and Skills developing how to apply the principles and findings of the research to other schools in Ireland and a Letter of Support is included on this.
Keeping Ireland Modern works to develop new cross disciplinary and cross sectoral collaborations, thus developing new competences and new ways of working. This project also takes the view that the dissemination of new practices is a key element of developing new competences. This dissemination is supported through the mounting of exhibitions and seminars about the research, as well as disseminating through websites and social media and mainstream and industry press.
In relation to the European competence framework on sustainability, this initiative addresses a number of EU Actions under the Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development including:
• mobilise national and EU funds to invest in green and sustainable equipment, resources and infrastructure
• create supportive learning environments for sustainability that span all activities and operations by an educational institution and enable teaching and learning that is hands-on, interdisciplinary and relevant to local contexts
• actively involve students and staff, local authorities, youth organisations and the research and innovation community in learning for sustainability
In terms of the European competence framework on sustainability, the particular competence groups and sub parts addressed by this initiative include: Embodying sustainability values - valuing sustainability; Embracing complexity in sustainability - systems thinking, critical thinking, problem framing; Acting for sustainability - political agency, individual initiative; Envisioning sustainable futures - adaptability, exploratory thinking.
