2011 Yearbook

26 Y E A R B O O K 2 0 1 1 purpose is to improve our design, conservation and technical skills, our sustainability, business management BOE QMBOOJOH "ȒSFQSFTFOUBUJWF JO each o!ce alerts sta" to relevant knowledge and training opportunities. A monthly newsletter rounds up the information, publishing it on the practice intranet. Content might include relevant courses or conferences, new research, articles from journals or news of interest. Each o!ce also receives a core set of journals, circulated to all sta". Finally, our human resources department manages sta" recruitment, training and development. This is an important element in ensuring we engage the right people to carry out our work and we invest heavily in this area. We hope new employees will become part of the practice for many years; it is a hope borne out by FYQFSJFODF PVS BWFSBHF TUBď TFSWJDF JT PWFS TJY ZFBST BOE TFWFSBM QBSUOFST have come up through the practice having started as Part II students. We see student sponsorship as a key part of our role as a conservation training ground, and sponsoring technologists and Part I/II students to continue their studies constitutes one third of our learning and development budget. When students return to the practice for their o!ce-based FYQFSJFODF XF EP FWFSZUIJOH QPTTJCMF UP FOTVSF TVDDFTT JO 1BSU *** FYBNT We have a regular informal appraisal process which is formally recorded annually. The process measures key performance indicators, checks CPD aims and achievements and recommends training needs. It also asks sta" members for their preferences or suggestions. The emphasis on training means using many di"erent methods to achieve it. We use specialist suppliers to give intensive courses on creative writing, management or presentation skills; accredited CPD providers give in-o!ce training sessions on new technology and equipment. To broaden awareness of what the practice is doing, and the skills available for repair and restoration work, we regularly arrange visits to specialists XPSLJOH PO PVS QSPKFDUT "ȒCSPBEFS understanding of methods and TLJMMT JT BDRVJSFE GSPN UIF FYDFMMFOU courses organised at West Dean $PMMFHF JO 4VTTFY :PSL 6OJWFSTJUZ or the Scottish Lime Centre. Selected sta" are invited to attend longer courses. Each year we send one mid-career architect to the Attingham Summer School and all new technical sta" are o"ered a place on the SPAB’s one-week repair course. We also sponsor an additional qualification, such as an MSc in Architectural Practice Management. Another important source of information comes from involvement in organisations like the IHBC, SPAB or DOCOMOMO. The journals, lectures and visits provided by these organisations are generally packed with technical and instructive information written CZ IJHIMZ FYQFSJFODFE QFPQMF 3. GATHERING PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE The more learning is related to QSBDUJDBM FYQFSJFODF UIF CFUUFS IJHI concepts are di!cult to process without concrete demonstrations. Slides in a lecture do not communicate as well as a visit to a real building and no amount of training can replicate the lessons learned from seeing designs and specifications constructed on the ground. This is especially true in conservation, a discipline that requires subtlety of touch but relies on the skills of others to deliver the result. Too often, carefully researched and apparently DPSSFDU ESBXJOHT GBJM JO FYFDVUJPO producing a bland facsimile rather than a vibrant original building, time-worn but properly repaired and maintained. It is only immersion in UIF DPSSFDU FUIPT TPVOE FYQFSJFODF and the humility to learn from skilled people that generates the knowledge needed to give a conserved building a glow of good health, as opposed to producing an over-scraped restoration. We nurture this knowledge in our sta" by taking on a wide variety of work, from small church quinquennial repairs to major construction projects JO IJTUPSJD QMBDFT *OFYQFSJFODFE TUBď are given small projects or elements PG MBSHFS XPSL XJUI NPSF FYQFSJFODFE people to guide and mentor them. $SJUJDBM UP UIF FYQFSJFODF JT UIF interaction with skilled members of the building industry, as those professionals, craftspeople and conservators, with their communal LOPXMFEHF BOE FYQFSJFODF BMTP QBTT on reasoned, sensible and e"ective studio and site decision-making skills. In this way, individuals not only HBJO FYQFSJFODF UIF QSBDUJDF DBO VTF but progress towards conservation accreditation, a qualification that we now regard as essential for our work. Jonathan Gotelee MA(Hons) Dip Arch RIAS RIBA ran his own practice in Edinburgh before combining with Purcell Miller Tritton to form the practice’s Scottish studio. He has worked on projects in Europe, the United States and the Far East and his experience includes cathedral and Category A listed building conservation, as well as new buildings. He is an IHBC a!liate member. On-site learning at the National Maritime Museum Sammy Ofer Wing (All photos: Purcell Miller Tritton LLP)