By Ashley Robbins, AIA
Young, Robert A. Historic Preservation Technology. John Wiley & Sons. 2008.
Courses and the compendium texts on Advanced Materials and Methods tend to veer easily into the pedantic and boring or at least that is what the students in Clemson/College of Charleston’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation tell us. Most students in our Master of Science Program are attracted to the field because they like the hands-on aspects of maintaining the historic built environment, yet the texts geared toward teaching conservation tend to be written too scientifically to be practical. While the aging of building materials is inherently interesting and actually, not that complicated, there are few texts that explain the cycle of age and repair in an informative manner. Mr. Robert Young accomplishes this in his book which I recommended as a text for Materials and Methods courses in preservation programs, for practicing architects in preservation firms and for anyone interested in the repair and maintenance of buildings.
The author is a professional engineer and an Associate Professor and this dual skill set makes the book successful. Mr. Young’s writing style indicates that he is the type of engineer that explains to clients, contractors and students, how buildings perform. His ability to synthesize information and relate it to the reader stems from years of work in the preservation field.
The first chapter serves as a preface to the discussion of building materials. The importance of the Preservation Plan as the fundamental planning tool in preservation-oriented projects is discussed as it sets the basic requirements for the project, such as code compliance, existing conditions and appropriateness of interventions. He continues to explain the methodology for creating the Historic Structures Report and the role of the preservation team during each phase of design and construction.
The strength and bulk of the book is in the second thru fifth chapter which he sub-divides into building materials, fabric, ornamentals and finishes, and special topics. He focuses on the American use of materials until the mid 20th Century and follows the same pattern for each: he describes how it was fabricated, used in construction, the typical problems as the material ages and the remediation strategies. For example, the discussion of brick, a sub-category in the masonry chapter, includes clay-based masonry such as adobe, sod, and ornamental and structural terra-cotta. In a few pages the author explains how these construction materials are created from baked earth, yet he doesn’t get lost in non-essential facts. The discussion on decay starts with problems from construction and carries through to natural and man-made deleterious conditions. He continues to describe remediation methods which include earlier, miscalculated preservation attempts such as sandblasting. The section is concluded with best practice methodologies and options for repair and replacement. He discusses the active ingredients in remediation products without listing brands and he also ruminates on preservation choices when the original fabric is lost.
The discussions on building systems such as HVAC, plumbing, and electricity were brief considering that the bulk of preservation work tends to be related to weaving new systems into historic spaces. Yet Chapter 2 emphasizes the importance of Health and Life Safety as the fundamental reason for most construction projects. Navigating the use of model building codes is under emphasized in many academic programs, especially preservation programs which train students without an architecture degree, but his discussion provides a solid introduction.
The final chapter is on Sustainability and includes a case-study of a residential property in Salt Lake City. This is the least successful section of the book due to the inherent redundancy of the conversation. Preservationists feel the need to defend their work as the ultimate in recycling and use of embedded energy which should be obvious to the target audience of this text. Mr. Young does address sustainability issues in the context of the LEED certification throughout the book without proselytizing.
Most useful is the list of References and Suggested Readings at the end of each chapter, typically a few pages long. While most preservationists are familiar with the texts cited, Mr. Young synthesized these reference sources to create his practice-friendly and interpretation.
Historic Preservation Technology is a comprehensive and well-organized text. It is one of the few books in this space that is helpful to the practicing preservationist. It is no simple feat to create a 400 page text book that actually reads well and this will be appreciated by the many new students in our field.