Building Stones: collections as resources for sustainable construction

The John Watson Building Stones Collection at the Cambridge University Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences comprises of approximately 2,500 specimens of building stones, in extensive use throughout Britain and the world during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Join us for a Collections Lab in the collection for a roundtable on the potential of local stone in a low carbon future for the construction industry.

How can we take a more considered approach to embodied energy, Supply Chains local to Cambridge and their role in the future growth and expansion of the region? How much of the material needed in the planned expansion of Cambridge could be sourced sustainably through a better utilisation of existing networks and supply chains of low carbon materials available in its surrounding counties? How could the collections of natural materials held within Cambridge’s existing institutions serve as a stimulus and provocation in this essential journey to zero carbon, challenging cultural perceptions around the potential of these materials, and igniting a material curiosity and literacy amongst the public?

Speakers:

Liz Hide, Director, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences

Rosie Hervey, Architect ARB, Cambridge Design Fellow, Department of Architecture

Pierre Bidaud: Creative Director, The Stone Masonry Company

Giulliana Giorgi: Research lead RIBA research: Unlocking Indigenous Stone Construction in the UK

Eleonora Regni (MICE CEng MEng BEng) and is an Associate at Web Yates Engineers : https://webbyates.com/

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Downing Place, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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