Office visit to the Fife Housing Innovation Showcase

Office visit to Whitelee Windfarm

Research, Personal Projects and CPD

Study trip to Belgium, including eco-community at Louvain la Neuve.

Study trip to Copenhagen and Malmö, visiting new sustainable housing projects and the Scandanavian Green Roof Institute.

Study trip to the Netherlands to look at sustainable housing projects and visit sustainable product manufacturers.

Study trip to look at sustainable housing in the Scottish Borders and off-grid housing.

SFHA Development Conference – Demonstrating and trialling with housing association development staff My Sust Town, an interactive game developed for Sust, which explores what sustainability means and how it relates to our homes and environments.

Series of seminars delivered to housing association staff and developers on detailing for airtightness and increased energy efficiency, the effects of the 2010 Scottish Building Standards on specifications and their cost implications.

Attended conference on the Green Deal and sustainable refurbishment of traditional buildings.

Attended conference on New Dimensions in Green Timber design.

Visit to Ecobuild, London, Attended series of seminars with emphasis on Passivhaus design and retrofit to achieve energy savings and reduce CO2 emissions.

Attended CPD seminar on the use of ground and air source heat pumps (relevant to a current project).

Attended a seminar on update to the Scottish Building Standards, including Section 7 – Sustainability.

Attended seminar at the Scottish Passive House Centre on the principles of Passive House design and their application.

Seminar on new developments in insulation and meeting the 2010 Scottish Building Standards cost-efficiently.

Trained as an access consultant, looking at the accessibility of existing buildings and assessing proposed designs. Became a registered access consultant with the National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC) in 2005, and now assess all projects within the practice and provide external consultancy in terms of accessibility and therefore long term sustainability.

GIA Council member; Convenor of CPD committee; developed links with Centre for Built Environment for joint CPD events, especially focusing on sustainability issues.

Planning and the Environment: Research and presentations to developers on the challenges of implementing the SPP6 policy. Included a practical view and live case studies of low and zero carbon technologies, with detailed briefing documents.

GHA research document on the delivery of affordable sustainable housing, looking specifically at standardisation of house types and the effects of the 2010 Scottish Building Standards on detailing and specifications to achieve airtightness and reduce CO2 emissions.

Mentoring of PhD students on sustainability in relation to the specification and detailing of timber kit housing; modern methods of construction; experience of off-site manufacture; cost implications of the 2010 Scottish Building Standards and beyond.

Member of the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA)

Researching into off-site manufacturing systems in timber kit construction.

Ongoing work with CCG (Scotland) to detail and deliver their iQ system within both social housing and private housing projects, adopting best practice in sustainable design, using closed long panel system external walls, roof and floor cassettes, to ensure consistency in construction detailing, improving energy efficiency in manufacture and construction and improved airtightness, as well as reducing waste materials.

Member of the Herald Property Awards Judging Panel, visiting and assessing entries within numerous categories, such as Social Housing Development of the Year; Best Luxury Show Home; Best Family Home; Best Apartment; Best Individual or Refurbishment Project.

Attended several seminars looking at a 'Fabric first' approach to meet the new Section 6: Energy of the Scottish Building Standards.

Attended launch of the CCG (Scotland) Ltd iQ Building Futures Lab, with talks on the BRE Visitors centre; the Innovation Showcase at Fife and the Passivhaus housing project at Dormant.

Attended seminar on the Secured by Design New Homes Design Guide 2013.

Attended consultation event for the revised Section 6: Energy of the Scottish Building Standards, reviewing key changes to the domestic and non-domestic standards.

Attended seminar on proposed changes to Section 5: Noise of the Scottish Building Standards, specifically looking at airborne and impact sound.

Attended various seminars and webinars on the advantages of using Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Attended seminars and demonstrations of Vectorworks, Revit and Archicad before committing to purchase of new BIM software

Advisor at Boclair Academy careers conference for S2 pupils, providing an insight into the work of an architect and the relevant training and qualification requirements (2013 & 2014)

More about Alison

Paul Barham: Research, Personal Projects and CPD

Study trips exploring the history of European and British architecture and architectural theory, with particular focus on Italian renaissance and English gardens.

English industrial heritage: Cycle tour and photographic record of industrial sites throughout England.

Study tour and photographic record of Italian mediaeval, renaissance and baroque architecture.

Study tour and photographic and sketch record of baroque church architecture in southern Germany funded by Kettle’s Yard grant.

Sketchbooks: An ongoing archive of drawings of buildings, townscapes, landscapes and travels.

Exploring disused churches in and around London: Victorian Society visits to disused churches etc and Change & Decay exhibition, V&A Museum.

University of Cambridge Degree Dissertation on Victorian church architect James Brooks.

Travels in Spain: Exploring cities, towns and villages by road and rail, on foot and on horseback; recording architectural detail through photographs and notebooks.

Travels in Mexico and Guatemala: using public transport to explore colonial and post-colonial cities and pre-conquest sites and recording architectural detail through photographs and notebooks.

Training course at the Scottish Lime Centre: Introduction to Masonry Repair in Traditional Buildings: 3 day hands-on workshop dealing with traditional masonry techniques and materials.

Greening specification for tenement rehabilitation for Yoker HA.

RedR Training: 5 day intensive training course for construction professionals working in emergency relief operations.

BREEAM Ecohomes Assessor Training: 3 day training course and examinations.

Transition Towns Initiative: participant in inaugural meeting of Glasgow initiative.

Hamiltonhill Allotments, Glasgow: Helping to restore abandoned plots; project managing construction of polytunnel for Allotment Association; joint winner of Glasgow Best New Plot-holder’s Award 2010.

Assisting documentary film-maker wife, Jan Nimmo, on location on: "Pura Vida", exposing the social and environmental damage caused by banana and pineapple production in Costa Rica; "The Road to Drumleman" telling the history of coal mining in Kintyre; and ongoing film projects exploring local traditions in the Sierra de Huelva in Andalucia and conservation issues surrounding cork production and processing.

Sustainable housing study trips include SEDA building tours and conferences, trade fairs including Ecobuild, and visits to Copenhagen, Malmö, Amsterdam and Brussels with John Gilbert Architects and excursions around Scotland to visit new housing projects and product manufacturers.

Church and Community Energy Conference, Stirling, May 2013: practical information, case studies and examples of solutions to various problems facing church buildings; followed by site visit to recently retrofitted church hall.

Sustainable Development Research Network Workshop, Edinburgh, April 2013: high-level workshop in partnership with the Scottish Government and co-ordinated by the Policy Studies Institute in London. The first of a series of events bringing together policymakers, legislators and researchers from different parts of the UK to share their experiences and perspectives on sustainable development.

Sourcing Stone seminar, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, February 2013: advice and case studies on the selection and specification of stone for projects in Scotland.

The Future of Scotland’s Past RIAS Seminar, Edinburgh, October 2012: highlighting the challenges and opportunities facing Scotland’s immensely valuable legacy of heritage properties, including the increasing role of preservation trusts in project delivery.

Structural Repair of Historic Buildings Masterclass, Penicuik House, August 2012: Two day seminar and site visit focussing on the philosophy of conservation and the relationship between structural engineering and conservation, including safety issues and the aesthetics of conservation-based structural repairs.

Structure and Surveying of Stone Buildings seminar, Paisley THI - November 2013

ArchiCAD 3D drawing software training - April 2014 and ongoing.

SEDA Conference and AGM: The Power of Community: talks at the award-winning Big Shed at Tombreck, Loch Tay - May 2014

RIAS Convention, Glasgow School of Art - May 2014

Past involvement in professional and voluntary organisations includes:

Board of Management of Friends of the Earth Scotland; Chair/ Secretary of World Development Movement Glasgow Group and member of Scottish Steering Committee; Glasgow Institute of Architects (GIA) Environment Committee; Glasgow Housing Forum.

Current involvement in professional and voluntary organisations includes:

Scotish Ecological Design Association (SEDA): past Chair and member of Steering Committee.
Talamh Life Centre: Director of environmental education charity.
Camcorder Guerrillas: member of independent Glasgow based film-makers' collective.
Hamiltonhill Allotments, Glasgow: Former Chair and maintenance co-ordinator.

More about Paul