Context 155 - July 2018

C O N T E X T 1 5 5 : J U L Y 2 0 1 8 17 Theory and practice physical evidence inside the palace, second, to gain insights into aspects not covered by historic drawings and, third, to map the extent that the historic system is preserved or lost. To record the findings of these investigations the author produced a photographic survey and a second set of drawings, which provided the foundational knowledge required to plan a systematic 3D-point cloud survey of the historic ventilation. The information was used to instruct the surveyors from Plowman Craven to undertake scans. A small-scale pilot, focusing on selected voids inside the House of Lords, was undertaken in 2016. The final output of this process was a virtual three-dimensional representation of the historic infrastructure that was fully incorporated into the BIM model of the palace. The author is currently working with Plowman Craven and the architects BDP on the development of a standard methodology by which information on the historic system can be effectively integrated into the BIM model. The model will provide the foundation for forthcoming design stud- ies investigating the possibility of reusing the historic infrastructure. This process shows that it is fundamental to clearly define the boundaries between research and practice-facing activities. Activities facilitat- ing the integration of academic research into practice became a substantial part of the pro- ject. They are time-intensive, often competing with time allocated for academic research, and managing these tensions represents the main challenge for academic research project embed- ded within practice. Part of an axonometric projection of the first system deployed in the House of Commons chamber, 1852–54 Henrik Schoenefeldt, senior lecturer in sustainable architecture at the University of Kent and AHRC leadership fellow, is seconded to the Houses of Parliament to lead a research project ‘Between Heritage and Sustainability: restoring the Palace of Westminster’s nineteenth-century ventilation system’. REFERENCES 1 RIBA (2014) How Architects Use Research 2 Dye, A and Samuel, F (2015) Adding Value to Architectural Practice: demystifying architectural research, RIBA Publishing 3 Short, A (2008) ‘What is “architectural design research”?’ Building Research and Information, Volume 36-2 4 Schoenefeldt, H (2016) ‘Architectural and scientific principles in the design of the Houses of Parliament’, in Gothic Revival Worldwide: AWN Pugin’s global influence, University of Leuven Press 5 Lerum, V (2016) Sustainable Building Design: learning from nineteenth- century innovations , Routledge 6 Schoenefeldt, H (2014) ‘The temporary Houses of Parliament and David Boswell Reid’s architecture of experimentation’, Architectural History 57; Schoenefeldt, H (2017) ‘The Historic Ventilation System of the House of Commons, 1840-52: revisiting David Boswell Reid’s environmental legacy,’ Journal of Society of Antiquaries 98, in press; and Schoenefeldt, H (2016) ‘The lost (first) chamber of the House of Commons, AA Files 72 7 Such as Brucemann, R and Prowler, D (1977) ‘Nineteenth-century mechanical system designs’, Journal of Architectural Education, 30; and Bruegmann, R (1978) ‘Central Heating and Forced Ventilation: origins and effects on architectural design’, JSAH 37 8 Examples of modern buildings using natural stack ventilation are the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool; the Senedd, Cardiff; and UCL’s School of Eastern European and Slavonic Studies, London. 9 Young, L (2017) ‘Uncovering the secret of Parliament’s lost building services,’ CIBSE Journal , November