The King’s Foundation Summer School 2024
A three-week traditional building craft Summer School at Dumfries House, Scotland
Sketching en plein air at Dumfries Estate
Each year, The King's Foundation runs a Summer School at Dumfries House, Scotland, and I am deeply honoured to have been awarded a scholarship by The King’s Trust Australia to participate in the 2024 programme. This transformative experience allowed me to immerse myself in the world of traditional building crafts, guided by master craftspeople who demonstrated the vital role these skills play in the 21st century. Over an intensive three weeks of hands-on learning, I had the privilege of connecting with fellow early-career craftspeople and architects, an experience that has enriched my understanding and fueled my passion for heritage conservation. These invaluable lessons will greatly shape my development as I pursue my goal of becoming a Conservation Architect.
Week One - Observation Week
In week one we connected with our environment through observational sketching, clay modelling, and stone carving. These foundational skills helped us appreciate form and movement. We learned the art of sacred geometry and the intricacies of ancient patterns, such as those found in Gothic Cathedral tracery windows and Mosque and Temple mosaic designs. We then applied these principles to create our own plaster relief patterns.
A memorable field trip to National Trust for Scotland - Culzean Castle highlighted the challenges of conserving a historic building exposed to harsh weather conditions. We examined the impact of a previous unsuitable conservation attempt, which used cement mortar, causing more harm to already crumbling and damaged sandstone. This visit underscored the need for careful and informed conservation practices and an understanding of how materials interact with one another.
In the evenings, our tutors and guest speakers presented on topics such as authenticity, conservation versus restoration and the vision of The King’s Foundation. These presentations lead to further discussions between participants about the relevance and importance of traditional building crafts in contemporary building practices.
Week Two - Craft Week
Craft Week was a highlight of the programme, allowing us to delve deeply into three chosen crafts. I selected stained glass, traditional timber framing and stone masonry.
Stained Glass with Tessa Mackenzie
Learning the art of stained glass with Tessa Mackenzie, a skilled glassworker and illustrator based in Glasgow, was one of my favourite parts of the summer school. I really enjoyed learning how to handle and cut glass and transforming a sketch into a piece of glass art. A walk around the lush, summery gardens of Dumfries Estate inspired my flower design. Despite the challenges of learning how to cut the lead and solder it together, with Tessa’s guidance, I successfully completed my first stained glass piece. It now sits in my home office window, a reminder of my time at the summer school. These skills have helped me understand stained glass in a way I never had before and will be very valuable when I am observing buildings with stained glass in the future, understanding more about what it takes to create and conserve them.
Traditional Timber Framing with Owen McClatchey
Over two days, we explored traditional timber framing with Owen McClatchey. Using recycled timbers from the estate, we learned to identify suitable wood and create various joints, such as mortice and tenon and scarf joints. Working with tools and crafting timber pegs deepened my appreciation for this labour-intensive craft. The experience revealed the skill and precision required to build timber structures and gave me a new appreciation for all the timber structures I have seen that don’t use a single nail in their construction. Watching the timber frame be assembled was very rewarding.
Stone Masonry with Jonny Anderson
Stone masonry with Jonny, was another transformative experience. We practiced banker work, a fundamental skill for every apprentice mason, learning to shape stone using chisels and mallets. The music coming from Jonny’s incredible handmade stone speakers provided the perfect rhythm to chisel too. After learning how to create a flat surface, we selected a moulding design to carve into the stone.
My design was an ovolo and two fillets using chamfered edges to achieve the initial shape. Wet rubbing the stone to finish showcased the beauty of the Cotswold limestone, revealing its natural texture and fossils.
We also experimented with hot mixing lime mortar and discussed its vital role in masonry conservation. The traditional lime mix, unlike modern cement, allows for proper drainage. This mortar was used to bed stones and for pointing the joints. It is vital these skills are passed on to future generations to conserve masonry structures. Two days in the mason’s workshop further deepened my appreciation for the craftspeople spending years mastering their crafts.
Week Three - Tile Vaulting
In the final week of the summer school, we were joined by Wesam Asali & Salvador Gomis Avino from CERCAA, a building education company based in Spain that teaches students vernacular building techniques and how to design with gravity to create traditional tile vaults.
We started by learning the theory behind catenary curves and how an upside-down chain creates a curve that can be drawn and reflected to create the perfect curved span for a vault. Each team was given a particular vault to create from the barrel, fan, dome, and cross vault, which our team received. We started by hanging a chain to make the curve and deciding on the overall dimension. Then, cutting out the formwork to guide the tiles as we lay them with gypsum plaster of pairs. There was a steep learning curve with the material as the plaster had a very short drying time, and with the warm weather, it was setting even faster. We had a few failed attempts as we tried to create an efficient workflow; one team member would mix the plaster and apply it to the tiles, while two other team members would lay the tiles over the formwork. Tiles were cut on angles to create the corners as we moved row by row until we reached the centre. We finally found a good rhythm.
We then applied a lime render to the top to finish it off. Overall, this was a fantastic team experience as we overcame the frustrations of learning how to work with a new material and were incredibly proud of our final result. It was amazing to see how tiles can create such beautiful and strong structures, and it has given me a new understanding that I can now use to observe vaults in cathedrals or tile vault structures with stairs and other ancient buildings, understanding the principles behind designing with gravity.
The King’s Foundation Summer School has been a life-changing experience, both professionally and personally. The connections forged with skilled craftspeople, the invaluable skills I acquired, and the profound lessons learned have significantly shaped my journey towards becoming a Conservation Architect. This programme has demonstrated the importance of hands-on learning and the critical need to preserve traditional skills. One of the most valuable parts of this experience was connecting with and learning from so many passionate craftspeople. Building strong relationships between craftspeople and architects is essential for effectively conserving traditional buildings.
The summer school has connected me to a network of expertise and support that will enrich my career and help me contribute meaningfully to the conservation of heritage here in Melbourne. I am incredibly grateful to The King’s Trust Australia and The King’s Foundation Summer School for this opportunity, which has not only deepened my appreciation for traditional building crafts but also fuelled my enthusiasm to continue being curious about traditional materials, tools, and techniques. I look forward to where this new knowledge will take me.
