- RL203, Roland Levinsky Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 585163
- L.Watson-2@plymouth.ac.uk

Profiles
Miss Linda Watson
Associate Lecturer
School of Art, Design and Architecture (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business)
PgDip/MA Architectural Conservation Programme Manager
Qualifications
BA(Hons) Architecture ( Queen`s University , Belfast )
BArch(Hons) Architecture ( University of Bath )
Dip.Arch. Conservation ( University of Bristol )
Registered Architect
Professional membership
Architects` Registration Board
Roles on external bodies
Conservation Courses Directors Forum;
British Geological Society Clay Working Party;
Devon Building Group;
Devon Earth Building Group;
Totnes Building Preservation Trust.
Staff serving as external examiners
2005 to 2009: University of Bournemouth MSc. Timber Building Conservation
2004 to 2009: University of Bournemouth / Weymouth College FdA Applied Architectural
Stonework & Conservation
2004 to 2009: University of Bournemouth MSc. Building Conservation , MSc. Architectural
Materials Conservation
1999-2006: Bristol University MA. & Dip. Arch. Conservation
Research interests
EARTHEN ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING RETROFITTING
Research degrees awarded to supervised students
Steven Goodhew,2001, PhD. The Thermal Properties of Cob Buildings of Devon and Somerset
Margaret Ford, 2002, PhD. The Development of a Methodology for Creating an Earthen Building Inventory
Bruce Induni, 2006, PhD. The Survival of Medieval Plaster in Dorset Churches.
Tamara Rogic, 2006, MPhil. A Methodological Framework for the Recording and Evaluation of Industrial Architecture in Croatia. Tested on the Example of the Tobacco Industry.
Colin Williams, 2007, MPhil. Adobe as a Modern Material, its Justification, Production and Use.
Current Supervision:
Michele Sidebotham, MPhil/PhD. The Architectural Significance of the South Devon Seaside.
Bridget Gillard, MPhil/PhD. The Relationship Between Funding and the Survival of Rural Churches
Theophilus Shittu, PhD. Earthen Architectural Conservation in Nigeria: Defining and Disseminating
Grants & contracts
1. RETROFITTING: UPSKILLING THE REGIONAL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
LW has received funding from SWLLN (South West Lifelong Learning Network) to develop an educational and training strategy at a workshop in January `10 and advise FE colleges in the group on new teaching material and progression from FDs to professional accreditation.
WORKSHOP: Dartington Hall 7th & 8th Jan 2010. Forty paricpants representing LPA Conservation Officers, Housing Associations, Architectural Practices and Engineering Consultants meet to hear key note speakers discuss issues concerning the Retrofitting of the SW Region`s Traditional Building Stock. An indepth discussion amongst particpants generated the beginings of a Regional Strategy to upskill our consturction industry. This was funded by SWLLN and Dartington Hall Trust.
ADVISING FE COLLEGES : This has focused upon intergrating sustainability and building conservation into existing and the development of new courses
2. RETROFITTING: TSB PROJECTS
LW & MM established a team of practitioners and made application for two projects to develop proposals to retrofit two terraced houses in conservation areas. We were fortunate in being awarded both projects.
The team have recently applied for second stage funding to implement the proposals. Here the funding for each project will total £150,000 if we are successful.
3. INTERREG : PROJECT CORDIALE ( formerly called SULIS )
Initially this project comprised 19 partners in total under the leadership of Devon C.C. LW &MM are leading the Low Impact Building Studio which forms an important part of the bid and the reason we were invited to join the group. The application comprised working with our French partners in Normandy and Brittany in producing and disseminating conservation techniques for the traditional building stock in protected areas. Having spent over a year producing the application for submission in summer 2009, we were asked to resubmit a simplfied project in Spring 2010. The results are yet to be announced.
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Built Heritage At Risk Through Climate Change, Conservation/Transformation ENHSA/EAAE, Italy.( About to be published)
The Cob building Technique, Informes de la Construccion, Monograph on Earth as a Construction Material,Spain. ( Currently with Referees )
The feasibility of earth block masonry for sustainable walling in the UK, Journal of Building Appraisal with C. Williams, S. Goodhew, R. Griffiths. (paper completed and about to be sent to journal).
The Creation of a Database of West Country Buildings from MA Architectural Conservation Student Coursework. with B. Induni, J. Manco. ( paper completed in draft form and to be sent to Journal of Architectural Conservation)
Local Distinctiveness and Sustainable Development: Complementary or Contradictory. Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies, Coventry University & University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Centre for By-Products. 2007
The Changing Technology of Adobe Construction in Nigeria with Shittu, T., International Earth Building Symposium, Bangalore, India. 2007.
Earthen Architecture in Clay Materials Used in Construction, Reeves, G.M., Simms, I.,& Cripps, J.C., Geological Society ,London, Engineering Geology Special Publication ,21. 2006.
A Holistic Approach to the Construction of the Cob building Technique in Britain, Conference Preprints, L`Architecture Bauge en Europe, Isigny-Sur-Mare, France. 2006.
The Sandford Inventory of Earth buildings as a Conservation Aid with Ford, M. & Griffiths, R., Journal of Architectural Conservation, Donhead, Vol 11 No.2. 2005.
Skilling the British Construction Industry in Earth Building, in Steingass, P. (ed) Moderner Lehmbau, Herausgegeben von der KirchBauhof gGmbH Zukunft, Lehmbau, Weimar, Germany. 2002.
Cob-A Living Tradition, in Steingass, P.(ed) Moderner Lehmbau, Herausgegeben von der KirchBauhof gGmbH Zukunft, Lehmbau, Weimar, Germany. 2002.
Earth Construction in Nigeria: Challenges and Projects
with Shittu, T., West African Network of Earthen Architecture Practitioners` Conference. 2008.
Conservation Education in Britain - the Plymouth Experience,
International Conference on Conservation Management, University of Westminster. 2006.Reports & invited lectures
Papers and Lectures
Contemporary Interventions in Historic Fabric, Dip. Arch. Conservation, University of Cambridge. 2007
Cultural Significance, Dip. Arch. Conservation, University of Cambridge. 2007
Cob, a Sustainable Construction Technique, SUMACON `Achieving Low Energy Masonry, University of Exeter. 2007
Vernacular Materials, Classical Form, The Georgian House Conference, University of Plymouth. 2007
Appropriate Earthen Architectural Conservation in Nigeria: A Strategy for Sustainable Development, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission`s Science and Technology Forum. 2007
Developing a Conservation Strategy for Cob Building Techniques, Vernacular Architecture Groups Conference, University of Leicester. 2006.
Earth as a Global Building Material, School of Architecture, University of Krakow, Poland. 2003.
Conferences organised
Mud Glorious Mud, A hands on earth building experience for schools and part of Architecture Week
Historic Buildings and the Building Regulations, conference, Plymouth, April 2008 with IHBC
The Regeneration of the West Country Seaside Towns, conference, Plymouth, proposed June 2011
Sustainable Conservation - On the Waterfront conference, Plymouth, June 2006 with IHBC
Sustainable Building - the good, the bad and the reality, conference, Eden Project , October 2006 with RIBA,CSBT & DSBI
Informed Conservation, conference, Plymouth, April 2005 with IHBC