The last panel meeting for the first cycle of the NLA Expert Panel on Technical Competency was a moment to reflect on the past 12 months and plan for the next year. The starting point was the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster. Within this context, the NLA Expert Panel on Technical Competency focused on topics such as education, training, digital capability, procurement, and emerging legislation on fire and building safety. 

As Chair, it has been a privilege to listen and learn from expert panellists, who are all at the forefront of expertise in the field of design and construction of buildings. It was with a focus on the future that the panel discussed key lines of enquiry that could inform the NLA’s next 12-month line-up of the Building Better programme. 

Nigel Ostime and Dale Sinclair proposed a compelling focus on MMC and Digital Capability. Clearly the vanguard for the industry at the moment and a capability that any professional within design and construction will be required to embrace. 

This goes hand in hand with exploring what BIM can offer, from digital construction techniques to leveraging data to monitor the performance and safety of buildings. Digital capability is patchy; whilst there are a few Tier 1 contractors embracing the available tools, the vast majority in the industry are not. Dale Sinclair asked why we are still wedded to 2D information; is it a habit, or more likely, lack of willingness or other barriers that prevent new ways of working? In a matter of weeks, the whole country moved to working from home. What is the trigger that will push the cultural shift that needs to happen in the construction industry?

The topic of retrofitting explored how MMC could and should overlap; indeed, Nic Crawley’s new book ‘Cross Laminated Timber: A Design Stage Primer’ looks at that very topic. The really interesting thoughts were how ‘retrofitting for the future’ should work, meaning how should buildings designed today embed circular economy principles so that they are capable of being effectively repurposed many years in the future. John Robertson’s point was well said: we all need to accept that lifecycle and embodied carbon benchmarking will be a routine part of design evaluation, and the industry should be gearing up with training and digital tools. 

The panel all agreed that fire safety continues to be an ongoing and evolving focus topic. Recent coverage of the high-rise cladding crisis, and the governments’ response to this, still continues to affect hundreds of residents. It is a topic that will not be going away anytime soon, so a regular fire safety update was called for. This could take in technical issues in relation to material science and testing procedures, along with suggestions of how the industry can better inform future buyers and renters. 

Dieter Bentley-Gockmann framed the final portion of the discussion which explored what it means to be the designer of buildings looking into the future. Questions on this topic were about the future role of the architect and who indeed is the ‘architect’ in the future design team. What it means to be the ‘architect’ will and should change as specialisms continue to emerge, challenging the lead designer role which in turn raises the knotty issue of the art of the architect and who are the most competent people to design and construct buildings. Within this context, Nic Crawley’s reflected on evolving competency and how best to plan for a changing technical landscape. It’s clear that embracing knowledge and innovation are fundamental to maintaining not just a basic capability but to keep up with the fast-changing methods, tools and materials that create buildings.