Good morning from a windswept UK. Today, I’m sharing a first look at part of the redesigned Materials chapter for the 2026 rewrite of Mitchell’s Construction.

For over a century, this series has been the foundational text for architects, builders, and draughts people. But the world has shifted. We no longer just select materials for their colour, shape, or strength; we specify them for their planetary legacy.

In this draft, we move beyond the local geology of Cotswold Stone and London Stocks into the “Urban Mine” of the 21st century. We explore how desalination is becoming a source for the rare earth minerals like Lithium and Magnesium that power our sites, and why the “60-Year Rule” must now dictate every chemical coating we apply to a facade.

From the sequence of operations on a Gantt chart to the AI-driven automation of the future, this is how we are preparing the next generation of builders to move from “construction” to “stewardship.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts—especially on the “Support Act” of materials we often overlook.

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Materials

Architecture is taking materials to a new level, but we should not forget the development of materials over time, how they have survived, or failed. Many do still exist, and we need to protect them and blend with them, both visually and structurally

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#Article#Detailing#Scaffolding#Materials#Sequence-of-Operations #Gant-charts

This is the basis of both an article, and part of the new copy for the Materials section of Mitchells

What are Materials

In the introduction section of this book, we looked at what materials are. In simple terms, materials are used to create buildings, because we can’t create a building fully formed. Even when creating 3D Printed houses, we have to look at the material used for printing.

Materials:

Even in the construction of a simple house, the number of materials used can easily exceed 1000’s, with no one material being capable of providing all the properties needed to keep its occupants warm, dry, secure and above all safe from the building itself.

No one material can perform all tasks, they rely on each other to come together as a whole.

Some materials are as nature intended, such as timber cut from trees to come together as doors, windows and floors, held in place with glue, screws and nails, painted to protect and give colour.

Others dug from the ground manufactured by adding water, chemicals and heated to transform materials such as clay into bricks, roof tiles, and wall and floor tiles.

Historic Materials

Up until at least the later part of the 19th Century, many common materials were manufactured onsite, Brickwork, Lime, and clay tiles for both roof and floor, being classic examples. It was not until the early 1900’s that bricks were manufactured in bulk by factory units that provided limited control over raw materials and production. Far more than could be expected by onsite kilns, and rough clay pits.

So often there is a huge relationship between local geology and regional building traditions, (Cotswold Stone, Welsh Slate, London Stock Bricks). So the choice of building materials was often local supply, and the often-limited transportation of goods from other areas. We should also consider the local craftsmen using local materials simply because they understood their use and limitations.

Modern Materials

The design and manufacture of so many materials are now regulated by both trade associations, British Standards and the building regulations need to fit for purpose.

Transportation has eased the supply of almost any material, with global certification and efficient manufacturing, with an almost instant communication and ordering system of the internet.

There are so many different materials used in the construction industry broadly they can be listed as below, but remember it’s not just the building but the support act we need to consider, Scaffold, and Temporary works.

* Limes and Cements

* Sand

* Aggregates

* Concrete

* Asphalts

* Plastering

* Stones

* Rock Fibre Insulation

* Rammed Earth

* Plant Fiber

* Bricks

* Clay tiles

* Iron and Steel

* Brass

* Timber

* Timber Composites

* Plywood

* Chipboard

* Particle Board

* Block boards

* Gluelam Beams

* Temporary Works

* Plywood Shuttering

* Temporary decking

* Gravel gravel roads

* Glues

* Adhesives and Sealants”

* Chemicals ( Variety of acids and solvents)

* Paints and Varnishes

* Glass

* Plate

* Laminates

* Fibre Optics

* Lighting

* Water (Potable)

* Water reclaimed under rainwater Harvesting (SUDS)

* Grey water

* Plastics

* uPVC

* Polystyrene

* Gas

* Propane

* Oil

* Marking Paints (Aerosols)

The list goes on, almost all manufactured in one way or another.

Almost all producing waste and or consuming many of the other products on the list

Water is a classic example, it has to be potable, free from contaminants, no salt, or any other suspended substances, that may be held in the final material and expressed as efflorescence on the external or internal surface, maybe even causing internal destruction of reinforcement.

The use of potable water may be replaced by desalination of sea water, this has till recently, caused even more pollution by the return of a slurry to the sea causing oxygen depletion and upsetting the natural balance of the sea water.

But as we begin to understand the slurry, it can be seen to contain many rare earth minerals such as:

* Lithium: Crucial for the EV battery revolution. Extracting lithium from brine is becoming more cost-competitive than traditional hard-rock mining.

* Magnesium: Used in high-strength, lightweight alloys for construction and automotive industries.

* Rubidium and Cesium: Rare metals used in high-tech applications, including atomic clocks and specialized drilling fluids.

* Calcium and Potassium: Frequently reclaimed for use in fertilizers and cement production.

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Manufacturers

Almost all materials are manufactured, the days of historic buildings being built with materials mostly manufactured onsite are long gone. The building regulations across the world demand that full accountability as to the manufacture of the materials we use, and their testing to prove fitness for purpose is carried out, in accordance with often many different codes.

Before any product is allowed to be used, it undergoes years of testing, and above all, detailing ready for insertion into both Technical literature and approval documents such as Agrement certificates.which also list the relevant codes where its approved.

Their installation is also governed by the many building codes, and inspected daily by teams of surveyors checking on the materials installation alongside the many other components that will almost inevitably surround it.

Manufacturers are always keen to make sure that their products are installed correctly, and offer many standard details

Many of the construction books available, only offer sample details as to the fitting together of the manu components, little is said as to why they are used and the methodology of their use. Such as general impact, weathering, solar protection, wind, rain snow, hail,

Sequence of Operations

Almost inevitably, once we talk of materials we need to consider the sequence in which materials may be used, and this involves timing, or when they need to be delivered to site.

Gantt Charts

An industry standard method of charting the materials used, their delivery schedule, and the time needed to install the material including curing if needed, can easily be charted on a simple spreadsheet, which can be expanded to include equipment needed to be supplied by the main contractor, and manpower requirements.

There are basically two types of Gantt Chart, the simple spreadsheet, or Critical Path which controls the timing of each installation as a function of the preceding works, ie footing brickwork prior to placing the DPC, it can’t be laid till the footing is both installed and cured.

The advent of CAD and AI means a lot of this can be automated, allowing for 3D models to be automated to show the creation of the building as a video.

Future

As we progress through the 21st Century, and head towards the 22nd Century, we need to consider the longevity of a lot of the buildings, which may well live into this century, the need for materials, that will reduce CO2 emissions both in manufacture and transportation to and from the place of manufacture, which has now become global in its ability to transport, or even set up local manufacturing, but also in its removal or demolition.

CAD, the use of AI, and an almost instant communication network free up the design and manufacturing of bespoke materials, and custom shapes breaking free, buildings of the future from ridged shaped orthogonal designs to free flowing artistic, and living, smart aware buildings. Digital Twin is now being used to track so much of the building.

So often, buildings we design now rely on humans and very limited automation to steer them through use, and the ravages of the weather and so often seismic events. AI together with ever increasingly sophisticated sensors, and materials will protect themselves, how to achieve this, is the next big design quest.

In a later chapter within this section , we will take an in-depth look at materials, their design, manufacture, use, and control in the building regulation and how they survive modern life and a climate that is reacting to humans in ways we just can not survive without radical intervention.

Waste Pollution of material manufacturing

Most modern materials are manufactured from often complex lists of materials and subject to long and complex manufacturing processes, resulting in some of the materials being used ending up as a waste by-products and some being contained and locked away within the product often staying there till the building is demolished or repaired / renovated.

Both the byproducts of manufacture and those locked away need to be listed to aid careful disposal. A form of Environmental Product Declarations as part of a practice Planetary Health Check, a yearly report run by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany.

We generally design a building to have a life span of say 60 years, perhaps we should use this information on chemical use to determine a new 60-Year Rule: Asking design practices to research the “Design Life” vs. “Material Life.” If a coating lasts 15 years but the building lasts 60, what happens to the chemicals during the three maintenance cycles in between?

A statement in the Design and Research Document as part of any planning application would go a long way to highlighting the chemical content and waste generated.

There it is, Materials, and I have only just scratched the surface, it needs a book devoted to the subject, and as it happens, Mitchells has one in its series, “Mitchells Materials” by Alan Everett and C M H Barritt. still available, although It will hopefully be revised. My copy says last printed 2013 so 13 years out of date, but still worth getting.

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