Dr Mike Lawrence

PhD, MSc, MA, FCMA, CGMA, FIMMM, CEnv

Profile

Mike Lawrence is a Lecturer in Low Carbon Design within the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering. He specialises in Natural Building Materials and in the optimisation of the fabric of buildings to minimise in-use energy consumption.

Mike is also Director of the recently established Building Research Park at Wroughton, where the EPSRC funded experimental building - the HIVE – is being constructed (EPSRC Grant Ref: EP/K040391/1).  Mike is actively searching for research projects which will make use of the HIVE and the other resources at the Research Park.

Mike trained as an accountant and worked in banking, as well as the photographic and pharmaceutical industries. This was followed by 13 years running a bookselling business during which time he obtained an MA with distinction in Arts Education at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

In 1995, he took over the management of the Ham Hill Stone Company. This quarry had been in his family since the 15th century and the stone has been used in the south-west of England since Roman times for the construction of a wide range of buildings, including many Grade 1 and 2* listed buildings. 

In 2003, he obtained an MSc with distinction in the Conservation of Historic Buildings, and followed this with the award of a PhD on lime mortars in 2006.

Mike worked as a research officer at the BRE Centre for Sustainable Construction at the University of Bath until 2012. Completed projects include Technology Strategy Board funded work on pre-fabricated straw bale panels for use in main-stream construction, where he developed a non-invasive method of continuously monitoring the condition of rendered straw-bale panels.

A second project involved the successful development of non cementitious mortars for use with unfired clay bricks. This facilitated the use of low-carbon footprint unfired clay bricks as internal walls in mainstream construction. Mike's final project as a research officer was funded by DEFRA and the objective was to develop hemp-lime low carbon construction for mainstream uptake. The project completed in March 2012.

Mike started as a full-time Lecturer in Low Carbon Design in April 2012.  He supervises PhD students in the fields of hemp-lime construction, air lime mortars, and the effectiveness of passively acquired and maintained building environmental performance on the preservation of large-scale historic collections to current conservation and collections care standards.

Mike’s work at the Building Research Park includes the development of the HIVE and the hosting of research projects including the EU funded ECOSEE and HEMPSEC projects. He is a Director of Earth Building UK Ltd, an association dedicated to promoting the use of earth in construction in the UK.

Research

Mike’s research interests are in natural building materials and in the field of low carbon design with a particular emphasis on the contribution that the fabric of a building can make to the passive management of the internal environment. He is building up a team of researchers in this field, and would welcome applications from enthusiastic students to join his group. Email Mike Lawrence.

Publications