Building Limes News

Some dos and don’ts in the use of lime mortars

Rosamond (Roz) Artis Director Scottish Lime Centre provides some top tips about the use of lime mortars. Always work from the top down, so you are never working over finished work (an exception to this is grouting, which is a bottom upwards process). When using hydraulic lime mortars always ensure they are kept damp for […]

Celebrating 30 years of the Building Limes Forum

Special 30th anniversary message from James Simpson, past chairman of the BLF It’s now 30 years since the formation of the BLF – an occasion I remember well. We have achieved a huge amount in that time, but there is much, much more still to do. We now have a dozen BLF chapters and independent […]

New member spotlight ‘Professor Elizabeth Laycock’ Module Leader for Research Methods and Undergraduate Dissertation Module.

What era of architecture excites you most? I think the only era of architecture I really have a problem with is the Brutalist school which is just difficult for me to find any endearing feature in it to love – oh, and these modern brick and glass blocks that we insist on throwing up all […]

New Member Spotlight ‘Luke Dickens’

Welcome to new BLF member, Luke Dickens, PhD Researcher in Materials Analysis and Decarbonation of the Built Environment. Can you tell us a bit more about your role as a Member of the Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure Group at the School of Engineering? I am a PhD researcher at The University of Liverpool working to […]

Save the date: Building Limes Online Conference 6th November 2021

The Building Limes Forum (BLF) is pleased to announce its very first online conference which will be streaming live from Exeter Cathedral on Saturday 6th November 2021. BLF members and lime enthusiasts from across the world can book their place at this year’s Building Limes Online Conference. This exciting one-day event features a mix of […]

New Member Spotlight: Joel Endersby

Welcome to new BLF member, Joel Endersby, who runs a family business along with his wife that specialises in both traditional and natural building and finishes. He talks about the ethos behind his work and passion for using traditional sustainable materials. Tell us more about your business I have been in the building trade for […]

Lime and Climate Change (The Story So Far) by Cliff Blundell

The ‘Historic Sector’ of the construction industry has always been a Cinderella. Being lumped in under the title ‘construction industry’ hasn’t helped. Conservation of historic buildings has never been about ‘construction’; the building of a structure from scratch. It has always been about repair and maintenance of an already existing building, and thus its conservation […]

Top tips for getting it right on site!

Sands and aggregates for lime mortars. Roz Artis, BLF Treasurer and Director of the Scottish Lime Centre Trust, provides tips for working on site once the perfect sand for a project has been identified.    Buy all the sand you are going need for your job in one go, keep it in the same condition […]

Twelve Days of Lime Christmas

Twelve Days of Lime Christmas By Roz Artis, BLF Treasurer and Director, Scottish Lime Centre Trust On the first day of Christmas my true love (limey) gave to me a tub of putty in a lime tree On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two tonnes of sand On the […]

Climate change – should lime mortar fill in the gap?

Climate change – should lime mortar fill in the gap? Ashley Pettit, Isle of Man architect and committee member of the Building Limes Forum poses the question. On September 1st, 2020, it was announced that forty of the world’s leading cement and concrete companies had unveiled a joint industry ‘2050 Climate Ambition.’ The ambition statement […]