Online Seminar by Jonathan Louth, LCAG representative for the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects
The built environment has always reflected the relationship between human skill and technological possibility. Today, that relationship is being reshaped at extraordinary speed. As global population growth accelerates and carbon emissions rise, the question is no longer whether technology will transform construction, but how we ensure people remain at the centre of that transformation.
The “Built with People” initiative, now being developed with several maker and construction liveries, argues that sustainable practice depends on combining modern tools with the dexterity, judgement and experience of skilled craftspeople. A recent stone masonry case study illustrates why this balance matters.
Why People Still Matter
The demographic pressures alone are striking. When my grandparents were born, the world held roughly 2 billion people. Sixty years later that figure had risen modestly to 2.5 billion. Another 60 years took us past 7 billion, and today we stand at 8.2 billion—an increase of one-sixth in just 15 years. Every additional person requires housing, food, warmth, care and materials. And every task a human worker no longer performs must be taken up by a machine, which itself demands energy, resources and continual maintenance.
Meanwhile, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations have risen by around two parts per million every year since the early 1990s, three parts per million last year alone. The underlying agenda, therefore, is clear: how do we integrate technology into the crafts and construction trades in ways that reduce energy use rather than add to it, and thus also how much we can combine health and well-being benefits with dignity and economic activity for the workforce?
A Long History of Craft and Ingenuity
Machines are not new to construction. Medieval scaffolding, timber cranes and iron tools followed principles recognisable today. Historical craftsmanship—from the dry-stone walls of Calabria to the reconstruction of Prague’s Judith Bridge—shows what skilled hands could achieve with modest means.
At the same time, the vision of “human-free construction” has become increasingly plausible. Driverless delivery trucks, robotic assembly and drone-guided accuracy all promise improvements in safety and efficiency. Many livery companies are active in these developments. Yet the aim is not to return to a pre-industrial past, but to ensure technology enhances rather than replaces skilled work.
Economic cycles remind us that technological superiority does not always outweigh local conditions. When Prague’s Danube House was built, its intricate metalwork was forged and polished by hand—not for nostalgia, but because the local cost structure made human craft more viable than industrial fabrication.
Research also confirms the wellbeing benefits of creative, dextrous work, particularly for disadvantaged groups. Robotic construction may reduce risk, but it does not cultivate the judgment, nuance and sensory understanding on which master craftsmanship depends.
A Case Study in Stone Masonry
Recent work at Southwark St George’s Cathedral demonstrates how technology and craft can reinforce one another. A 3D LIDAR scan captured the condition of a fire-damaged parapet inscription; calibrated photographs created a detailed digital model. Laser cleaning removed pollutants with precision impossible by hand, revealing both surviving detail and fractures caused by wartime heat. Electron microscopy then helped identify the original profiles of the letters.
Yet at every step, progress depended on experienced stone masons, conservators and sculptors. Where the digital model suggested possibilities, human judgement confirmed them. Computer artists collaborated with carvers to reconstruct lost Gothic script and refine the subtleties of undercutting. Technology provided accuracy; craft provided understanding.
The workflow itself illustrates a sustainable hybrid approach. Hand skills guided the digital reconstruction; machines prepared new blocks to near-finish; and masons completed the carving, ensuring a weathering profile only human hands can achieve.
Toward a Sustainable Future for Skills
Across York Minster, Cologne Cathedral and Southwark St George’s, pilot projects demonstrate that technology can extend the working lives of skilled masons, improve safety, and support apprentices learning traditional methods. They also show something more important: every physical task performed by a human being saves energy compared with a machine performing the same task.
The “Built with People” initiative seeks to formalise this principle—supporting a workforce with dextrous skills, material knowledge and lifelong training, fully augmented but not displaced by technology. As global numbers rise and resources tighten, sustainability will depend not only on machines, but on the people who guide them.
See the full online seminar on LCAG’s YouTube Channel.
Edited by Gordon Masterton, Past Master Engineer and LCAG Executive member,
[derived from an AI-generated draft blog of the recording transcript]