ArClab Workshops
ArClab strives to go beyond helping students and the public expand their understanding of conservation work. It seeks to build Singapore and the region’s capabilities in managing and conserving cultural heritage. This involves the introduction of short, advanced courses for heritage-management professionals based on the UNESCO Competence Framework for Cultural Heritage Management within the ArClab.
Innovation
With a focus on developing innovative techniques to advance the documentation and conservation of the historic fabric, creative design, and policy research for broader conservation issues, the ArClab enables cutting edge cross- disciplinary research and collaboration across the fields of digital conservation technology, material sciences, and building aesthetics.
Hands On
Hands-on workshops guided by building conservation specialists in ArClab encompass a critical part of multi- and interdisciplinary architectural conservation education. Within the ArClab, students are exposed to a wide range of craft skills such as lime render and plastering, brick repair, tile repair, stained glass repair, and decorative finishes.
Scroll down for more details on our workshops.
Reimagining A Second Life For Glass Lanterns from the 2016 Biennale Architettura Di Venezia
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
Nikhil Joshi
The workshop was organized on 30 Sept at ArClab. This workshop was led by Ar Quek Li-En (Quen Architects) and eighteen past and present MAArC students participated in it. It was a day full of fun, team building, brainstorming & pizza! At the end of the workshop, participants presented their innovative ideas to reuse the glass lanterns in ArClab. Some of the ideas will be developed further and will be implemented at the end of the year.
AY 2022/2023
Semester 2
Practical Building Conservation Skills I
Lime Plaster and Brick Masonry
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
Nikhil Joshi
In NUS Architectural Conservation, students acquire practical experience through hand-on training at dedicated research and training centres in the ArClab (Singapore) and NUS-Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre (NUS-TTCLC) for Asian Architectural and Urban Heritage (Melaka, Malaysia).
In this workshop, students learnt about the history of lime, its advantages, and considerations in selection of products and specifications. They also had the opportunity with experimenting with hot-mixed lime mortar at NUS-TTCLC.
Besides work on lime plaster, they have also had experience in SPAB approaches such as "Brick Stitching" to repair historic brick masonry walls.
AY 2022/2023
Semester 2
Practical Building Conservation Skills I
Shanghai Plaster
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
Dai Shibing
Jackson Lee
Kojio Ryusuke
Nikhil Joshi
In this workshop, students gained practical experience with Shanghai plaster under the guidance of Dr Dai Shibing from College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. Shanghai plaster is a type of granolithic cement plaster which was popularised through its use in modern buildings in the 1930s. This course is suitable for those with no prior experience.
During the workshop, the students covered:
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A brief history of Shanghai plaster
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Selecting products and specifications
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Material sourcing and types of aggregate used in Shanghai plaster
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Understanding the processes behind cleaning and restoring a Shanghai plaster facade
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Hands-on experiences and demonstrations with Shanghai plaster
AY 2022/2023
Semester 2
Practical Building Conservation Skills I
3D Laser Scanning Workshop
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
Twin Logic
Nikhil Joshi
In this workshop, students gained practical experience with 3D laser scanning. Not only did they gain a brief theoretical understanding of 3D laser scanning technology and different types of 3D laser scanning technologies and their appropriate uses, students also learnt about the advantages and disadvantages of various 3D laser scanning equipment.
After the theoretical aspect, the students had hands-on experiences with FARO Freestyle2 handheld 3D scanner and FARO S350+ 3D scanner in the ArClab. The workshop concluded with students learning about the software required to process and clean up the data collected from 3D laser scanning.
AY 2022/2023
Semester 2
Practical Building Conservation Skills II
Decorative Finishes (Qian Ci/Jian Nian)
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
Huang Hsiu Hui
Nikhil Joshi
In this workshop on decorative finishes, Ms Huang Hsiu Hui from Taiwan shared with the students the history, techniques, and repair methodology behind the art of qian ci/jian nian. Students had a hand at cutting the pieces, crafting the mortar mix, and assembly of the pieces into a form based on a motif found on the facade of the ArClab.
Students also had first hand experience conducting a visual survey of the qian ci/jian nian located at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, NUS-Baba House, and ArClab.
AY 2022/2023
Semester 1
Practical Building Conservation Skills II
Historic Wall and Floor Tiles
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
Victor Lim
Nikhil Joshi
In this workshop on historic tiles, students learnt about various tiles and their conservation techniques with Victor Lim at his gallery in Chinatown and at Bukit Brown Cemetery.
The students had a chance to conduct hands-on exercises to ascertain the condition of tiles at ArClab. It was an intense afternoon where the students learnt the history, conservation approaches and application of cleaning techniques of historic tiles.
AY 2022/2023
Semester 1
Historic Buildings Survey and Recording
Building Pathology
Programme
Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation (MAArC)
Conducted by
MAEK
Nikhil Joshi
In this workshop, students had an opportunity to cover the following:
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Various problems, deterioration, and decay associated with historic materials commonly found in heritage buildings in Southeast Asia,
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Possible causes as well as consequences of the aforementioned defects on historic buildings and structures,
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Fundamental understanding behind a range of investigative techniques with the aid of state-of-the-art, non-destructive testing equipment and targeted laboratory tests,
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and insights into the evaluative processes to assess the type and extent of defects via visual inspection and/or other investigative methods.
Students also had hands-on experience of performing site measurement and data acquisition with the equipment provided.
AY 2021/2022
Semester 2
