Vol. 29 No. 1 (2025): BEYOND DECARBONIZATION toward a Climate Neutral urban environment
Research and Experimentation

Heritage and Habitat: Sustainable timber design techniques at the Wooler Schoolhouse

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  • Luigi Ferrara,
  • Veronica Madonna,
  • Stefano Sartorio
Luigi Ferrara
Principal, Conifer, Canada
Veronica Madonna
RAIC Centre for Architecture, Athabasca University, Canada
Stefano Sartorio
Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, Italia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-16584

Published 2025-07-31

Keywords

  • Sustainable architecture,
  • Approach to Heritage,
  • Mass timber construction,
  • Rural reuse,
  • environmental design

How to Cite

Ferrara, L., Madonna, V., & Sartorio, S. (2025). Heritage and Habitat: Sustainable timber design techniques at the Wooler Schoolhouse. TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, 29(1), 273–288. https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-16584

Copyright (c) 2025 Luigi Ferrara, Veronica Madonna, Stefano Sartorio

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The Wooler Schoolhouse Project is an experimental effort to renovate a heritage site and create a sustainable approach using mass timber and biobased materials to achieve climate neutrality. The project is the result of a collaborative charrette that brought together the local community, academics, builders, and students worldwide. The result adopts regenerative development to promote a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, enhancing social and natural capital. It focuses on building adaptable, resilient spaces that encourage social connections, collaborations, and well-being while integrating renewable energy, demonstrating sustainable architecture, and boosting community involvement with environmental education programmes.

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