• Why are buildings detailed the way they are?
• Why do architects and engineers seem to come to the same kind of solutions to their detailing problems?
• Are we satisfied with such a situation?

With environmental concerns so high on designers' agendas, the answer to this third question has to be 'no'. Collectively architects, engineers and specifiers need to revisit how they detail the built environment, and address the most important and potentially difficult area of the joint between materials and components.

In Principles of Architectural...