Darren McLean
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darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Darren McLean
@darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
1.7K followers 140 following 5.8K posts
Building conservation university teacher and practitioner.
Historic building materials, construction techniques, and architecture. Studying Roman construction.
Interested in forgotten methods and materials.
UK/Italy
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darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
This church uses a combination of moulded decorative bricks, and lots of plaster. The creation of the vaulting would be as per any other roof with less geometrically dramatic ceilings.
A vaulted ceiling in need of repair A moulded brick
November 2, 2025 at 7:31 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
- What would you like?

- Formal and serious. NO! I mean Rustic!

- Chicago meets Carcassonne?

- Perfect!
1910s modern brick build houses with incongruous turreted sone Carcassonne style entrances
October 20, 2025 at 7:55 PM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
I need to have a word with the props department
A scene from a film showing the back side of a plaster and lath wall. It's a set prop and has been installed the wrong way up, so the plaster 'rivets' appear to defy gravity and point upwards
October 20, 2025 at 5:21 PM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
There is a phenomena where thin slabs of natural (and reconstituted) stone cladding expand as they become heated from sun and solar gain

They contract, expand, contract... repeatedly

Eventually they stop contracting. Restricted spaces (eg bedded in hard mortar) cause them to 'belly' in the centre
A marble panel embedded in a plastered wall. The belly in the panel is visible fro them side The lettered panel from the front. A panel of modern, reconstituted stone applied in a hard mortar one. a brick wall. A screw and washer installed in an effort the prevent the stone panel from detaching from the wall.
October 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
String cornices on buildings are not architectural fluff.

Note on this (somewhat neglected) building how some of the old limewash still remains.
An narrow facade and a story building mostly in okay condition, but weathering has worn off 99% of the painted surface of the walls
October 18, 2025 at 10:37 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Another example is this bookshop which used to be a butchers. The sign says “ancient butcher”. Which I think means traditional more than literally “ancient”.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
I think these were popular all over the world, but they were especially popular in Italy, and still are.
A glass painted sign above the pharmacy in Italy. The sign says ancient pharmacy.
October 18, 2025 at 9:26 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
The world's ugliest skirtingboard / baseboard of some weird 1950s material in imitation of wood
Some sort of resin material in imitation of natural dark wood A man's hand holding a piece of skirtingboard to show that it is very thin, about 6mm 1/4 inch
October 18, 2025 at 9:17 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Solar panels can also be in copper to suit historic buildings
A display of a copper roof with metal roofing and tubing beneath, as a solar water heating system
October 18, 2025 at 9:13 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
A former goldsmith's shop
A Venetian clothes shop which retains an older, reverse painted glass sign of 'Oreficeria' ie Goldsmith
October 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
I know this won’t convince the Tartarians and others who believe that Giants built our buildings but…

We have records for everything, including apprenticeships.

It also contradicts the myth that people didn’t travel back in the day and stayed in their village
An extract of an apprentice register listing names of employers and apprentices A list of locations that Oxford apprentices were from A map displaying where Oxford apprentices were from. This also shows how much people travelled for work or in this instance to do an apprenticeship. The cover of the book “Oxford city apprentices 1513 to 1602”
October 17, 2025 at 10:33 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
There seems to be a big deal about 'eco-bricks' made from stone in the UK..., meanwhile in Italy, almost every building supplies outlet sells these.
A shoebox sized block of stone (tuff) cut to be used as a brick A disorganised pile of stone 'bricks'. Several pallets of stone bricks.
October 15, 2025 at 7:14 PM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
And the roads were paved with gold. Sort of.
Stone crazy paving with gold coloured mortar between the stones Wide view of the same stone pavement
October 10, 2025 at 11:27 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Heads up.
A carving of a man’s face with a moustache and goatee beard A close-up of one carved panel from the door An historic set of double doors, intricately carved The double doors of wood surrounded by a brick entranceway
October 10, 2025 at 9:55 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
An unusual mosaic floor for Italy.
Monosize tesserae in a large mosaic under an arcade in an Italian shopping precinct A close-up of the mosaic pavement with a dog lead standing on it
October 10, 2025 at 9:39 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Reminded me of this housing development.

That’s not a criticism of the floor.
An aerial photo of an enormous and very repetitive housing estate. Nad Al Sheba Villas
October 9, 2025 at 2:19 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Don’t believe people who tell you that their rubberised coating is bc a good solution for your dodgey outdoor tiles.
A shop’s terrace with a rubberise coating that’s failed to resolve the problem of the loose tiles beneath Cracked tiles visible through the coating that should have hidden the problem
October 7, 2025 at 5:57 PM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
A Trompe l’oeil ceiling in imitation of beams, joists and carved decorations.
Large room in a former Medici palazzo A photo focusing on the decoratively painted ceiling. There are large beams which are real, and smaller joist and carvings which are fake, being painted decoration
October 5, 2025 at 8:58 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Yes, it looks fantastic. Much of Italy is like this, even when subtle in a café, such as the one across the street from the apartment.
A typical Italian bar from the 1920s also with decorative paint
October 4, 2025 at 10:36 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Look up while you’re walking
Apartment above a shop on an historic building. An open window above the shop allows a decorative ceiling to be seen.
October 4, 2025 at 9:48 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Vaguely similar vibes
A concrete bunker in a creepy forest. Someone has spray-painted “free hugs” and an arrow pointing at the door.
October 4, 2025 at 4:23 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
At 300km/h the motorway traffic appears to be sitting still.
A pic of a carriage interior of a high speed train. The info panel displays the time and the speed (300km/h) A photo from the train of motorway traffic.
October 2, 2025 at 6:00 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
@dmercer.bsky.social is this beauty one of yours?
A building located on a street corner. It appears to be of pressed metal and cast stone.
October 1, 2025 at 10:12 AM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
If it’s any comfort, he has a 7mile long (man made) lake named after him in Australia, where he designed an entire city.
An aerial photo of lake Burley Griffin, beside the city of Canberra, the capital city of Australia.
September 30, 2025 at 3:49 PM
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
I just found this from a few years ago on a friend's Insta account

😱

📷 raivis_austrins
A traditional wooden house in Riga, Latvia covered in expanding foam as an exterior finish
September 30, 2025 at 7:02 AM