Darren McLean has over 30 years of experience in the conservation field as a practitioner of traditional carpentry/joinery, lime mortars and masonry. He has studied at West Dean College and an MSc in Building Conservation from Bournemouth University, UK. After completing a carpentry apprenticeship in Australia, he settled in Scotland and began working with lime mortars. In 2010, he formed a conservation business, Timber & Lime Conservation, where he focuses on the conservation and repair of historic decorative and structural timber, lime mortars, brick, stone and decorative plasters, and mosaic and tessellated geometric floors. He has been a guest lecturer in conservation materials and techniques at Strathclyde University, and he teaches conservation courses accredited by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) for the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, as well as conservation classes for the Yangon Heritage Trust in Myanmar. In 2018, he was appointed an Adjunct Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong to teach materials and techniques in the postgraduate conservation curriculum. Chinese architecture, materials and techniques are an area of special interest. More recently Darren has focused on McLean Conservation Associates: Consultancy on historic building materials and techniques, building owner advice, higher education and professional CPD training