Assessing the acceptability of alternative cladding materials in housing: theoretical and methodological challenges. Authors: Anthony Craig, Leanne Abbott, Richard Laing, and Martin Edge. (The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen). Summary Unlike many areas of Northern Europe, in which local timber is a prominent and popular cladding material for houses, in the UK there is thought to be a particular attachment to masonry (rendered concrete block and brick) as the main external visual feature of the home. With a drive by Government to increase the efficiency of housebuilding and the spread of lightweight timber framed construction, the apparent solidity of the masonry home is increasingly just a surface patina. Both for reasons of cost and in a drive to improve the sustainability of housing there is currently a lot of interest in the use of locally produced timber cladding. This research sought to investigate the public attachment to ‘traditional’ house appearance by looking at the influence of cladding materials on housing preference. Various studies have previously shown that the exterior appearance of housing has an impact on building preferences. For this study a survey was developed in which 36 variations of houses were modelled on a computer and placed within a standardised background. Respondents (N=844) indicated their relative preferences for the various houses via rating scales. The results of the survey broadly confirmed the hypothesis that people prefer what are generally thought of as ‘traditional’ exterior cladding materials, and are therefore more likely to consider purchasing such houses. Some timber cladding, rated as being more ‘traditional’ was however also thought to be worthy of purchase. The linking of ‘tradition’ to pleasantness provides support for the application of social representations theory to market research in housing, and possibly in a wider context to purchase considerations in general. The study was methodologically innovative in it’s comparative use of near-photographic quality computer simulations of houses in both web-based and paper-based studies. Postal Address: The Scott Sutherland School, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB10 7QB Email:a.craig@rgu.ac.uk