I remember one of the architects explaining it to me in 2003 or 2004. If memory serves :
Basically the construction could be faster if well organized and continuous (I believe he said less than 10 years).
However they voluntarily kept the pace relatively slow, for pedagogic purposes, and because it would be more realistic, because the construction of a Middle-age castle could be slowed or interrupted by a variety of factors impacting the availability of manpower, money, or commodities,including farm yields, wars, climate, etc...
Thank you, I think "good organization" would be one of those modern innovations most difficult to avoid, along with literacy, worker transportation, and abundance of fresh/clean food/water. Seems like they're trying to account for it though.
Good organization could be managed at tge time if one was powerful enough. I just checked Château Gaillard on Wikipedia, it's a typical medieval stronghold, quite advanced for its time. It was built in the exceptionnally short time 2 years along with the nearby town by Richard the Lionheart, with huge suns of money.
That's an impressive feat, but I imagine things like daily weather forecasts, copiers, and every worker having a pager/phone would have sped up production still. So much of modern day convenience allows organization far beyond what they could manage.
Basically the construction could be faster if well organized and continuous (I believe he said less than 10 years).
However they voluntarily kept the pace relatively slow, for pedagogic purposes, and because it would be more realistic, because the construction of a Middle-age castle could be slowed or interrupted by a variety of factors impacting the availability of manpower, money, or commodities,including farm yields, wars, climate, etc...