"doing what was always done" has a lot to be said for it, so long as if it means using the techniques and materials and that have been used successfully in that particular part of the world for this particular type of purpose. More likely than not the better formula would be more a matter of "doing it the way it always used to be done", which isn't quite the same thing.

They just had to spend an enormous amount rebuilding a local church in Harlow because the architect had made use of a kind of modern concrete that turned out to disintegrate after a few years. (He used it in our Town Hall too, and that had to be demolished, but the church was a bit more special.)