Year: 2010

ABSTRACT: If current population and accommodation trends continue, Australian cities will, in the future, have noticeable numbers of apartment buildings over 60 storeys high. With an aging population it follows that a significant proportion of those occupying these buildings will be senior citizens, many of whom will have some form of disability. For these occupants…

ABSTRACT: E-learning has increasingly come to the fore as a means to enhance students’ learning in design education. This is despite academic research warning against putting too much onus on these technologies as the answer in improved learning experiences for students. This paper explores whether e-learning technologies have a significant role in linking students’ knowledge,…

ABSTRACT: This paper introduces work-in-progress on a longitudinal, ethno-methodological case study of the process of establishing a new inter-disciplinary Bachelor of Creative Technologies (BCT) at Auckland University of Technology in 2008. The project-organised BCT curriculum draws together elements of art, interaction design, computing, engineering, mathematics, philosophy of technology, entrepreneurship and industry internships. The program is…

ABSTRACT: This paper first makes a case for the importance of democratic sustainable architecture education for children, due to their capability and right to have a say in the design of their environments, as well as their role as future stewards of the environment. It then uses findings from the Eco-classroom Project in a New…

ABSTRACT: The basic concept of sustainability is about supporting human needs within ecological boundaries. Human needs are diverse hence a measure called Quality of Life (QoL) is commonly used to ensure human well-being. Yet these metrics do not currently involve environmental factors, although QoL and sustainable development share common components. Hence by including environmental factors,…

ABSTRACT: Over the next twenty years, the number of Australians over the age of 65 is expected to double. Current policy initiatives emphasise ‘ageing in place’ whereby older people are encouraged to remain in the community, rather than move into institutional care. It is argued that ageing in place benefits individual health, social cohesion and…

ABSTRACT: While there are an increasing number of outlets for information on building materials and methods, particularly web-based ones, little published information is available on the suitability of membrane materials for water collection. The microbiological aspects of roof materials and systems for rainwater collection are well documented, thanks to ongoing study of those at the…

ABSTRACT: Changes in technology and the Australasian Masters in Architecture Professional degree structures have changed the way design is taught in our architecture schools. There is increasing emphasis on research that goes with the territory of a higher degree and is evident in recent course structures and design teaching practices. There is a lack of…

ABSTRACT: The building stock of 2020 largely exists today! The enormous task of the next decade is to retrofit and refurbish these buildings to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GhG) emissions. These retrofitting strategies are of particular relevance for the future of the current inefficient model of the Australian suburb. This paper considers the methods that are…

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on a study, which engages with important questions around whether the current educational focus within architecture schools is leading to a productive interface with industry. More than 20 architectural practices around Australia, private and public, large, medium and small, who hired architectural graduates, were asked what they prioritised in the evaluation…

ABSTRACT: Worldwide there are many motivating factors that underpin a sustained interest in graduate attribute mapping. These factors have driven an increased level of institutional accountability to stakeholders, particularly funding groups, and industry. When the graduate attributes of professionally orientated and accredited courses are mapped, industry could expect that their requirements overlap those of graduates…

ABSTRACT: In order to map the graduate attributes of courses (or subjects, papers or units) Prismatic Architectural Research developed the APMap prototype tool which mapped the graduate attributes of courses which aggregate into a degree Program (or Course). In a further development, the research was extended to encompass mapping of assessments of any type against…

ABSTRACT: The paper briefly states the configuration procedure for a digital camera and fisheye lens for entire sky luminance measurement, which is divided into three stages. The first configuration process uses experimental method to determine digital image segmentation based on the EKO MS- 321LR sky scanners luminance measurement scheme. The segmented images are converted to…

As roof and wall insulation have become a standard inclusion in a residential building’s design, the conditions in the subfloor cavity have gained relative importance to the building’s thermal performance. However, the modelling of heat and mass transfer between a building and the ground is considered a weak point in many building simulation programs. As…

ABSTRACT: Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia. With the ever increasing development in the city, the price of land is becoming very high. Inexpensive land for housing is almost impossible to find; hence, in order to build houses for the low-income people, cheap land is now only found on the periphery of the…

ABSTRACT: Greenhouse gas emissions from occupied Australian commercial office buildings can be reduced substantially. Accessible and cost-effective technologies and knowledge (know-how) are being widely adopted in the construction of new buildings and there is evidence that, on average, office buildings constructed since 2005 are performing with lower energy intensity than older buildings. However, to achieve…

ABSTRACT: The thermal comfort of office building occupants can be enhanced by adjusting the operation of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to account for seasonal variations in ambient climatic conditions and the occupants’ clothing insulation, behaviour patterns and expectations. This paper presents findings from a study of the potential to reduce HVAC energy use…

ABSTRACT: The process of designing fit for purpose building structures is a complex task, which includes a requirement to comprehensively conceive their physical performance. While in the architecture programmes of many overseas universities building physics is anchored as a mandatory subject (usually taught over two semesters), in New Zealand building physics is solely offered at…

ABSTRACT: As part of the climate change mitigation strategy, the creation of green homes has created awareness of the plight of the environment and the need to alter our lifestyles. Although this is a great step in the right direction, green homes are often conceptually inadequate in addressing the overarching principles of sustainability. In order…

ABSTRACT: There is a complex interplay of issues associated with retrofitting high-rise office buildings in warm climates. This paper explores non-technological and technological interventions for retrofitting and the potential environmental benefits associated with them. An approach is developed in the context of bioclimatic renovation design for existing high-rise office buildings in warm climates in Australia…

ABSTRACT: This paper reports the testing of appropriate design standards to optimize energy performance in the pursuit of building retrofits. The impact of whole-building “best” and “normal” practice standards are predicted and evaluated using as a case study a forty-year-old heavy coredependent deep-plan twenty-three storey office building in Brisbane. Predictive modelling used DesignBuilder simulation software….

ABSTRACT: Whilst the size of many cities around the world is increasing, there is also an imperative for urban areas to minimise their environmental impact. One way to reconcile these opposing trends is by the densification of cities. Urban areas can be redeveloped into more compact configurations which accommodate a greater population and use existing…

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on initial findings of a bigger research project that set out to explore the potential of generative algorithms in landscape architecture, urban design and architecture. The paper focuses on how urban morphologies of unplanned settlements can be modelled as emergent phenomena using parallel computing. Theoretically the research stems from Hiller’s discourse…