Year: 2014

“ModRule” is a platform that facilitates easy collaboration between architects and end-users in the design process of mass-housing buildings. Hereby, architects set the overall framework and parameters of the building, while future occupants set their design-targets and budgets to arrive at a solution that satisfies both architec-tural and occupants’ needs and desires. Akin to games,…

Following the Health and Safety Executive report twenty five percent of accidents per year in the manufacturing sector are re-lated to slips, trips and falls (STF), involving significant costs for em-ployers. Two of the main reasons for accidents are slippery steps, stairs or ramps, and stairs or passageways that are poorly lit. The fol-lowing paper…

Transformative learning experiences have the capacity to shape the values that influence our everyday behaviour. Behaviour which has an impact on the lives of others, now and in the future. As over half of the global population are now urbanised, there is a need to focus on the built environment in order to understand this…

This paper investigates indoor environmental parameters and their interaction with building occupants in green-rated high-rise office buildings. Although the focus of Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) in green buildings has been shifted from building energy and environmental performance towards building occupants who are the primary users of buildings to identify a potential for increased produc-tivity in green…

This paper examines the practical differences between sev-eral accepted techniques of Space Syntax analysis, including their ap-plication or procedure and their usefulness for analysing building inte-riors. Five techniques are investigated in this paper through a case study of a proposed scheme for Francis W. Little house (1908) in or-der to determine their similarities and quantify…

Cities in China are embarked on ambitions plans to create renewed inner-city station areas, particularly evident after a series of redevelopment projects; these projects mainly focus on the develop-ment of transport infrastructures, rather than turning station areas into vibrant urban spaces. Therefore, a general lack of citizen’s daily activ-ities have turned these areas into urban…

This paper focuses on the urban condition of university precincts, aiming at exploring their vitality potential, i.e. the capacity to generate urban activities and transactions. The role and contribution of the urban morphology is explored, based on a comparative analysis between two realities: Curitiba, Brazil and Lisbon, Portugal through two case studies: Universidade Federal do…

Thermal comfort models, as we know them today, have been available since the early 1970’s and have been applied to assess the conditioning of our buildings. What we have is a comfort value of an interior environment at a particular location as a result of several measured parameters. What we don’t often consider is how…

It is a reported fact that a high CO2 concentration is a prob-lem in school classrooms. However, the mere reporting of such results stops short of investigating causes; understanding is often missing. Steady-state results are often used in situations where changes occur frequently, such as varying student numbers, opening and closing classroom doors and windows…

With the incorporation of Passiv Haus methodologies with-in the building culture, the movement towards zero energy housing, in our temperate maritime climate, has a clear design strategy. However, larger buildings, due to denser patterns of occupation, have more complex cooling, ventilation and day lighting issues. Typically, in the 20th Century, strategies to deal with these…

Complex behaviour of air flow in the buildings makes it difficult to predict. Consequently, architects use common strategies for designing buildings with adequate natural ventilation. However, each climate needs specific strategies and there are not many heuris-tics for subtropical climate in literature. Furthermore, most of these common strategies are based on low-rise buildings and their…

In the last few years the attention towards the environment seems to have become one of the primary objectives to follow. Nowa-days the number of products, qualified as “sustainable”, is ever more growing; but in some cases the sustainability aspects regard only the adjective used for the title, as highlighted by several authors. Follow-ing this…

Green rating tools are contributing to move the agenda of sustainability to a central role in the design and operation of office buildings. However, research needs to ascertain if certification sys-tems also contribute to improved user satisfaction. Synthesising re-search by the authors, this paper analyses a subset of the Center for the Built Environment database…

Computational fractal analysis provides a repeatable and re-liable method for determining the level of characteristic, or typical, visual complexity in the elevations of a building. The present paper describes and demonstrates an alternative application of fractal analy-sis using perspectival images. Conventionally, orthogonal views, such as plans and elevations, have been the only images used for…

The adoption of increased thermal performance require-ments, as specified in the Australian National Construction Code, has been linked to a significant reduction in the use of timber platform flooring systems. This appears to be related to perceptions of thermal performance differences that may occur between timber platform and concrete slab-on-ground flooring systems. Industry has responded…

The building sector has been identified as one of the key sectors to achieve the 20/20/20 targets of the EU. Beyond these targets for the sustainable develop, Europe also aims at bringing about drastic greenhouse gas emission reductions in the building sector of 88%- 91% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The research topics of…

The energy retrofit of residential buildings towards net-ZEB standard represents today the best practice to reduce significantly energy demand and dependence on fossil fuels. In order to get the net-ZEB standard in retrofitting actions, this paper proposes a flexible technical solution for improving the energy performance of the Italian residential real estate built in 1950-1990,…

Prefabricated and modular solutions have formed a small part of the overall housing industry. This is particularly evident in Australia, where the market is dominated by hand-built housing using traditional construction techniques built by large-scale builders. This paper evaluates the ideal and the reality of prefabricated modular housing procurement in China for the Australian market….

The social and environmental role of closed oriental balco-nies (Mashrabiyas) remains a significant vernacular aspect of Middle Eastern architecture. However, changes in architectural style, social needs, and the high manufacturing cost of Mashrabiya materials and techniques, Bahraini houses lost their very distinctive window veils. The research aims to validate a new Mashrabiya product for 21st…

The contemporary timber building design and procurement process has fragmented expertise creating numerous risk, knowledge and management interfaces. Fragmentation can lead to conservatism in design, material specification and material use. The university-educated and office-based designer is severed from construction prac-tices and tactile material experiences. Opportunities to increase diver-sity and efficiency through digital design and fabrication…

The Learning-by-Making program at the University of Tasmania, School of Architecture & Design is based on principles of experiential learning, community engagement and the importance of ‘making’ in design education. The program has integrated a ‘home-grown’ digital fabrication tool into its design/build repertoire. Many opportunities for creative engagement with educational and training institutions have emerged….

Long hailed as the future of the building industry, Building Information Modelling (BIM) and integrated design processes have been slow to be implemented widely. However, as more firms start to overcome the obstacles of upfront cost and significant changes to their business model, the promised results of cost savings, shortening time lines and more integrated…