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AIM: Sea World has invited Griffith University Architecture to consult on the sustainable practices of their park and specifically the Phase One of their new ride precinct, New Atlantis. The new precinct includes landscaping and three... more
AIM: Sea World has invited Griffith University Architecture to consult on the sustainable practices of their park and specifically the Phase One of their new ride precinct, New Atlantis. The new precinct includes landscaping and three amusement rides: Vortex, Leviathan and Trident. Sea World is a theme park based on marine mammals, featuring animal exhibits and providing rides and other attractions. Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation also contributes to marine conservation and rehabilitation. LIMITATIONS: This proposal is based on the documents kindly provided, one site visit and interviews with staff, beside previously undertaken visits as guests. However, as a student work, this report does not accept liability for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Usually, a sustainable assessment would address the social, economic and environmental aspects of one area. Yet due to the time constraint and very specific nature and function of the park, only some features of the environmental component were addressed. This is a clear limitation and a more extensive study, based on collected data, would provide a deeper insight into the assessment. This report investigates the potential for enhancing sustainable practices at Sea World under the context of the construction of its new precinct, New Atlantis. It is divided into three main sections that are Assessment, Precedents and Proposals. Due to the very specific nature and function of the park, six categories were selected for the assessment: reducing heat gain, diversity in energy sources, waste management, acoustic issues, crowd management and effective use of old infrastructure. It was analysed that each category is currently under-exploited, but also presents opportunities for enhancement. The Precedents section shows that many best-practices and innovative products are already available on the market, thus facilitating a sustainability strategy. Proposals also demonstrate that small-scale and larger scale projects can provide increased sustainability, at different costs but also different timeframes.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a global snapshot of the current state of knowledge regarding attrition rates of women architects. The intended audience includes all the stakeholders of the profession, as well as those... more
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a global snapshot of the current state of knowledge regarding attrition rates of women architects. The intended audience includes all the stakeholders of the profession, as well as those interested in professional attrition studies, with the aim to contribute to a social debate, which places increasing value on diversity, equal representation and retention in this field.Design/methodology/approachThis paper has utilized the structured analytical technique of a systematic review of the scholarship involving scholarship published over two decades between the years 2000 and 2020. Having selected research on this topic following a series of exclusionary and inclusionary criteria for relevancy and accuracy, this select research has been categorically and thoroughly analyzed using this technique.FindingsThis literature review identifies four main recurring themes among the literature, which address this research question, including: (1). cros...
The 2010 LAGI competition was held on three underutilized sites in the United Arab Emirates. By choosing Staten Island, New York in 2012 the competition organises have again brought into question new roles for public open space in the... more
The 2010 LAGI competition was held on three underutilized sites in the United Arab Emirates. By choosing Staten Island, New York in 2012 the competition organises have again brought into question new roles for public open space in the contemporary city. In the case of the UEA sites, the competition produced many entries which aimed to create a sculpture and by doing so, they attracted people to the selected empty spaces in an arid climate. In a way these proposals were the incubators and the new characters of these empty spaces. The competition was thus successful at advancing understandings of the expanded role of public open spaces in EAU and elsewhere. LAGI 2012 differs significantly to the UAE program because Fresh Kills Park has already been planned as a public open space for New Yorkers - with or without these clean energy sculptures. Furthermore, Fresh Kills Park is already an (gas) energy generating site in its own right. We believe Fresh Kills Park, as a site, presents a pr...
Terra Preta is a site-specific bio-energy project which aims to create a synergy between the public and the pre-existing engineered landscape of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York. The project challenges traditional paradigms of... more
Terra Preta is a site-specific bio-energy project which aims to create a synergy between the public and the pre-existing engineered landscape of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York. The project challenges traditional paradigms of public space by proposing a dynamic and ever-changing landscape. The initiative allows the publuc to self-organise the landscape and to engage in 'algorithmic processes' of growth, harvest and space creation.
AIM: Sea World has invited Griffith University Architecture to consult on the sustainable practices of their park and specifically the Phase One of their new ride precinct, New Atlantis. The new precinct includes landscaping and three... more
AIM: Sea World has invited Griffith University Architecture to consult on the sustainable practices of their park and specifically the Phase One of their new ride precinct, New Atlantis. The new precinct includes landscaping and three amusement rides: Vortex, Leviathan and Trident. Sea World is a theme park based on marine mammals, featuring animal exhibits and providing rides and other attractions. Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation also contributes to marine conservation and rehabilitation. LIMITATIONS: This proposal is based on the documents kindly provided, one site visit and interviews with staff, beside previously undertaken visits as guests. However, as a student work, this report does not accept liability for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Usually, a sustainable assessment would address the social, economic and environmental aspects of one area. Yet due to the time constraint and very specific nature and function of the park, only some features of the environment...
As the demands on the built environment grow, the coordination and planning of development need to increase in both its ability to deal with complexity and scalability. Building Information Modelling (in this context, we limit it to the... more
As the demands on the built environment grow, the coordination and planning of development need to increase in both its ability to deal with complexity and scalability. Building Information Modelling (in this context, we limit it to the Industry Foundation Standard- IFC) provides a set of protocols for information exchange and long-term data legibility. Among other things these protocols give a means for representing threedimensional data, methods for separating out layers of a project and also for accounting timelines and project phasing. In this research, we highlight the importance of using building information modelling as a platform for data exchange between local council, developers and architects. The case of energy analysis in the thermal and visual environment is explored with regard to information transfer in the integrated design process. The feedback loops created by ubiquitous computing also provides an avenue for designing systems that optimize performance, minimize en...
Phase change materials (PCMs) are a passive way of providing temperature amelioration without significant alteration to the building’s design. As with many passive technologies, the use of PCMs is highly context-driven, with many... more
Phase change materials (PCMs) are a passive way of providing temperature amelioration without significant alteration to the building’s design. As with many passive technologies, the use of PCMs is highly context-driven, with many non-linear relationships in the way the environmental system is affected. These include insulation, ventilation and the properties of the PCM itself, such as melting temperature and thickness. To explore the relationships between the different parameters, an exhaustive list of construction scenarios was created, making use of automation for generation and simulation. The simulation model was validated using a full-scale construction tested in a calorimeter. Automated methods were used to analyse and visualize the data that resulted from the large simulation set. The results demonstrate that although the presence of night ventilation (NV) will raise the PCM’s efficiency, it has no effect on the optimum PCM melting temperature. Also, in tropical climates, the...
Glare is known as one of the main causes of visual discomfort in office space and yet remains difficult to evaluate quantitatively. Most discomfort glare models have limitations when attempting to represent the reality of user behaviour.... more
Glare is known as one of the main causes of visual discomfort in office space and yet remains difficult to evaluate quantitatively. Most discomfort glare models have limitations when attempting to represent the reality of user behaviour. One reason is that models are developed based only on subjective surveys. This research aims to probe the influence of experiencing glare on user ocular and dynamic gaze behaviour as an objective response. To do so, an experimental study was conducted utilizing an eye-tracking device to record user’s gaze responses to the surrounding environment. High dynamic range imaging was also used to record luminance distribution. This paper documents the calibration process for the variety of equipment utilized in this research.
The continuing importance of energy conservation in the building sector has drawn major attention to energy audits of existing buildings in different climates. In this paper, the energy conservation potential of a residential building... more
The continuing importance of energy conservation in the building sector has drawn major attention to energy audits of existing buildings in different climates. In this paper, the energy conservation potential of a residential building located in Iran’s cold climate was investigated through an analysis of its actual energy consumption and through computer simulation. The building base-load was determined using a linear regression method based on existing energy bills, and was used to validate the computer simulation of its energy usage. The impact of typical energy saving solutions was evaluated for three cost refurbishment scenarios: low, medium and high. The results show that the existing construction and envelope materials fail to meet the national standards of Iran, but insulating the envelope was found to be a more cost-effective measure than modifying the windows. The results also demonstrate that although the use of energy-saving solutions has a significant impact on energy co...
Abstract Night ventilation (NV) is a productive passive cooling technique which demonstrates a high potential for reducing cooling loads and improving thermal comfort; however, its efficiency is highly contingent upon such factors as... more
Abstract Night ventilation (NV) is a productive passive cooling technique which demonstrates a high potential for reducing cooling loads and improving thermal comfort; however, its efficiency is highly contingent upon such factors as thermal energy storage. In the current building industry where utilizing lightweight structures is of paramount importance, the usage of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) as efficient lightweight thermal energy storage for NV is becoming rapidly prevalent. Although the effects of the independent variables of NV and PCMs are well-known, their interrelationship has not been clearly established. This study therefore set out to explore the correlation between PCM quantity and transition temperatures, as well as NV airflow and delta temperature, thermal insulation and the resulting energy saving. To do so, a model, validated utilizing a full-scale calorimeter, was employed for numerical simulations of three different climates. It was found that in tropical climates, coupling NV with PCMs was non-effective. Nevertheless, in sub-tropical and hot-dry climates, cooling thermostat set-points, as well as thermal insulation play a key role in defining the optimal PCM temperature utilized for NV. The optimal transitional temperature, however, is not dependent on the PCM thicknesses, but thickening PCMs raises energy saving. The use of well-insulated envelopes increases NV efficiency and stabilizes the optimal PCM transition temperature, defined as 1 °C lower than the cooling set-point temperature. It is also concluded that the importance of thermal insulation in raising NV efficiency is greater than PCM volume. Furthermore, low delta temperature and high airflow result in increasing NV efficiency; however, these phenomena have no effect on the optimal PCM meting temperature.
Research Interests:
The design of architecture, in practice, entails the collaboration of many disciplines each with their own set of tools and representations. Building Information Models aim to support interoperability between these disciplines. However... more
The design of architecture, in practice, entails the collaboration of many disciplines each with their own set of tools and representations. Building Information Models aim to support interoperability between these disciplines. However current implementations require a lot of manual work involving translating parts from the various specialised descriptions to the common model format. Domain Specific Languages are a development from Information Technology that defines a mapping from the concepts used in one discipline to those used in another. In this paper, a workflow incorporating the movement between specialised languages and a central model is described. The central model is structured using the Industrial Foundation Classes (IFC). The motivation for elaborating on the interdisciplinary workflow is the desire to create a more iterative process without the need for the manual recreation of models. While it is difficult to have a description or language that contains all the inform...
Software used by architectural and industrial designers - has moved from becoming a tool for drafting, towards use in verification, simulation, project management and project sharing remotely. In more advanced models, parameters for the... more
Software used by architectural and industrial designers - has moved from becoming a tool for drafting, towards use in verification, simulation, project management and project sharing remotely. In more advanced models, parameters for the designed object can be adjusted so a family of variations can be produced rapidly. With advances in computer aided design technology, numerous design options can now be generated and analyzed in real time. However the use of digital tools to support design as an activity is still at an early stage and has largely been limited in functionality with regard to the design process. To date, major CAD vendors have not developed an integrated tool that is able to both leverage specialized design knowledge from various discipline domains (known as expert knowledge systems) and support the creation of design alternatives that satisfy different forms of constraints. We propose that evolutionary computing and machine learning be linked with parametric design te...
abstract. Parametric and generative modelling methods are ways in which computer models are made more flexible, and of formalising domain-specific knowledge. At present, no open standard exists for the interchange of parametric and... more
abstract. Parametric and generative modelling methods are ways in which computer models are made more flexible, and of formalising domain-specific knowledge. At present, no open standard exists for the interchange of parametric and generative information. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) which are an open standard for interoperabil-ity in building information models is presented as the base for an open standard in parametric modelling. The advantage of allowing paramet-ric and generative representations are that the early design process can allow for more iteration and changes can be implemented quicker than with traditional models. This paper begins with a formal definition of what constitutes to be parametric and generative modelling methods and then proceeds to describe an open standard in which the interchange of components could be implemented. As an illustrative example of gen-erative design, Frazer's 'Reptiles' project from 1968 is reinterpreted.
A review of control systems, and supplementary cooling coupled with night ventilation. Abstract The rising costs of energy usage in the building sector have intensified research interest in passive energy saving strategies such as night... more
A review of control systems, and supplementary cooling coupled with night ventilation.
Abstract
The rising costs of energy usage in the building sector have intensified research interest in passive energy saving strategies such as night ventilation (NV).  Night ventilation has been shown to reduce the energy demand for cooling buildings as well as significantly ameliorate thermal comfort. A large number of studies have been undertaken to model and assess the effectiveness of NV across a wide variety of climates and building types. This paper reviews the key research on night ventilation strategies and identifies the main themes and directions present in contemporary research. It also classifies NV performance into three broad groups, namely climate, building and technical parameters. The literature provides evidence that night ventilation strategies are effective across most climate types, but as with most passive design strategies, optimisation is required. Approaches to research within the reviewed literature include computer simulations and empirical studies; testing with full-scale physical prototypes; and monitoring of real world case studies.  The effectiveness of different strategies in different climates is examined, as are NV control systems, and the coupling of NV with other systems.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This research spotlights the issue that decisions made at the early stages of building design have the greatest and impact on cost implications for construction and the building lifecycle. While the design of services (heating,... more
This research spotlights the issue that decisions made at the early stages of building design have the greatest and impact on cost implications for construction and the building lifecycle. While the design of services (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) constitutes a large part of the construction cost, they are traditionally not considered at the early stages of design. Methods such as
Terra Preta is a site-specific bio-energy project which aims to create a synergy between the public and the pre-existing engineered landscape of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York. The project challenges traditional paradigms of... more
Terra Preta is a site-specific bio-energy project which aims to create a synergy between the public and the pre-existing engineered landscape of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York. The project challenges traditional paradigms of public space by proposing a dynamic and ever-changing landscape. The initiative allows the public to self-organize the landscape and to engage in 'algorithmic processes' of growth, harvest and space creation.
Research Interests:
The noted 19th century biologist, Ernst Haeckel, put forward the idea that the growth (ontogenesis) of an organism recapitulated the history of its evolutionary development. While this idea is defunct within biology, the idea has been... more
The noted 19th century biologist, Ernst Haeckel, put forward the idea that the growth (ontogenesis) of an organism recapitulated the history of its evolutionary development. While this idea is defunct within biology, the idea has been promoted in areas such as education (the idea of an education being the repetition of the civilizations before). In the research presented in this paper, recapitulation is used as a metaphor within computer-aided design as a way of grouping together different generations of spatial layouts. In most CAD programs, a spatial layout is represented as a series of objects (lines, or boundary representations) that stand in as walls. The relationships between spaces are not usually explicitly stated. A representation using Lindenmayer Systems (originally designed for the purpose of modelling plant morphology) is put forward as a way of representing the morphology of a spatial layout. The aim of this research is not just to describe an individual layout, but to find representations that link together lineages of development. This representation can be used in generative design as a way of creating more meaningful layouts which have particular characteristics. The use of genetic operators (mutation and crossover) is also considered, making this representation suitable for use with genetic algorithms.
Research Interests:
The design of architecture, in practice, entails the collaboration of many disciplines each with their own set of tools and representations. Building Information Models aim to support interoperability between these disciplines. However... more
The design of architecture, in practice, entails the collaboration of many disciplines each with their own set of tools and representations. Building Information Models aim to support interoperability between these disciplines. However current implementations require a lot of manual work involving translating parts from the various specialised descriptions to the common model format. Domain Specific Languages are a development from Information Technology that defines a mapping from the concepts used in one discipline to those used ...
This paper follows our evaluation and research into designing tangible physical media for the purposes of teaching building physics to undergraduate architecture students. These media interfaces make use of a virtual environment to... more
This paper follows our evaluation and research into designing tangible physical media for the purposes of teaching building physics to undergraduate architecture students. These media interfaces make use of a virtual environment to promote an understanding of the cycles which govern architectural and urban projects (for example solar studies, the flow of heat, air and water). This project aims to create an ecology of devices which can be used by students to self-direct themselves and harbour critical making in their research methods (with the explicit intent of dissolving the barrier between design and research). The basic premise of this research, is that in light of growing student numbers, more students lacking confidence in numeracy skills as well as the desire to have self-directed or group-directed learning, tangible media has a promising role to play. There are several reasons for this optimism. The first is that a better sense of intuition is gained from an interactive model over reading notes from a lecture or textbook. The second is that tangible media engages in other modes of learning, being valuable to students who have an aptitude for kinesthetic and spatial learning over text-dominant learning.
Research Interests:
abstract. Parametric and generative modelling methods are ways in which computer models are made more flexible, and of formalising domain-specific knowledge. At present, no open standard exists for the interchange of parametric and... more
abstract. Parametric and generative modelling methods are ways in which computer models are made more flexible, and of formalising domain-specific knowledge. At present, no open standard exists for the interchange of parametric and generative information. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) which are an open standard for interoperabil-ity in building information models is presented as the base for an open standard in parametric modelling. The advantage of allowing paramet-ric and generative representations are that the early design process can allow for more iteration and changes can be implemented quicker than with traditional models. This paper begins with a formal definition of what constitutes to be parametric and generative modelling methods and then proceeds to describe an open standard in which the interchange of components could be implemented. As an illustrative example of gen-erative design, Frazer's 'Reptiles' project from 1968 is reinterpreted.
Research Interests:
The development of lightweight structures in the building industry has made the usage of thermal mass more difficult. Hence, phase change materials (PCMs) due to their latent heat storage are a favourable alternative which can be coupled... more
The development of lightweight structures in the building industry has made the usage of thermal mass more difficult. Hence, phase change materials (PCMs) due to their latent heat storage are a favourable alternative which can be coupled with lightweight constructions. This paper explores the relationship between PCM thicknesses, PCM transition temperatures, insulation, building orientations and energy consumption. For this exploration, a full-scale calorimeter was utilized to validate a model; through numerical simulations, the model was then used for four different climates of Australia. It was found that for all the climates, increasing PCM thicknesses ameliorates the overall energy saving, and the saving proportion is dependent on both the climate conditions and envelope thermal resistance (R-values). For low R-value opaque envelopes, the optimal transitional temperature is contingent upon the PCM thicknesses. Moreover, using insulation in subtropical , hot-dry, and cold climates enhances PCM efficiency and stabilizes the optimal PCM melting temperature for differing thicknesses; also, augmenting insulation thickness lowers the importance of PCM thicknesses. However, the use of well-insulated envelopes in tropical climates has an adverse impact on PCM efficacy due to the hindrance of night-time energy release. Finally, the PCM energy saving fully depends upon the building orientation, while the PCM optimum temperature is not conditional on this factor.