Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemAgile housing for an ageing Australia(The Architectural Science Association and The University of Adelaide, 2016)By 2055, Australia’s 65+ population will have doubled and, if current strategies are followed, it is likely that the housing available will be inappropriate. Today’s housing stock will still be in use yet few developers and designers are capitalising on the potential of agile housing and, more broadly, the creation of age-friendly neighbourhoods. Current changes in design and prefabrication technology, along with government initiatives for ageing at home in preference to institutional care, have the potential to transform the way we consider housing design to support changing demographics. This research considers agile housing for an ageing population from the perspectives of urban planning, design, prefabrication, sustainability, life-cycle costing and social gerontology. We highlight the need for interdisciplinary perspectives in order to consider how entrenched policy, planning, design and construction practices can be encouraged to change through advocacy, design speculation and scenario testing to deliver right-sized housing. A cradle-to-grave perspective requires the exploration of the social and practical benefits of housing in multigenerational communities. This research links to concurrent work on affordable housing solutions and the potential of an industry, government and academic partnership to present an Australian Housing Exposition, that will highlight the possibilities of a more agile housing approach.
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ItemFinding and Using Ambiguity to Search for Innovation Opportunities(Wiley, 2018-10)This article shows the importance and value of ambiguity to reveal opportunities hidden in problems and the manner in which ambiguity is removed from applications of design thinking. It describes the value of introducing, sustaining, and using ambiguity and explains the different types of ambiguity. It follows up by describing the events when a designer encounters ambiguity. This article proposes that an understanding of ambiguity is needed to harness its capabilities in finding innovative opportunities. To do so, design practitioners should consider (1) identifying the type of ambiguity needed to expand the scope of opportunity exploration and (2) becoming aware of and managing one's ability to work with ambiguity. Finally, it identifies the lack of literature on the impact of independent and collective experience on using ambiguity in design.
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ItemMarkets, professions and firms of the construction industry: the changing roles of architects in response to vertical integration(Association of Researchers in Construction Management, 2017)The roles of professions in the construction industry in markets globally differ from one another according to the socio-political, cultural and historical contexts they are situated in, reflecting the institutional nature of the markets themselves. The institutional logics of state, market and profession compete to shape firm strategies. We adopt an institutional logics perspective to explore how architecture firms adapt their roles in the project procurement systems in response to vertical integration in the supply chain and the change of logics at the societal and field levels. Three architecture firms were analysed in this exploratory study. Data were collected through structured interviews, completed by company achieves and design documents. As a firm level study, the diversified roles of architects as manifested in their business models and the competition between the profession and market logics nuanced by a bureaucratic state logic. The study sheds light on the role of professionalism in balancing the market logic in shaping the outcome of our built environment. In a more general sense, we discuss the impact of the professional logic of architecture on the making and outcome of the built environment, and the value it can bring to an evolving structure of inter-professional collaboration in an integrating global industry.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe “state of play” concerning New Zealand’s transition to innovative learning environments: Preliminary results from phase one of the ILETC project(New Zealand Educational Administration & Leadership Society, 2017-01-01)Driven by international trends and government policy, it is a requirement for all newly built schools in New Zealand to be designed as innovative learning environments (ILEs) with flexible learning spaces. These environments, celebrated by some for the “transformational” educational opportunities they may provide, also raise questions about whether the anticipated pedagogical value of these “non-traditional” spaces is based on idealised visions of teaching and learning rather than empirically derived evidence. Before such complex issues can be efficiently addressed, evidence of the actual “state of play” of ILEs is required. Drawing on New Zealand specific data from a large Australasian research project, this paper triangulates principals’ opinions, teachers’ perspectives, and the literature on some key preliminary issues: what types of learning spaces can be found in New Zealand schools; what teaching styles are evident in these spaces; what pedagogical beliefs are driving ILE teaching practices; and what types of learning activities are occurring in ILEs? The paper provides an evidence based platform for further discussion about the opportunities and challenges surrounding the use and practice of ILEs in New Zealand.
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ItemPlug n play: Future prefab for smart green schools(MDPI AG, 2018)While relocatable, prefabricated learning environments have formed an important component of school infrastructure in Australia, prefabrication for permanent school buildings is a new and emerging field. This review of prefabrication for schools is timely. In 2017, Australia’s two largest state education departments committed to prefabrication programs for permanent school infrastructure. In this paper we examine the recent history of prefabrication for Australian school buildings in the context of prefabrication internationally. We explore the range of prefabrication methods used locally and internationally and introduce evaluation indicators for school infrastructure. Traditional post-occupancy evaluation (POE) tools measure indicators such as indoor environment quality (IEQ), cost benefit, life cycle performance, and speed of delivery. In response to a shift towards more student-centred learning in a digitally rich environment, recently developed POE tools now investigate the ability of new generation learning environments (NGLEs) to support optimum pedagogical encounters. We conclude with an argument for departments of education to consider how prefabrication provides opportunities for step changes in the delivery, life-cycle management and occupation of smart green schools rather than a program of simply building new schools quicker, better, and cheaper.
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ItemEvaluating learning environments for interprofessional care(Taylor & Francis, 2013-09-01)Many institutions have invested considerably in the provision of student facilities – lecture halls, tutorial rooms and classrooms – spaces we call collectively learning environments. In expending resources on such facilities, we have assumed that we have needed to create this range of spaces for such activities. However, how do we know we have invested wisely in support of learning for interprofessional care? In this article I review the literature to identify evidence in a range of fields, including health care, to consider the issues and difficulties of employing established approaches from practices of evidence-based design. Central in this article is the role of evidence in the assessment of learning environments. In particular, I argue that the evidence must include qualitative dimensions of the learning experience. To address the qualitative outcomes from education, with particular attention to the concerns of interprofessional education, a model is proposed to examine different levels of outcomes. By developing an interpretation of Kirkpatrick’s model, four levels are described for the effective evaluation of interprofessional learning environments.
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ItemDesigning learning spaces for interprofessional education in the anatomical sciences(John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015-07-01)This article explores connections between interprofessional education (IPE) models and the design of learning spaces for undergraduate and graduate education in the anatomical sciences and other professional preparation. The authors argue that for IPE models to be successful and sustained they must be embodied in the environment in which interprofessional learning occurs. To elaborate these arguments, two exemplar tertiary education facilities are discussed: the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney for science education and research, and Victoria University's Interprofessional Clinic in Wyndham for undergraduate IPE in health care. Backed by well-conceived curriculum and pedagogical models, the architectures of these facilities embody the educational visions, methods, and practices they were designed to support. Subsequently, the article discusses the spatial implications of curriculum and pedagogical change in the teaching of the anatomical sciences and explores how architecture might further the development of IPE models in the field. In conclusion, it is argued that learning spaces should be designed and developed (socially) with the expressed intention of supporting collaborative IPE models in health education settings, including those in the anatomical sciences. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.
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ItemFuture Proofing Schools: The Phase 2 Research: Competition(Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2012)The Future Proofing Schools Research Team has been delighted with the response to the Design Ideas Competition. We congratulate the winners but also thank the many entrants who, while not named for an award, have contributed the inspiring ideas that you will and within this publication. The Australian Research Council has made this Design Ideas Competition possible by providing ARC Linkage funding for the years 2010 until 2012. While no ARC funding has gone into prize money, the funding has been crucial for the research phases preceding and following the competition stage.
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ItemFuture Proofing Schools The Phase 1 Research Compilation(Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2011)Future Proofing Schools is an Australian Research Council funded research project that is working with six education departments across Australia and other Industry Partners to re-vitalise ‘relocatable classrooms’ as 21st century learning spaces. Our research suggests that we have an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from a range of ‘tipping points’ in sustainable school design, 21st century pedagogies and emergent technologies in manufacturing that will allow us to transform the notion of the relocatable classroom.
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ItemFuture Proofing Schools The Phase 3 Research Reflections(Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2012)Now we are in the final year of our three year research project Future Proofing Schools, it is timely to reflect on our research journey. An innovation in the design of this research has been the inclusion of an Ideas Competition midway through a three phase research process, a decision that has effectively geared the research and its impact in a range of ways. Phase 3 has been a period of analysis and reflection on all these issues. This publication is divided into themes that range from competition analyses and reflections on our own brief, through to observations on remote community challenges and the future of Australia’s prefabrication industry. Our twelve authors contribute a range of viewpoints from their respective disciplines, and highlight the complexity of the research area we are exploring.