Architecture and Environmental Design MSc

This module will introduce the concept and practice of environmental architecture and methodologies for the evidence-based design of buildings and built environments. These will comprise of digital and analogue modelling and simulation tools necessary for the environmental design of new buildings as well as the spaces between and around buildings. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies will be introduced for the design and the performance prediction of new built environments.

Drawing on the fundamental principles and rule-of-thumbs introduced in Semester 1, this module explores an evidence-based approach to design by using a range of tools including specialist software to carry out performance analysis. This exploration provides the basis to test and refine the initial design intuitions developed in a design studio project. 

The design studio project will be focusing on a site in London (or other suitable location), which, similarly to the Semester 1 design project is used as a live laboratory for design studies. This allows an in-situ exploration of the site and of the mutual relationship between buildings and their urban surroundings. Specifically, it will allow exploration of the synergic effect of an environmental design agenda on the quality of the built environment and on the lifestyles of inhabitants’ in both the present and projected future climatic and contextual scenarios.

The module will comprise of workshops where the students will be introduced to the latest modelling and simulation methods for the generation of new designs and their performance analysis. The software will include Dynamic Thermal Simulation, Daylighting Analysis and two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics. The main objective of the module is not only to teach a series of simulation software but to include them in a wider design methodology, which includes their responsible and measured application in the context of the various phases of the architectural design. Hence a design studio will be run in parallel to the workshops where this methodology and its supporting analytic skills will be applied to the site specific project for which the students must define and respond to a well-developed brief. The new design agendas will be based on reflections and critical observations undertaken in the semester 1 design studio and on performance feedbacks related to relevant design trends, typological and programmatic requirements, climatic, microclimatic and siting conditions, operational and post-occupancy conditions, including current and projected users behaviour determining the final environmental and energy performance.

This module will introduce the fundamental principles of environmental design in relation to the integration of zero-carbon and passive design strategies in architectural design. The module will cover elements of: building physics and energy foundations, including fundamentals of heat exchange and energy balance of buildings; adaptive comfort theories; natural vs mechanical ventilation, passive vs mechanical heating and cooling, daylight, solar control and artificial light in architecture. An overview of the environmental and energy performance of building materials and their integration into building design will be offered, which will be discussed in the context of their discrete application prior to the minimisation of the building’s energy demand. The principles of environmental design will be explored from the building inhabitant’s requirements perspective and for a variety of building typologies and climatic contexts.

This module develops an historical overview of Environmental Design discipline and identifies the determinants of the so-called Post-Carbon Culture. The module will examine the main concepts, promoters, practitioners and theorist of the discipline. This will contribute to the formulation of a common and current definition of Environmental Design and clarification of its various synonyms in the current international landscape. It will also contribute to reflect upon and develop a vision for a post-carbon society in the current and future projected contexts.

This module examines the salient political, socio-economic, statutory, legislative, planning framework which, to varying degrees, has shaped, and will continue to shape, the formulation of environmental policies and strategies in the global context. The importance of raising awareness and ensuring sustained recognition of ethical and environmental issues, such as Climate Change and Sustainable Development, through enhanced public and professional debate will be examined, as will the value of productive collaboration between policy-makers, clients, multi-disciplinary design teams and end-users. The need to embrace a low-energy and sustainable approach to the conservation, restoration and remodelling of existing, as well as to the design of new built environments, will be underscored.

This module will introduce the concept of Climate Positive Environments and its appreciation through direct observation and analysis of existing built environments which either have a climate positive impact or can be modified to achieve it. In doing so the module will introduce the methodological and practical tools for the performance evaluation of buildings and the space between and around buildings. Fieldwork methods and post-occupancy evaluation protocols will be introduced for the appraisal of existing case-study built environments. 

Existing built environments, of a variety of typologies and ages, will be the subject of a semester long case study analysis including the assessment of their current environmental and energy performance, against best practice standards, as well as of the occupants’ satisfaction and behaviour in relation to energy use, comfort and spatial interaction. These assessments will allow the appreciation of performance feedbacks from design to operation of buildings and will form the reflective and critical background for the proposition of new design agendas in the Semester 2 Design studio. The module will comprise of lectures and workshops where the students will be appraised with the latest fieldwork methods, use of relevant instrumentation and analytical skills, including climate data analysis and simplified steady state computations for the assessment of the environmental and energy performance of buildings. These simplified computations will consolidate the understanding of the principles of Environmental Design applied to the evaluation of real buildings and their projected performance in future climate change scenarios. The module will specifically address issues of environmental retrofit towards a climate positive impact. Additionally, a design studio will be run in parallel to the workshops where the aforementioned skills and tools will be applied to a case study analysis project. 

This module will introduce the principles of energy and carbon assessment in relation to current energy and carbon reduction policies in the national and international context. The module will cover elements of advanced energy and control systems,mechanical services strategies, building services, and renewable technologies.

An overview of buildings' environmental and energy performance and their carbon footprint will be offered, along with an overview of building-integrated renewable technologies, which will be discussed in the context of the building’s whole life cycle analysis. The module will explore the fundamental aspects of a building’s operational energy and embodied carbon with the specific objectives of identifying a methodology for energy and carbon assessments.

The module will also include an introduction to industry complaint software for estimating buildings’ overall carbon emissions and undertaking energy compliance modelling, which will be supported by guest lectures from industry experts and future collaboration with the Industry partners.

This module deals with the research, development, synthesis and resolution of the area(s) of study identified in the course via the previous and parallel modules. The module will establish the type of submission most relevant to the students’ respective academic and professional backgrounds, current and future interests and anticipated career development. Assistance from a range of teaching and research disciplines in the College may be enlisted if required. 

Potential themes, including specific areas of research and development, will be identified together with attendant design and performance targets, working methodologies and appropriate predictive/analytical modelling techniques. Suitable strategies, concepts, agendas and time management/programming requirements will also be discussed and agreed. The module will require a focused response to the principal Thesis Project agenda(s)/themes in the form of a Learning Contract (dissertation outline prepared to a standardised format for students taking the Thesis Topic option module), or of an individual thesis plan identified with tutors or Collaborative Thesis Programme with Industry partners. 

Significantly, the module is intended to act as a vehicle for demonstrating a student’s cumulative knowledge, understanding and skills gained during the Course and to ‘showcase’ attendant representational and other presentation abilities. Projects must encapsulate one, or more, of the major themes explored in the constituent modules. The precise nature of the submission will be subject to scrutiny by members of Course Team and external contributors, as will the chosen research and working methodologies. As far as practicable, proposals should be ‘future-proofed’ against climatic uncertainties, diminishing natural resources, escalating fuel prices, increasingly stringent environmental legislation and similar determinants.