This thesis investigated the implications of the integration of battery storage technologies on the architectural design of buildings, providing design considerations for architects and built environment practitioners. The study focused on the UK residential sector, considering ‘high energy’ battery applications in grid-connected systems, which provide the possibility of ‘island’ mode operation for a period of several hours up to several days. The implications were assessed in different scenarios in 2030, addressing business as usual, the implementation of energy efficiency and demand response measures, electric heating and electrification of transport. The research was split into three phases and was conducted through quantitative and qualitative methods. Phase 1 included the analysis of the energy storage side, which led to a classification of battery storage technologies and their characteristics into a database. The analysis in this phase was conducted through a systematic literature review, contact with battery manufacturers and other stakeholders, exploration of case studies, as well as interviews to battery stakeholders. Phase 2 included the modelling of the energy demand side, which explored the evolution of the peak demand and electricity consumption in various residential building scales in 2030. Phase 3 used the outputs from Phase 1 and Phase 2 to assess the applicability of nine battery technologies in different building scales, their spatial requirements, such as footprint, volume, mass, ventilation, location and their cost. The findings suggest that the implications for building design are of great importance regarding the applicability of battery technologies in different building scales and of minor importance as regards the footprint, volume and mass requirements. The study reveals the most suitable technologies for each residential scale and scenario in 2030 regarding their spatial requirements and cost.

The overarching context of this research is the problem of sustainability in, or of, existing urban areas. Urban populations are expected to rise in the UK, without a corresponding rate of change to the physical form of cities. This research looks to the expertise of inhabitants in existing urban areas for understandings and practices that could address sustainability and that may complement or obviate physical urban design interventions. It seeks to explore the relationship between locality, local knowledge and broader themes of sustainability. The Abundance urban fruit harvesting project in Sheffield is taken as an example of collective local action by inhabitants in an existing urban area to address themes relevant to sustainability. Abundance participants find, harvest, distribute, map, and celebrate surplus produce, such as fruit, nuts and herbs in the city. Blurring boundaries of what is considered urban, rural, nature, or private, and bringing humans into closer connection with the ecological life of the city, could be said to increase ecological sensitivity. In terms of methodology, this study takes an inductive approach, informed by grounded theory. An ethnography of the Abundance fruit harvesting project in Sheffield is conducted over a full year. The thesis includes thick description that relates the practices involved, the spaces used, and the changed relations produced. This forms the basis for considering how sustainability is understood in the context of ‘bottom up’ community projects and practices in urban areas, and what implications this raises for ‘mainstream’ approaches to sustainable development in urban planning and design. As a learning assemblage, Abundance critiques aspects of conventional urbanism and draws together more ecological alternatives. The results constitute an original contribution to knowledge in that this is one of the first such studies of a project of this kind, and as it draws on interdisciplinary literature encompassing participatory urban design, sociology, anthropology and geography. In particular the key findings are: 1. grassroots collectives can practice a form of urban design that is vernacular and experiential; 2. this type of urban design can play a role that is tactical and critical in processes of urban development and change; 3. participants adopted an eco-centric understanding of sustainability (an assemblage or meshwork of ecological relations) which is rooted in entanglements with living and non-living others; 4. social learning is a way of inhabiting the city, and in this context makes a novel contribution to practice theory; 5. socially engaged arts practice and collective action by urban inhabitants offer routes to activating change in existing urban areas and; 6. the use of ethnographic methods can enhance urban design research.

Thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort and air quality in buildings have a significant effect on occupant performance, productivity and satisfaction. Most importantly, earlier research has found that maintaining thermal comfort can make heavy demands on building energy usage in dwellings. Those trends are leading to even greater increases in energy demand and CO2 emissions that create a vicious cycle. In the real world, human indoor thermal comfort is influenced by complexities of past comfort history, technical practices and culture. There is a need to review of existing research and achievements. It provides great benefits to identify future research directions. For this reason, this research presents the results of an extensive literature review on previous studies on different topics of indoor comfort and human behavioural response in the built environment. This study is focused on monitoring and measuring energy consumption and physical environment in dwellings to test various methods that can capture how occupants control their indoor built environment at what cost of energy. Eight dwellings have been selected and the occupants have participated this study. Their thermal comfort, energy consumption, indoor and local outdoor physical conditions have been monitored by mixed methodologies at detailed level. Due to the level of disaggregated information, the number of dwellings was limited and the data can only represent the participating occupants, but the validation of monitoring methodologies has provided valuable overview regarding a range of methods instrumentations for measuring various parameters that could be used different levels of detailed domestic energy consumption and thermal environment information.

Design tool approaches for investigating energy use at an urban scale have traditionally three problematic issues regarding their implementation: 1) overly simple simulation methods; 2) the complexity of managing large amounts of input data; 3) outcomes that are not easily visualised. My research aim in the papers within this collection was to investigate the issues regarding modelling the energy use of larger numbers of buildings using detailed simulations techniques. This thesis brings together the papers to describe the research and case studies undertaken. It demonstrates the implementation of the new methods I have created including: hourly energy modelling at an urban scale; parametric analysis; pattern recognition and design analysis. The use of these methods and techniques is evident throughout the papers and combined outcomes show the possible shape of an early stage urban scale design tool. The methods have been explored through a series of international case studies. The research described in this thesis has contributed to the development of energy modelling of domestic buildings at an urban scale. The work in the appended papers has examined the requirements for a design tool that shows it is possible to use dynamic simulation, with detailed data generated automatically in a visual environment. With these attributes the tools developed can be seen as design tools and as such the work has moved the modelling from simple simulation methods based on an inventory of the building stock to more complex techniques. This involves full dynamic simulation methods and parametric testing of scenarios that include building fabric, systems, renewable technologies and the temporal nature of retrofit. Each one of the papers has been firmly based in case studies carried out in the UK, Middle East and China, ensuring that the methods used are transferable and applicable to problems of building in diverse climates. The outcomes of the research within the papers show that detailed energy modelling can be incorporated into the design process at an early stage, giving guidance to the designer, yet not interfering with the detailed design of the project.

This thesis tests the use of Welsh-grown timber in the building envelope, through the prototyping of a series of live design projects with a focus on species, technology and tectonic form. Projects are clustered under 4 headings identified as significant to the Welsh timber industry: hardwoods, engineered timber, timber board products and the complete timber envelope. The Welsh timber industry relies heavily on the importation of sawnwood, timber board products and innovative, engineered timber systems to meet an increasing demand to improve construction efficiency and the environmental performance of the building envelope. Compared to Northern and Central Europe and regions such as the Vorarlberg, Austria, Wales is perceived as having an underdeveloped and underperforming timber construction industry with only 15% forest cover to supply a variety of timber sectors. This thesis analyses the properties of Welsh-grown soft and hardwoods, the technical and skill limitations and opportunities of the industry and highlights the impact of the use of timber on the tectonic form of the building envelope. These evaluations inform the observations and reflections of 12 architectural prototype projects to demonstrate potential to exploit the Welsh-grown timber crop in the design and construction of the architectural building envelope. The research demonstrates that it is possible to use Welsh-grown timber for a variety of modular superstructure, cladding and external joinery systems. The conclusions identify limitations, such as a lack of research and development investment, from government and business, and a lack of knowledge and focused direction across the industry. However, the prototype projects show that the unique properties of timber, sustainably grown, managed and processed in Wales can be innovatively manufactured and assembled into prefabricated, components for the design and construction of the low-energy architectural building envelope. Furthermore, the properties, technology and skills available have informed an additive tectonic approach that is specific to Welsh-grown timber.

This research tests the role of architecture in the experience of young people’s engagement with public libraries. It identifies interaction with both university students and non-students in the 16-25 age group as being of key importance to the library service, and hence to the built environments through which it is delivered. Interrogation of relevant literature demonstrates that libraries exist at the boundary of multiple disciplines, and have been subject to study through various methodologies. Consequently, terms are identified that locate the experience of libraries appropriately within the architectural field. This is built upon by a second review phase that links the research to previous work in the thematic areas inductively generated from its extensive body of primary data. The rationale for a qualitative and spatially-cued approach to data collection is established through an interpretivist framework, which posits that the meanings attached to reality are the product of social action and revision. This advances the initial premise that preconceptions as to the appearance, contents, occupants and functions that constitute a library pose challenges to young people’s participation in new architectural experiences. The findings reveal the complexity of library preconceptions that young people carry with them, as well as the social and spatial information they interact with and interpret when making the physical and mental journey from city to service interaction. Furthermore, due to the inclusion of a student participant group, what has emerged carries implications for the design of academic libraries in addition to public libraries. The study concludes that lines of sight, noise transfer, and the expectations of young people create complex patterns of interpretation that prevent modern library architecture from being immutable: it is judged against the architectural experiences of memory, against media and fictional representations, and according to the socio-spatial interior conditions of any given moment.

Yunnan is an economically underdeveloped region in south-western China, in which many ethnic settlements are preserved well. Within the last two decades, many ethnic communities at a grass-roots social level have been conducting a series of tourism-related developments of Bai and Naxi dwellings in Yunnan. They are altering, restoring, rebuilding, refurbishing and renewing ordinary Bai or Naxi dwellings into multi-function dwellings, which are not only the residential homes of families, but are also capable of providing an exotic cultural experience for tourists‘ consumption. Nevertheless, Bai and Naxi dwellings are representations of a living culture, embodying a complex set of vernacular architectural traditions which have been transmitted for many generations. When the Bai and Naxi dwellings are involved in tourism development, the transmission and adaptation of these vernacular architectural traditions are changed, and the manner in which such traditions aresustained in new circumstances becomes an interesting problem. This study explores the influence of tourism development on sustaining the vernacular architectural tradition embodied in Bai and Naxi dwellings in Yunnan, China. The researcher has conducted three rounds of fieldwork, choosing 30 Bai and Naxi dwellings involved in tourism development, from four ethnic minority settlements in Yunnan, for investigation. Observation, interview and questionnaire have been applied to collect data, and template analysis has been used to analyse the data. The results of the analysis show that if tourism development is conducted mainly at a community level, itcan enhance the sustaining of the vernacular architectural tradition embodied in Bai and Naxi dwellings. In summary, the sustaining of vernacular architectural tradition is not simply influenced by the nature of tourism, but is highly dependent on the social level of the developers, the construction pattern they choose, and the socio-cultural interaction they produce.

Orvieto was a place of popes in the second half of the thirteenth century. Urban IV, Gregory X, Martin IV, Nicholas IV and Boniface VIII all held court there. The pope and his numerous entourage made what was essentially a modest hill top town of artisans and feudal nobility, a magnet for men of wealth and culture. Its Gothic cathedral, which still houses one of the most renowned eucharistic relics in Christendom, was conceived in this cosmopolitan atmosphere. Its façade iconography addressed both intellectuals and less educated members of the Orvietan populace. This thesis begins by examining the geographic and political environment which contributed to the realisation of one of Italy's great Gothic cathedrals. Comparisons between the architectural structure of the Cathedral in Orvieto and Roman basilicas are followed by an examination of its western façade in relation to possible iconographic sources deriving from a broader European context. The unusual technical combination of sculpted reliefs, their possible polychromatic finish and its combination with mosaic and bronze work on the façade is also object of discussion. A comprehensive reading of the medieval cathedral within its socio-political environment is encouraged. It was not a separate entity, but a functioning structure in constant rapport with its surroundings. In this light an analysis is performed of Orvieto's parish churches, convents and monasteries, the orders which administered them and the religious rituals which involved them. The presence of the Papal Court in Orvieto is reflected in the city's memory, primarily in the sophisticated architecture and decoration of its cathedral, but also in the works of art its members left behind them.

Visible plume was considered as a nuisance to the public due to health and visual issue especially in urban cities, and so heat coils were installed within cooling tower to carry out visible plume abatement. However, as it would be difficult in building to find heat source and high electricity consumption with heat coil, an alternative approach is required. Prior of developing a visible plume abatement approach, it was essential to identify the formation of visible plume. With this respect, a sophisticated mathematical model, the Poppe Approach was studied and developed a web-based calculator based on the theory. A real size mechanical cooling tower in China was constructed to carry out a validation test and showed to be very accurate and more accurate than the industrial approach, the Merkel Approach. Based on this validated Poppe Approach, an artificial environmental chamber was designed and constructed in China, and tests were conducted to identify the visible plume formation. CFD simulations were conducted to compare with the experimental results to validate the CFD simulation itself. Meanwhile, an alternative visible plume abatement approach was developed, the water shedding approach. The water shedding approach was designed to reduce the hour of visible plume occurrence and also to reduce the severity of visible plume. A building load of a commercial building was used to carry out visible plume abatement evaluation with the water shedding approach. With a Hong Kong climatic data, hours of visible plume would reduce by 38.2% and severity of visible plume was reduced by 40 – 60%. With the validated CFD simulation and the water shedding approach, CFD simulation was conducted in an urban city environment and with cooling tower operating with and without the use of water shedding approach. It was found that CFD simulation results showed that there was a maximum reduction in temperature of 0.33 oC and maximum moisture content of 0.0003 kgDA/kgM. In order to bridge the gap between academic and industry, a web-based platform was created that stored information related to cooling tower, as well as the fast calculators (the Poppe Approach calculator and the visible plume abatement calculator) developed during this research topic. This web-based platform would provide engineer a user friendly tool to carry out evaluation in cooling tower plant design and visible plume abatement evaluation.

This Dissertation investigates all of A.W.N. Pugin’s known English residential architecture for the first time, placing it in the context of the domestic and institutional architecture of comparable small buildings, particularly Anglican parsonages, of the period in which he lived and worked. The Dissertation is preceded by a summary of the theoretical issues that architects were addressing from the beginning of the nineteenth century, in particular those which Pugin was later to make a central part of his own theoretical writings. Following an examination of the conventions of the domestic architecture of the period, the Dissertation analyses Pugin’s own buildings, primarily categorising them by plan type. Pugin’s attitude to the orientation, location and landscape of his work is then considered, followed by an analysis of his preferred building forms, their materials, their detailing, and their decoration. In addition, the Dissertation investigates the extent to which Pugin’s architecture was actually historicist, reviving English or Continental Gothic forms and details. The Dissertation further investigates Pugin’s professional practice as a domestic architect, defining the nature of his partnership with his favoured building contractor, George Myers, in the context of contemporary contracting practice. The practical problems of Pugin’s constructions, and the character of his professional relationship with his clients are also assessed. The thesis proposes that elements of Pugin’s architectural theory existed previous to his career amongst English architectural writers and critics, but that medium and small houses designed between 1800 and the mid-1840s were overwhelmingly based on a limited number of conventionalised plans. It will show that Pugin’s residential planning was inherently different from that of these conventional buildings, and that it is classifiable into a number of distinct categories. This thesis furthermore argues that Pugin’s residential architecture was often far from functional and was not essentially historicist. This thesis will show that the planning of medium and small houses changed radically from the 1840s, incorporating aspects of planning which Pugin had pioneered; a conclusion suggests to what extent Pugin’s architectural creativity was expressive of cultural change and preoccupation beyond the realm of architecture. An Appendix is attached which summarises the chronology of all of Pugin’s known residential works.