The topic for the research is focussed on establishing a new working procedure to help universities improve the way they use and manage space. This research is important to the higher education sector for two reasons. Adopting this new procedure will help space planners achieve improved space efficiency with associated cost savings but more importantly it achieves the efficiencies in ways that complement how staff wish to deliver teaching and how students wish to learn. The current space planning methodology within the sector predicts and controls space use through a spreadsheet based application that calculates demand by multiplying student numbers by a space norm. Specifically the aim of the research is to develop a collaborative space planning methodology that engenders academic commitment to effect space utilisation efficiency. The central research question posed was to understand if such a radically different approach to space planning, that considers the variable concept of the learning interaction, can improve space utilisation. The research to develop the space planning framework is presented in the form of a case study within a university faculty. The ontological and epistemological position reflected by the methodology moves away from positivism’s experimental approach that attempts to prove through a quantitative assessment of space that a faculty has too much or too little space. The research strategy is positioned within a very different participatory paradigm. (Onwuegbuzie, Johnson and Collins, 2009, p.122) The methodology encourages the space planner to reflect on a much wider interpretation of the definition of an effective learning environment. The qualitative data gathered through the case study was developed through action research, specifically co-operative inquiry. The process of engaging the stakeholders is the new learning presented by this research. Overall the department that was the focus of the case study believes the resources provided and planned for in the immediate future will meet the requirements of the proposed curriculum plan. In addition, the net internal area proposed for the department will be significantly lower, 17% less than the base case assessment calculated through the use of traditional space norms. The research suggests that this different methodology can improve space efficiency and contribute to improving the planning procedures within an educational organisation. The findings of the research were subject to validation by space management practitioners within the University of Gloucestershire and external sector experts. Further research is proposed through the Association of University Directors of Estate (AUDE).

The work reported in this thesis addresses the problem of structure-borne sound transmission from impacts on lightweight stairs. The primary aim was to provide a laboratory method for characterisation of lightweight stairs as structure-borne sound sources, which will give input data for prediction of the sound transmission in heavyweight building situations. By treating the stair system, combined with impact source(s), as an active component, available methods for active sources could be adapted. The component powers of a timber staircase attached to a solid wall in a staircase test facility have been determined in-situ by use of a reciprocal method. It was shown that the force perpendicular to the wall surface is dominant, moments can be neglected. The force induced power can be predicted from contact free velocity and mobility or by the blocked force as stairs constitute high mobility sources in heavyweight buildings. A practical characterisation is proposed that is based on the reception plate method. It is demonstrated that real walls and floors can be used as reception plates along with a power calibration that circumvents problems in estimating the plate mass, mean squared velocity and total loss factor for non-isolated reception plates. The sound transmission is predicted using EN 12354 and it is confirmed that the prediction gives values within acceptable engineering accuracy. A deterministic model that accounts for the modal coupling of structure and room is used to predict the sound transmission at low frequencies. For the case considered, a major difficulty was found in the modelling of the wall vibration field, mainly due to the boundary conditions that do not correspond to idealised conditions, such as pinned or free edges.

A brief introduction defines the aims of the thesis in which thatching is analysed in Cambridgeshire as a living craft. The first chapter sets the historical context of thatching as a means of providing a waterproof roof in England and more particularly in Cambridgeshire, and how, over the years, this form of roof is now largely restricted to small houses in the countryside. Most of Cambridgeshire's thatched houses are small, were built for agricultural workers and small yeoman farmers, and have a form, though not necessarily a fabric, which is five centuries old. They are mostly thatched in wheat straw, but a significant minority is thatched in water reed. These houses are now increasingly owned by people employed in towns who, thanks to the motorcar, choose to live in villages and like the idea of living in a thatched cottage. Practically all of these houses are listed and protected by conservation laws and regulations. Chapter 2 examines the various materials used for thatching in Cambridgeshire, particularly wheat straw and water reed. How they are grown, harvested and prepared for use is explained, together with an analysis of their specific qualities and life expectancy. How the age of a thatched roof may be judged is set out in detail, and the method of doing so was applied to the thatched roofs of twenty-five parishes, and also to a number of old photographs of thatched roofs. Chapter 3 examines the characteristics of Cambridgeshire roofs, specifically those that were designed for a covering of thatch and what obstacles modern roofs present to the thatcher today. Chapter 4 then examines the training of the thatcher, most particularly the traditional form of apprenticeship still in use, why this continues and how it has been little affected by attempts to introduce government-sponsored training schemes. The methods of working are then analysed, and this again shows the continuing survival of traditional practices. Chapter 5 provides a detailed explanation of precisely how Cambridgeshire roofs are thatched in the three main ways using long wheat straw, combed wheat reed and water reed. This encompasses preparation on the ground and how such obstacles as dormers and chimneystacks are overcome, from eaves to ridge. Chapter 6 analyses the results of an extensive survey of about half of the 700 surviving thatched roofs in Cambridgeshire, and endeavours to explain the distribution of the various types of thatch. It accounts for the survival of a significant quantity of thatching material from the late Middle Ages, and examines the life-expectancy of a long-wheat-straw roofs, which is demonstrated to be on average between 35 and 40 years. This result is compared with the expectancy for water reed, and also for wheat straw in other parts of the United Kingdom, concluding that the quality of thatching in Cambridgeshire, as well as its climate, are particularly favourable to longevity. The Conclusion draws together these results and underlines the problems of a traditional building skill practised in what are more or less ancient ways in the current climate of conservation and economic prosperity based on the efficient use of material and human resources. The thesis is supported by a catalogue raisonne of all the thatched roofs in twenty-five Cambridgeshire parishes (and three in neighbouring parishes), and by appendices, one of them giving the responses to a questionnaire sent to all the thatchers known to be working in Cambridgeshire.

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe several progressive diseases, characterised by symptoms of cognitive dysfunction and communication difficulties which cause difficulties with day to day functioning and frequently led to health and social care crises. The preferred place of habitation for People with Dementia (PwD) is to remain in their own home throughout their life which offers familiar surroundings and a sense of control. Evidence-based healthcare design has been shown to be beneficial in the homes of PwD by reducing challenging dementia symptoms and behaviours. These concepts include the adaptation the home via changing colour, lighting, sound and temperature. Advice detailing how these concepts can be used by PwD and their carers at home is available from a number of different sources. However, it remains unclear how home adaptation information is accessed and utilised and what the barriers to home adaptation are. The project consisted of three studies: Firstly, a qualitative exploratory study looking at the use of home adaptation by PwD and their carers in their own home. The second study investigated how comprehensible and accessible people find different information sources and how participants would prefer to receive information about dementia. The third study attempted to identify what home adaptation information is provided by health, social care and charity practitioners and how professionals feel about their own level of home adaptation for dementia knowledge. The overall results led to the production of recommendations which have the potential to improve the uptake of home adaptation for dementia in domestic dwellings. These include providing individualised home adaptation information provided closer to diagnosis. This would encourage dementia specific adaptations to be completed within the Optimal Home Adaptation Phase, described as the time between diagnosis and the time where deterioration makes familiarity the driving force of the home environment.

This thesis tests an approach to delivering affordable housing for rural Wales, through the design and development of a system of homegrown, re-engineered timber components for self build. Recent studies and policy have demonstrated an acute shortage of affordable housing in rural Wales. Consequently, the Welsh Assembly Government has committed to deliver an additional 6,500 homes in the period 2007 - 11. However, there remains significant concern regarding the long term, sustainable delivery of affordable rural housing. This dissertation proposes a solution to this need, based on the readily available resource of homegrown softwood. Sitka Spruce has become the primary production crop of the Welsh woodlands. It is rarely used in the construction industry due to its propensity to distort and instead is utilised in low value industries, including low grade carcassing timber. It is proposed that through an innovative and radical approach, homegrown timber resources can offer a high quality, locally sourced and sustainable modern method of construction. In this study, a system of engineered homegrown timber components is designed, prototyped and tested as a self build construction solution for affordable housing in the diverse physical, social and economic context of rural Wales. Design led studies, including a ‘Pattern Book’ of house types, and realised prototypical constructions are used to inform and interrogate the proposed components and construction methodology. The primary objective of these investigations is to examine the applicability and appropriateness for self build construction. Finally, through the construction of a whole house prototype, a system of homegrown timber components and an approach to its assembly is proposed. Although limitations remain with this proposal, it has been possible to demonstrate that there is significant opportunity for an innovative, self build construction system using homegrown timber resources, to offer an efficient and sustainable solution for affordable housing in rural Wales.

Partnering emerged in the construction industry in the late 1980's and since then has developed into a mainstream management strategy for reducing traditional adversarialism and improving project,performance. The maturation of the approach reached a milestone recently with the publication of the first partnering contract. However the approach is still in its relative infancy and a myriad of definitions exist as to what it is. (Li, Cheng & Love, 2000). It has received considerable attention from practitioners and researchers alike yet it remains an alien approach to many and is consequently difficult to plan and implement. Even the recent partnering contract has been criticised for its complexity, while others believe partnering should remain an approach represented by management style not contractual documentation. The aim of this thesis is to develop a set of practical processes for the strategic development and implementation of partnering arrangements. It aims to develop, through the identification of best practice criteria, generic processes as well as recommend corresponding management techniques for both long term and Project Specific Partnering success. The generic processes can then be tailored to suit specific projects and business objectives. The work represents the first stage in the development of a dear and implementable partnering management tool for the construction industry. The further development required for industrial implementation has also been identified.

This dissertation represents an attempt at increasing the behavioural sophistication of evacuation simulations, through the study of evacuation modelling, the development of new behavioural algorithms, their implementation within an existing evacuation model and the testing of the resulting model. This aim is achieved through a number of steps. Firstly, the range of human behaviour that are exhibited by occupants during the evacuation process is studied. Next, the sophistication of the available evacuation models is investigated and a suitable model is selected and thoroughly assessed (the buildingEXODUS evacuation model). The selected model is then used as a test bed in which to implement the advanced behavioural developments. The detailed behavioural analysis was conducted to provide the necessary framework, around which an eventual model might be formulated and implemented. This involved the examination of the factors that might influence the occupant's behaviour, the occupant's decision-making process and the eventual occupant behaviour. The mechanisms implemented within the evacuation models presently available were then investigated to determine the current effectiveness of evacuation modelling. This investigation generated possible ideas as to how the modelling process may be conducted and the possible limitations that would be inherent in this process. Rather than creating a completely new behavioural shell, during which time a significant amount of resources would have been diverted into software engineering, an existing behavioural shell was sought after. The buildingEXODUS model was selected as a shell within which the proposed behavioural developments could be analysed for both practical and technical reasons. The selected model was then validated against a number of experimental and real-life validation cases. This highlighted a variety of limitations and enabled the detailed workings of the selected model to become familiar. In this process, the sophistication and limitation of this shell (the current buildingEXODUS evacuation model) was established. This was required to properly examine the extent of the proposed behavioural development over the existing model. Once these limitations were established, the proposed developments then had a realistic basis for comparison. The new behavioural features were made in response to sociological, psychological and physical limitations that had been identified in the existing evacuation models. These developments included a more detailed representation of - The occupant's familiarity with the enclosure, - A representation of the occupant's motivation based on the occupant's perception of the surrounding conditions, - Occupant communication, - Collective behaviour - And the ability of the occupant to adapt according to the information available. These proposed behavioural actions and influential factors were then implemented into the buildingEXODUS model. These features were then examined to determine their satisfactory integration into the overall buildingEXODUS model and their impact upon the sensitivity of the model through the use of hypothetical and actual data-sets. Each of the new behavioural features provided new occupant capabilities and affected the outcome of the buildingEXODUS simulations. The differences may have been centred on qualitative and/or quantitative aspects of the evacuation, depending on the proposed behaviour in question. However, all of the behavioural features examined produced notable results that enhanced the performance of the model in some manner. Overall the behavioural developments were seen to increase the flexibility and functionality of the model without compromising the previously established ability of the model to cope with the fundamentals of human behaviour. These improvements were therefore seen to further advance the capability of the model to accurately determine the safety of an enclosure during an evacuation through a better understanding of the occupant response and a better and more thorough representation of human behaviour.

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development proposed a reduction in per capita energy consumption of 50%. Increasing demands, and initiatives of this nature, produce a need for more reliable assessment methods, measurement tools and improvement regimes. Since the late 1960's Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become an increasingly important tool for engineers, technologists, scientists, designers, managers and environmentalists alike. LCA enables the effects which products, processes and activities have on local, regional or global environments to be assessed, adopting a holistic, or whole life approach to design methodologies. The design of window systems has a large impact upon LCA results generated. Thermal performance properties influence energy consumption patterns throughout a lifetime of use, while appropriate use of materials, window positioning and size have a knock-on effect on lighting control functions and air conditioning demands. In developing countries, residential sectors account for between 20% and 30% of the total energy used (30% in the UK). Windows in dwellings alone account for 6% of the total UK energy consumption. This thesis addresses an ongoing need to focus on sustainable development, using LCA as an assessment tool to develop a greater understanding of the window life cycle, and to highlight improvements which are necessary to lessen its environmental impact and make the processes involved more benign. To do this successfully requires that the demands of modern day living, and the comfort conditions expected, be incorporated into design criteria, whilst ensuring that the needs of future generations are not compromised by today's activities. Along with rising demands to improve efficiency and decrease energy consumption in buildings, comes an expectation for continual improvement in building interiors. To this end, both the aural and visual haracteristics of window installations become paramount, in addition to the well researched thermal performance criteria. Much research has focused on investigating the social and physiological benefits associated with improved interior environments. The correlation between worker satisfaction and performance has been well proven. If complete physical well-being is satisfied then an individual's mental well-being is less likely to be affected by the additional stressors of environmental dissatisfaction. An optimisation model has been developed, linking the thermal, aural and visual performance of varying window designs, such that an "advanced" window system is created. Two outputs are generated from the model, which may be used to evaluate the "optimum" window design in terms of energy consumption and global environmental impact. Optimisation of energy consumption incorporates embodied energy, thermal performance and electric lighting demand, over the life cycle of a window. Global environmental impact optimisation is similar, but evaluation is based on energy generation, and greenhouse gas production. Finally, a flowchart for optimisation guides the user towards a glazing solution which offers sufficient noise attenuation, whilst minimising thermal losses and electric lighting demand. Each output provides a guide for design, leaving room for judgement, and is not intended to be followed definitively. Recommendations for improvements to manufacture systems and production of multiglazed windows are offered, based on sustainable development criteria. Future research needs, which are necessary to minimise the total environmental impact resulting from multi-glazed window production, are also discussed.

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