The Percy Thomas practice was responsible for designing a large number of structures in Wales throughout the twentieth century, for a range of functions that are part of the essential infrastructure of modern urban nations. The aim of this thesis is to show that the practice has made one of the most significant contributions to the built environment of modern, twentieth century Wales and that some of this work contributed to nation building, through the scale and scope of its projects, especially given the number of these that contributed to the fashioning of key institutions of the state or civic life. These buildings have contributed to the developing awareness of Wales emerging as a separate nation, through their particular function or even form. The practices role within that nation building and modernising agenda has yet to be evaluated, prior to this research project. The contextual framework for the research has been an understanding of nationalism. National identity is socially constructed and nationality has been, for the last two centuries, part of the political agenda of nation- states. Welsh nationalism and nation building are part of a wider European movement, as will be demonstrated, through the exploration of the development of nationalism in Wales and its manifestations. How the built environment relates to socio-political and cultural ideas of nation building and identity formation and then whether and how the built environment can contribute to the process of nation building and identity formation, given that it is often the product of complex power infused social relations, will be demonstrated, once it is established that buildings are able to communicate meanings. The role of the built environment and iconic buildings, in particular, are an important part of the process of drawing attention to often contested conceptions of national identity, this role is often overlooked and its importance under-estimated, this is particularly the case in Wales. The work of the practice is explored through a historical narrative account that sits within the critical realist research tradition for examining and explaining socially constructed phenomena,such as nation building activities. It will be shown that the practice was on some occasions, self consciously undertaking work of this sort and displayed a degree of freedom regarding design.

In the past ten years, China’s urban population has increased rapidly. High-rise housing estates have been widely accepted as a ‘sustainable’ and ‘effective’ solution to urban housing shortage. However, high-rise housing has long been under debate with critics claiming liveability problems to be one of the reasons behind the decline of such development form in the mid-1970s. China presents a different context in the research on high-rise housing from other developed countries. This study focuses on an inquiry into the liveability of high-rise housing estates through investigating residents’ experience and evaluation on current high-rise living in the context of a Chinese city. The main contribution of this research to the existing literature is considered to be two-fold: Firstly, in the theoretical dimension, this research fills the research gap on the liveability study of high-rise housing in China, by establishing a resident-centred theoretical framework on the liveability of high-rise housing estates with a specific focus on housing planning and design in the Chinese context; Secondly, in the practical dimension, this research presents an empirical study on the liveability issues of current high-rise housing development in China, and provides implications for future planning and design of high-rise housing in high density urban areas. This study adopts a research strategy based on an embedded multiple-case study integrated with historical analysis, qualitative and quantitative survey to dissect the liveability of four high-rise housing estates in the inner city of Tianjin, China, with each representing one typical design type. This study provides an understanding on the impact of the macro-context on the development of high-rise housing estates and residents’ perception of the liveable residential environment; it explores the residential environment features and residents’ actual experience of high-rise living; it acquires residents’ liveability evaluation of high-rise housing estates, which not only reveals the liveability strengths and weaknesses of current high-rise housing development, but also discovers the measurement, indicators and dimensions of the liveability of high-rise housing estates, and provide implications for both theoretical research and practical development.

This study investigates the effectiveness of community climate action plans (CAPs) and their potential impact on the form of U.S. cities. Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and climate change adaptation strategies enacted by cities have the potential to redirect future public and private investment. Three studies have been prepared to better understand the external policy context that cities are working within, the process and tools they are using, and how climate actions are integrated into their comprehensive plans. Study 1 includes detailed case studies of eight U.S. cities that have completed CAPs. The cities are of various sizes and located in different climate regions. The case studies include a review of state and regional plans and policies; climate action plan technical and policy reports; evaluations of cities’ integration of climate action plans with their comprehensive plans; and interviews with planning project managers. Study 2 includes a national survey population of nearly 200 cities that have completed CAPs. The survey’s independent variables include city fundamentals such as size, location, comprehensive plan requirements, power sources, and political context. Dependent variables are organized into two groups: one for CAP approach and strategies, and the second for policy outcomes that modify the form of cities. Study 3 examines the effectiveness of common strategies utilizing a purpose-built greenhouse gas worksheet calculator. A model town is examined as a baseline community of 50,000 in population that is proposed to double by 2050 to a city of 100,000. A business-as-usual model and two alternatives test mitigation strategies and actions measuring potential effectiveness on GHG emissions. The thesis research findings have significant theoretical and practical implications regarding CAP influence on the future form of U.S. cities. In particular, studies demonstrate the importance of compressing growth into walkable cities with determined and fixed boundaries.

This thesis describes a computer tool that was developed to compare different combinations of photovoltaic panels, solar thermal collectors and combined heat and power technologies for building applications to find the option with the lowest cost of emissions reduction. The novelty of this computer tool is that it addresses the uncertainty of building energy load profiles in the sizing of renewable energy and CHP technologies by applying the Monte Carlo Method. A database of historical building energy load profiles was collated for this purpose. However, little domestic hot water load profiles were found in the literature. Therefore, as part of this study, a survey was also carried out to collect some domestic hot water load profile data. The survey consisted of a questionnaire and monitoring study. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: a general questionnaire about the dwelling and a diary study. The questionnaire collected general information about the dwelling, enabling the load profiles collected to be classified into different building type categories. In the diary study the hot water consumption patterns were recorded. The hot water energy consumption data was also obtained from direct monitoring using temperature sensors attached to the hot water pipes of the different appliances to record when and from which appliance hot water was used throughout the day in the dwellings. Load profiles were formed using this data and the data from the diary study in the questionnaire together with typical hot water usages of different appliances which were calculated from hot water usage times and flow rates of the different appliances that were recorded by a clamp-on flow meter. The data collected from the survey and the literature was loaded into the computer tool database.

In the early 1900s tensions began to appear within the architectural profession, as private practitioners struggled to deal with the implications of professional colleagues moving into public sector employment. Sir Basil Spence and Sir Donald Gibson began their architectural training in the mid-1920s and, as tensions between the sectors intensified, Spence entered private practice and Gibson chose to enter the public sector. Each became an exemplar of his chosen sector of the profession and yet both have, until recently, escaped critical attention. The tensions between the public and private sectors of the profession have been acknowledged within the historiography, but not received detailed analysis. This thesis advances the current historiography by presenting an examination of the division between the sectors, focusing on the relationship between the RIBA and the public sector union AASTA and assessing the influence of AASTA on Gibson's Coventry City Architect's Department. Through an examination of archival material, contemporary published material, and buildings, this thesis builds on the work of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, adding detailed accounts of his early life, architectural training, and RIBA presidency, presenting new information and correcting certain aspects of the accepted historiography. It likewise presents new information on Gibson's early life and training and his central role in achieving improved status and representation for the public sector. An analysis of selected projects provides a comparative study of their contrasting approaches to architecture: the technically informed, collaborative team-work of Gibson and the individual artistry of Spence. Both men played pivotal roles in reforming the RIBA and in changing public and professional perceptions of the architect, nevertheless, the long lineage and complex nature of tensions within the profession meant that the public/private division was never be bridged and issues of status and representation remained essentially immutable.

In conservation of culturally significant architecture (CSA), awareness about problems of temporality and their consideration has been frequently approached with different perspectives. However, these partial explanations have usually focused on accounts of temporality that mainly approach the past and the present, and more rarely the future, but do not consider the complete spectrum of human temporality, nor explicit ontological bases. In this thesis, architecture emerges as a manifold being in constant becoming that compels human being to exercise permanently memory and assimilation. The main contribution is the proposal of an existential approach towards conservation as an intentionality grounded on the more fundamental attitudes of cultivation and care. Through epistemological and phenomenological analysis of Brandi’s thought – focusing on his paradigmatic Theory of Restoration – his attitude comes forth as a particular form of conservation intentionality limited to architecture as a work of art. Following mainly Ingarden and Ricoeur, the results of ontological and phenomenological investigations about architecture and temporality demonstrate conservation in its modern form as a limited temporal intentionality. After these theoretical pre-conditions, the existential approach applied on the previously deduced dimensions of the space and time of Dasein – in Heidegger’s terms – proved the grounding of conservation on an existential interpretation of the more fundamental notions of cultivation and care. Making an analogy with Ingarden’s notion of the architectural work of art, CSA is ontologically analysed emerging to consciousness as a manifold being that can be concretized in different ways according with the attitude of the receptor. After the phenomenological analysis of memory, architectural conservation in its modern form is demonstrated as a partial account of human temporality that can be overcome considering human inhabitation in a creative way. Partially supported on the obtained cases of remembered architecture, the hermeneutical approach concluded suggesting a solution for the impasse with an existential account of both, the artistic grounding of architecture and its characterisation as the place that temporally accompanies Dasein. Thus, architecture is ontologically demonstrated to have a manifold being in constant state of transformation that participates of an unavoidable humanised temporality, appearing as a less ambiguous object of conservation. Hence, architecture is existentially demonstrated as constituting the space for the authentically concerned human, whose temporal consciousness compels to cultivate and care about, enriching the possible approaches to conservation as a collective endeavour.

This research work has been carried out to utilize daylight more effectively for indoor illumination in an energy efficient building without any compromise on indoor environmental quality; especially the visual comfort on task plane. Two different daylighting systems have been designed and constructed, and a series of tests have been performed to assess their photometric characteristics as well as their performance. A typical system considered has an optic concentrator capable of tracking the sun and making high density fluxes of solar rays. It consists of either dish or funnel shaped concentrators followed by optical fiber cables and diffusers at the end. The design of a dish concentrator (diameter less than 30 cm) is prepared by rotating a simple parabolic profile in compliance with the major physical requirements. This geometrical simplicity has also been applied for the design of a funnel shaped concentrator created by combining two parabolas. When the sunlight is highly focused, it is then redirected and undergoes a number of reflections to enter a light guide for its final transmission to the terminal device. The light reaching the terminal device finally gets consumed by the interior of a building for indoor illumination. The active daylighting system considered in this study offers substantial advantages over conventional solar designs in its fabrication, installation, operation, and utilization of the sun's energy. The proposed daylighting system is durable and suited to economical operation for different schemes of indoor illumination of buildings. Each component of the system could be made from off-the-shelf technology, thus making the generic unit inexpensive to manufacture. Depending on spatial demand or characteristics, the amount of daylight introduced could be controlled without undue difficulties. To assess the photometric characteristics of a daylighting system, goniophtometer and spectrometemr easurementsa re made,w hich provided its luminous intensity distribution and spectral radiance. The spatial distribution of light emerging from the optical cable is examined by monitoring the workplane illuminances for the mock-up spaces in Nottingham (UK) and Jeju (Korea). Six different types of terminal devices (optical lenses, light rod) are also examined experimentally to elicit the most optimal design for use with a daylighting system. Of those tested, the circular shape acrylic rod spreads out the light most widely followed by semi-concave lens whereas the semi-convex lens has shown the smallest light spreading ability. The test results have revealed some distinctive features of the present dishdaylighting system in bringing natural daylight to non-daylit areas or interior spaces too deep for conventional daylighting apertures. Especially, it proved the effectiveness of the system when applied for individualized lighting allowing individual control over the amount of light in space and to suit individual preferences for lighting conditions. Experimental data from measurements are further extended to develop the numerical models with RADIANCE and ECOTECT for theoretical predictions under different situations. The image of luminance ratio maps generated by RADIANCE and the fish-eye photographs of the sky were conducive to realistic assessment of possible glare reduction and uniformity improvement not just for the task plane but also for its surroundings. There were some appreciable changes made in the indoor luminance distribution thanks to our daylighting system. It has clearly demonstrated its functional reliability and usefulness to control brightness and thus promote indoor visual environment.

This research discusses the intermediate space that lies between private and public space, as well as its definition and importance in space configuration regarding urban morphology and social relations. It investigates how the organisation of in-between space affects social interaction in different urban patterns. As many researchers caution, terms such as semi-private and semi-public can be deceptive in attempting to define the relationship between the building and the street, because of the overlapping territory of this space. Therefore in this study the in-between space concept is used to portray this space and the interrelations that take place. Modernist urban space has changed the spatial relations between the building and the street. Previous research (Gehl, 1996) has revealed that the organisation of space between buildings has an important impact in terms of social interaction. Through organising these thresholds and giving the possibility of forming social activities, people have the chance to encounter more frequently and develop friendships. Thus this study also examines whether modern environments can develop a sense of community and neighbouring compared to traditional neighbourhoods by their spatial configuration and broken relation between the building and the street. This research adopts a mixed method approach to understand the complex relations and socio-spatial structure of the city. It utilises various methods through focusing on three dissimilar urban patterns in Izmir, Turkey, which developed in different periods. Two neighbourhoods with a traditional street pattern and one modern housing unit of middle- and high-income groups are compared through using space syntax analysis, snapshot observations, questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. The results of the correlations between space syntax analysis and observations revealed that while movement is correlated with global and local streets in city centres, it is more related to local streets and to the connectivity of the street pattern in sub-centres. Stationary activities are mostly related to highly connected streets in traditional neighbourhoods. Therefore connectivity is very important regarding in-between spaces as well as landuse. These features also support the frequency of social interaction outdoors. In modern settlements, long-duration activities and movements are less strongly correlated than in traditional neighbourhoods. The results of this study support the arguments developed by those urban sociologists and environmental psychologists, who argue that physical space may provide for social interactions, but not yet for a sense of community. The results of the empirical analysis refuted the hypothesis that modernist housing estates would reveal lower sense of community. Although modern housing units support introverted lifestyles and lack of in-between spaces compared to traditional and mixed use neighbourhoods, the results of the survey proved a higher sense of community compared to that in the traditional ones. The research therefore proved that developing sense of community and neighbouring are related with various factors other than mere organisation of space, which have to be taken into account both by urban design and space syntax analyses.

From 1971 to 2004, the UK population increased by 6.5% to 59.8 million while the number of homes increased by 30% to 24.2 million. Despite this growth, the industry is still accused of delivering homes that are overly expensive, environmentally unsustainable and deficient in number. The wish of the Government is that by 2016 the number of annual new additions in England will have increased by a third to 200,000, though there is little planned to assess how they meet the changing lifestyle needs of consumers. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has proposed that post-occupancy evaluation (POE) should be regarded as the preferred means of assessment; though a standard approach has yet to be developed for housing. Parallel to this, consumer surveys, including those carried out in this thesis, consistently report that 70% or more of buyers would pay more for an energy efficient home, which is generally regarded as one of the most important characteristics of a good home. However, the vast majority of existing homeowners are unable or unwilling to pay for the modifications that their homes require. In this thesis the connection is made that POE is also the most appropriate tool to investigate whether the supposed roader benefits of sustainability, such as improved comfort, lifestyle and energy security, can be evidenced in a quantifiable way so that they could be promoted to motivate homeowners to collectively improve the performance of the sector. The efficiency of space use is emerging as an aspect of sustainability of special importance, and the density of new developments increased from 25 to 40 homes per hectare in the years 1997 to 2004. The culmination of this thesis is therefore a substantial experiment undertaken to inform interior layout designers, whereby the daily movements of a household of 4 were remotely tracked using a radio frequency identification (RFID) system. This application of RFID for space use POE was a novel one, and the data was collected in a more discreet and objective way than is possible using the preferred sociology techniques of interviews or ethnography. Although some technical concerns developed during the experiment, an estimated 94% of the desired data was accurately collected. The demonstrated conclusion was that recognisable patterns within the tracking data are insightful and can assist house designers to arrange spaces more effectively. Also that tracking systems could affect building energy efficiency directly if comfort heating, cooling and lighting are targeted to only those areas that are known to be occupied by a building management system. These conclusions were then expanded upon by a survey that demonstrated how a portfolio of household behaviours could be beneficial as a tool for designing efficient and sustainable interior spaces in the future.

Building Energy Assessment at stock level is an important task in identifying the best strategies for achieving a more energy efficient and low carbon society. Non-domestic buildings are identified to make up 17% of total energy consumption in England and Wales and 19% of CO2 emissions. To understand the energy requirement of the non-domestic stock, large scale (empirically based) energy surveying has been carried out namely in the Non-Domestic Building Stock project and Carbon Reductions in Buildings project. It is recognised that building energy surveys are difficult to carry out; expensive on time, technical resources, and metered energy use is (on a large scale) necessarily crude. With improving computer ability, dynamic energy modelling tools allow for detailed assessment of building energy use and comfort performance. Using Monte Carlo simulation a method of assessing the probable variability in non-domestic building thermal energy loads was developed. The method was developed to capture the heterogeneity in non-domestic buildings at national stock level and determine how stock level physical form variations impact thermal loading. Non-domestic building form and surrounding topography are considered to be influenced by building control laws and building regulations. Control documentation often stipulates guidelines and best practice - hence building heterogeneity. As such, historical regulations were used to develop basic probability distributions of potential physical characteristics associated with non-domestic buildings. Stating that form and site characteristics are randomly determined from the defined probability distributions, a stochastic modelling process to represent thermal variation in a building stock was developed. This provided potential for categorising building thermal performance by period of construction. The model utilised a dynamic simulation model as a 'black-box' for predicting base thermal loads.