Ready for Submission!

Finalised poster showing how the A3 layouts fit together to form one single A0 poster. You can also see the reports. It all turned out quite well in my opinion.

Week 13 - Final Week

Here is a quick mock-up of my catalogue template.

1. Lachlan Stanton

2. lachlanstanton@gmail.com

3. www.desig-n8.com

4. 0416360244

5. Architecturally Controlled Occupancy

6. The architecturally controlled occupancy project is an investigation into differing environmental results found between the design and construction phases of a building. The project proposes that even if a building has high green star ratings, it’s the occupants within that decide whether or not that building operates efficiently. Beginning with a breakdown of the rating system and categories that must be satisfied for a building to be considered “green”, this project attempts to understand why there are such great discrepancies between results in different stages of the buildings life-cycle. The LOWY Cancer Research Centre at UNSW is the subject of experimentation and testing, with a BIM being analysed to achieve a set of design based results that can be compared against data taken from the physical structure. This project proposes that for a building to be truly green occupants must not control the architecture, architecture much control the occupants.

7. Image labels:

A) Street View

B) LOWY Cancer Research Centre

C) Front Facade

D) EcoTect Environmental Analysis

E) ArchiCAD Building Information Model

Here is a small update of how my report is coming together. I just included the first few pages to give you an idea of what it's going to look like.

Week 12 - Report Progress

Report Progress

This is an updated version of my report so far. Still needs a fair bit of work, but the precedent studies and most of the report admin is done. I am still yet to put in my results and experimentation, which is being worked on this week.

Portfolio

As we all know, 5% of our final submission is based upon a portfolio submission of work completed throughout our Architectural Computing degree at UNSW. I noticed on the Graduation Project discussion forums Jay had asked whether his personal website (the10thletter) was sufficient enough to act as his portfolio. Steven Peter stated that is was, and for this reason I think I'm going to use my own website as my portfolio submission too.

I created a simple website last year to attach to any job applications that I was sending out/GradProj clients I was seeking. It still needs a fair bit of work, but under the "Portfolio" tab there is a large portion of work I have completed throughout my degree. There are also descriptions of each course to give a brief background as to what is trying to be achieved.

http://www.desig-n8.com/

Week 11 - Report Layout/Getting Cracking!

Photoshoot

These are some of the photos I took of the LOWY Cancer Research Centre earlier in the semester. I hadn't uploaded them as my dad borrowed my camera :/

Environmental Analysis

I will be getting the tools for my physical environmental analysis of the building this week. The earliest he was able to get them too me was the Wednesday of our fundraising BBQ. Once the necessary equipment has been obtained then I will spend a day taking readings and completing the desired tests. This will then be compared with the results from EcoTect on the design, and compared once again with what categories a building must satisfy to achieve a green star rating.

In the mean time I have spent some time tweaking the model to get it looking almost right.

However when I attempted to get this model into EcoTect it would just crash! I tried it on the Uni Lab computers and got the same outcome. Due to this I've had to completely strip the model down, remove any unnecessary layers (furniture/fittings etc.) to make it more compatible with EcoTect. However it is still proving very time consuming transporting the model between software. Loading it into EcoTect took forever!!

Report Layout

Middle of the chapter

I want my report to tie in closely with my Poster sheets. For this reason I stuck to the same basic layout, but tweaked it to suit a report format rather than a poster. I think this way it will be obvious that the two belong together and will keep a constant theme flowing through my project. However I'm sure this layout will slightly change as we get closer to the deadline.

These images show two pages from the middle of my introduction chapter. They are A4 size and Portrait layout. These two pages will be bound next to each other in the report with the black strip being on the inside (bound edge).

Start of the chapter

This layout shows roughly how I want the beginning of each chapter to look. It gives a brief contents of what is to follow in the chapter with the title being the dominant part of the layout. I'm still a little unsure about the neighbouring page... There definitely needs to be an image, but at the moment it looks a little strange (kind of just sitting in the middle of nowhere).

Please give me some comments/feedback...

Too similar to my poster layout, or you think carrying the theme across will tie together well?

Week 10 - Draft Report

This is a very very draft copy of my report. I am currently in Bali and this was the most recent copy I had on my USB stick. Unfortunately my trip to Bali was for a family wedding and was therefore unavoidable. Poor timing for my Graduation Project...

This report just shows some rough formatting etc. I will upload a more recent version when I get back.

Week 9 - Experimentation and Draft Sheets

20/09/11

As the whole concept of this project is to identify the impact humans are having on the environmental outputs of architecture. I must first identify how the building behaves in the design phase. After talking with my client it is common occurrence for a building to be more environmentally friendly in the design phase than in reality. This has been narrowed down to many different factors, with human occupancy being almost negligible. It's more the fact that this area has not been explored rather than it simply not effecting the efficiency of the building.

The environmental analysis of the Cancer Research Centre has begun using AutoDesk EcoTect. More research into appropriate software is necessary, but this is a relatively comprehensive place to start.

I have also been in contact with Steve King in regards to getting equipment for thermal and humidity readings. I am aware that his Environment 2 class is currently examining the computer labs in the red centre. This would save me having to outsource/purchase them.

- Precedent Study six added.

- Precedent Study seven added.

- Added post in Experimentation/Research

25/09/11

Below shows an image of my draft layout. It has been down in A0 format so you can see how the separate A3 sheets fit together. Initially I thought of using a transparent image to hold the A0 layout together, but everything I experimented with looked strange when viewed in A3 size. Rather than try to over-complicate things I stuck with a relatively clean and simple design. Example text has been used where necessary, and the large squares will be filled with images. I still think that some further development needs to be done, but this is what it looks like so far.

This is a low resolution screenshot of the construction lines and margins used to create my layout in Adobe InDesign.

Week 8 - Report TOC

14/09/11

Spoke with Jim about my assignment. Realising that it is really time to knuckle down and get the ball really rolling. I have reserved week 9 as a strictly testing and experimentation week. Both on the digital model of the Research Centre and the physical building.

18/09/11

Table of Contents almost finalised. (re-posted in format other than .jpeg after reading Stephen's comments).

Table of Contents -

Mid-Session Break

06/09/11

Began going through all the formalities surrounding the report. The introduction section is almost complete, and the precedent study section will be adapted from what I already have on my blog. Obviously the experimentation, results, conclusions drawn etc. cannot be completed until the necessary work has been done.

08/09/11 - 12/09/11

Unfortunately I spent this time in Adelaide for work which was unavoidable. I have managed to convince my boss that I can only work two days a week from now on as I need to focus more on my graduation project, and not get fired which is a bonus!

Week 7 - Research Centre

29/08/11

Received modelled information today. This included an ArchiCAD model of the research centre, and a .3ds file. Here are some images of the model ready for environmental testing.

I am still waiting for Andrew to return the Project Agreement, Consent Form and Info Statement, but I'm sure it will be here in the next few days.

02/09/11

- Added fourth precedent study.
I recommend everyone take a look at the linked website and explore some of the work being undertaken.

03/09/11

- Added fifth precedent study.
- Added research video.
- Looking at the floor plans of the research centre for environmental analysis.

Week 6 - Seminar

24/08/11

Today we had our graduation project seminars. It was really interesting to sit through each persons presentation and see where they were up to. There are some really interesting and exciting projects that I'm looking forward to seeing progress. Personally I think my presentation went quite well and seemed to get relatively good feedback from the tutors and other students.

- Added a third precedent study.

- Contracts and documentation further altered and ready to be signed.

25/08/11

Andrew Lamond has sent me through some modelled information on the Lowy Research Centre. I should receive it any day now. It will be interesting to see what he has been able to provide me with.

Week 5 - Making Moves:

17/08/11

I was coming to terms that things were not quite going to plan for my graduation project so far. My weekly progress was looking quite plain and shabby compared with many others, and project research and testing was slow. At the end of the day this falls on my shoulders, but I partially lay the blame on client difficulties (which I have seen from the progress reports is a common thing). As my last post stated Andrew Lamond met on the 15th with the University to find out the direction they wished to head in terms of the facades environmental solar analysis. This is a very pivotal meeting for my project, as it will essentially tell me how much I need to adapt my original proposal to suit the needs of the buildings owner (UNSW) and my client (Andrew and Lahz Nimmo). As of today I still have not had a response from him, so I took this opportunity to give my blog an overhaul!

During week one I was under the impression that simple html's would be used to outline students work. I though I was being quite tricky utilising a blog format, however I should never have underestimated my peers. There are some really great websites that have been created to display individuals progress which made my blog fall to the way side. Determined to keep my intital idea, I simple made it more detailed (adding appropriate pages) and filling out the content in a more complex manner. I proceeded to update my previous weekly posts up to this point so that they would continue with the format that I now have.

18/08/11

Added a brief introduction into my client and the building that will be utilised in my Graduation Project under "Experimentation/Research".

My "Contracts" section was looking quite neglected so I added a form of proposal letter. I am aware that this required an outline of the project and clear statement of any input required from the client and the project deliverables, however there are still elements of this that remain in question. This will be again updated as soon as possible.

19/08/11

I was beginning to get slightly unnerved about our upcoming seminars this Wednesday, but thankfully some large steps in terms of progress were made today. Andrew Lamond got back to me with what I initially took as quite bad news, but the more I think about it the better it seems to get. The email is as follows...

Lachlan,

Unfortunately the University has decided not to go ahead with the submission so we have no need for any further modelling, for them.

If you would like to proceed with your assignment we can provide you with some modelled information but we’re limited with what we can give you.

We work in ArchiCad so please let me know if you would like to continue and in what format you would like the information. I know we have previously issued 3ds files with some success.

If you do proceed we ask that you show some discretion and acknowledge both lahznimmo architects and Wilson Architects.

Regards

Andrew

Andrew Lamond

Associate Director

21/08/11

I spent the remainder of Friday deliberating about what to do next. However after a few more emails, and a weekend of brainstorming I came to the realisation that the limitations UNSW were going to put on the project for Lahz Nimmo meant that it would have become quite stale and was beginning to lost sight of what I had proposed and what I wanted to investigate. The fact that Andrew was still willing to provide me with some models and access to a great deal of information on the building, whilst still giving me the freedom to adapt the brief more appropriately to want I wanted to achieve rather than what they were employed to produce.

My proposal wanted to look at the effect occupants were having on the environmental outputs of certain spaces. Regardless of how well they were designed architecturally, they needed environmentally conscious occupants before real results could be seen. My proposal wanted to take some of this control from the occupants and force them to work in collaboration with the architecture to achieve the most ecologically efficient space possible. There were some points introduced after my meeting with Paul Osmond (UNSW representative for the environmental elements of the LOWY project). These included...

Green Stars: Green Star is a comprehensive, national, voluntary environmental rating system that evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings. With more than 4 million square metres of Green Star-certified space around Australia, and a further 8 million square metres of Green Star-registered space, Green Star has transformed Australia's property and construction market.

This is a very respected measurement for a building to have in the current global climate. It was suggested that I should study the requirements behind awarding green stars on a building. Are these appropriate for a building to be considered green? Are these elements kept consistent when the building is occupied? Could better test be conducted? Once I understand what it is that makes a building "green" in the eyes of the GBCA (Green Building Council Australia) then I will know how to successfully adapt my project.

22/08/11

- Precedent Study 2 added.

Well it's the end of week 5 and I think I finally have a sense a solid sense of direction now. I have chosen to continue with Lahz Nimmo Architects as my client and obtain the information they have on the LOWY Research Centre. Their initial desire was for a façade solar analysis on the design drawings of the building so it could apply for a green star rating, whereas my proposal was to give power back to the architecture and let it work independently (but in unison) with the occupants to maximise environmental efficiency. Now I plan to incorporate them both together!

With access to certain modelled information I can...

- Complete a comprehensive environmental analysis on the design of the building.

- Take readings of the actual building.

- Compare and contrast the results.

- Look at how they could be improved.

- Work out how the occupants act and react to environmental factors within the spaces.

- Propose a re-design for certain elements if necessary.

- Work on how the building (or a significant space) could reduce its energy consumption independently from the occupants.

Also, now I can send off the outstanding documentation required for our Graduation Project and get stuck into testing/experimentation and design.

Week 4 - Progress:

12/08/11

* Updated my graduation project blog.

* Precedent Study 1 added.

* Research video added.

* Contracts and ethics documentation been appropriately altered.

Contact with Andrew Lamond from Lahz Nimmo Architects has continued regarding the LOWY Cancer Research Centre at UNSW.

He will meet with the university on Monday the 15th of August to discuss matters regarding the required outputs for the façade solar analysis and I hope that he will get back to me by next week at the latest.

14/08/11

Being torn between the strict environmental aspects I established in my proposal and the adapted solar aspects desired by the client has lead me to a slight conflict of interest. I hoping to resolve these issues once Andrew gets back to me.

I have been looking at the direction people are already taking in regard to "green" architecture, and what the future holds in regard to reducing the carbon footprint of a building throughout it's life-cycle. The building looked at in my first precedent study was very appropriate as it looks at reducing this impact through the use of its facades in relation to solar activity. Rather than be user orientated and manipulated based on their movements it is controlled automatically by the sun.

Week 3 - Progress:

This week we were allocated convenors for our graduation project. After discussions with Tam and Jim it was decided that Jim would be the most appropriate advisor for my selected proposal. I had begun emailing Sydney based architecture firms during the mid-semester break, however none had really been overly enthusiastic about the idea of our project. Jim came to me with an idea he had come up with in correspondence with Paul Osmond for an environmental based audit on the Lowy Cancer Research Centre located on UNSW’s upper campus.

On Monday the 1^st of August I met with Jim and Paul to discuss this further. We established that the building was applying for a green star rating and there were rigorous procedures that needed to take place in order for this to be approved. One thing I found interesting was that even though the building has already been built, they were applying for green stars based on the design. So measurements and readings had to all be taken from the design phase of the process only. One particular element that needed to be identified was a façade solar analysis. This deviated away from the guidelines of my originally selected proposal but held some potential in terms of an appropriate client, a real world project, and was still along the environmental lines of my proposal. The architecture firm responsible for the project is Lahz Nimmo Architects, and Paul has put me in touch with Andrew Lamond from this practise. I am in talks with Andrew to perhaps establish a brief more closely fitted to my original proposal. One other option is in relation to the green stars. I wanted to look at how people interacted within a space, and how their actions directly affected the carbon footprint of the building. Giving control back to the building would have more of an effect on reducing this than greener building design. If I was to look at what was involved with awarding green stars and the categories that they analysed I could see how this relates to human interaction within the building. My intention is to have a meeting with Andrew Lamond in person to discuss further the possibilities of using this project for my graduation assignment.

However if the prospect of Lahz Nimmo Architects as a client falls through, my back up plan is to use the clients I had established for my first proposal and adapt their needs appropriately. The plan would be to take their desired environmental renovation further and implement what I have outlined in my selected proposal. For obvious reasons I am persuing the intital option, but I wanted to have a safe guard in case it did not work out the way I plan.

Week 2 - Chosen Proposal:

When it came to choosing which proposal I would pursue I was evenly torn between the three. The augmented reality in proposal three was the most unknown area of my expertise, so I guess that was the logical one to eliminate. Proposal one and two both had elements that appealed to me. This graduation project is a contributing factor for my future employment in the industry, for this reason I would ideally like to have a client being a relevant firm rather than a side job I have acquired.

For this reason I'm choosing to go with PROPOSAL TWO for the remainder of the session and my final Graduation Project. The most appropriate convenor for this type of responsive architecture would be Tam Nguyen or possibly Jim Plume.

UPDATE:

Jim was selected as my convenor.

Week 1 - Proposals:

This week was mainly concerned with developing my three proposals for submission. Rather than stick to one focus area I wanted to cover a broad spectrum of material that we've covered throughout this course. Proposal one was focussed with Building Information Modelling, which has been a primary focus of mine throughout this degree. Proposal two was responsive and sensory based architecture that focused on the environmental impact of buildings. I am quite intrigued by the real world possibilities of this proposal. Finally proposal three looks at the link between augmented reality and real-time manipulation. I haven't done much work in this area, but am eager to find out what is possible with this kind of technology.

It was a little stressful at times getting the proposals complete. Not being able to continue with the course if three proposals weren't approved was not somewhere I wanted to find myself. I had the general idea for my first two proposals planned out over the uni break, the third one took a little more time to establish. Nevertheless I am pleased with the outcome and could happily pursue any of my proposals.

So far proposal one has the most solid foundation as it is a real project that I am working on. This means that the clients have already been established and there is a professional architect that can oversee my work and mentor the project.

I haven't really worked on developing any of these proposals yet, or beginning any research as I was focused primarily on getting them refined to suit the tutors comments. This initial week has also involved setting up this blog and sorting out any other admin necessary for webteach. I spent a fair bit of time browsing other students work to see the paths they plan to take and what kind of possibilities are being explored. The tutors comments on similar projects were also a useful tool to refine my own proposals.