LIGHTWEIGHT AND MULTI-PURPOSE PARTITION FOR VERTICAL HOUSING

Vertical housings have been developed to solve housing quality degradation due to rapid urbanization. These housings are often lack of privacy and comfort, since the lay-out mostly consists of one open plan space with limited area. This paper presents a lightweight and multi-purpose partition to improve the living quality in vertical housings. The lightweight characteristic is intended to minimize structural loads, while the multi-purpose property allows the partition to be transformed into some furniture for spatial efficiency. A literature review and material surveys were performed prior to material selection and the design process. Then, physical model experiments were carried out to simulate the installation process and the transformation process of the partition modules into some furniture. Result show that the partition’s weight is only 11-36.7% of the common partition wall, and when installed, the transformable property enables an adaptable space which can be adjusted to the occupants’ different conditions.

Integration of Shading Device and Semi-Circle Horizontal Light Pipe Transporter for High-Rise Office Building in Tropical Climate

The blooming of a deep open plan in office buildings is accelerated due to economic profit reasons. This hinders the utilisation of daylight despite having abundance of daylight in tropical climate. Although a light pipe (LP) provides a means to illuminate the deep interior of the space, non-uniform daylight distribution still occurs due to the high illumination contrast across the room. The integration of a shading device (SD) in a room with an LP offers a solution to create a uniform daylight distribution. In this study, daylighting performances of 5 different types of an SD with different angles were analysed through a computer simulation software, namely Integrated Environment Solution Virtual Environment. The simulation was done using overcast and intermediate sky with sun conditions. The results showed that all SD cases improved the daylight uniformity across the room. A horizontal Venetian blind with an angle of +45o and −45o showed the best qualitative performance among all the cases. However, further shading and illumination are needed respectively to increase the potential daylight utilisation in an open plan office room. This study also concluded that a vertical Venetian blind did not provide a good daylight uniformity due to the vertical nature of the SD. A design recommendation guide for building designers is proposed at the end of this study to promote the integration of an SD and an LP in deep open plan high-rise office building.

Socialising Office Space: Flexibility through a layering of multiple programs in traditional office buildings.

<p>This design-research project explores extending the flexibility of a typical 1960s open-plan office building. Through the use of cross-programming, the building now works along a 24- hour timespan. Housing a co-working office, community space and a night shelter, the building models a more efficient use of office space within our central cities. A focus on the individual allows a meaningful connection to space and to others through parallel design interventions that operate as desks and as sleeping pods.</p>

Socialising Office Space: Flexibility through a layering of multiple programs in traditional office buildings.

<p>This design-research project explores extending the flexibility of a typical 1960s open-plan office building. Through the use of cross-programming, the building now works along a 24- hour timespan. Housing a co-working office, community space and a night shelter, the building models a more efficient use of office space within our central cities. A focus on the individual allows a meaningful connection to space and to others through parallel design interventions that operate as desks and as sleeping pods.</p>

USER EVALUATIONS OF CONTRAST-DOMINANT DISCOMFORT GLARE IN DIM DAYLIT SCENARIOS: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Discomfort glare metrics typically consider at least one of the two effects of discomfort glare - saturation and contrast - in their equation. The former occurs when there is an excessively bright glare source in the field of view, while the latter occurs when there is a high luminance ratio between the glare source and the adaptation level of the eye. We hypothesize that the contrast effect may dominate in low-light scenarios such as those commonly found in open-plan offices. Thus, we designed and carried out a user study in controlled laboratory conditions with 63 participants with a total of 252 scenes to investigate discomfort glare evaluations in dim daylight office environments with low adaptation levels. Our preliminary findings support our hypothesis that contrast-driven metrics predict glare responses in a more reliable way than hybrid metrics at low adaptation levels where the contrast effect dominates, which underlines the need for refining glare metrics in low brightness conditions.

Living in this space: Case studies of children's lived experiences in four spatially diverse early childhood centres

<p>Consistent with international trends, many children in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) spend the majority of their waking day in an early childhood centre [ECE]. Drawing on children’s and teachers’ perspectives in four spatially diverse, all-day ECE centres in NZ, this study investigated the relationship between ECE centre built environments and children’s lived experiences in light of characteristics of ‘child-friendly’ environments (Chatterjee 2005, Kennedy, 1991). Situated at the intersection of children’s geography and childhood sociology, this thesis used case-study methodology to foreground the experiential aspects of children’s spatial interactions, including their feelings of wellbeing and privacy, their mobility and social interactions. Conceptually, this study draws on a constructionist paradigm derived from Lefebvre’s (1991) theorisation of space as a product of the social-material relations, and from his notion of rhythmanalysis (2004); combining the two Lefebvrian concepts with Gibson’s (1979) theory of affordances provides a novel approach for understanding the agency of children and teachers in the process of the production of space. Research strategies were primarily ethnographic and included naturalistic observation, video records, child-led tours, photography, bookmaking, spatial mapping, focus groups, and measurement of noise levels. The findings revealed that space and its materiality matters for children’s lived experiences as well as for children’s and teachers’ agency. Opportunities for child-friendly lived experiences were influenced by the extent to which diverse rhythms and activities could coexist harmoniously in each physical space, with larger and more complex spaces offering greater affordances. The size of each centre’s activity space added a layer of dynamics to spatiality by narrowing or expanding these opportunities. Additionally, open-plan space afforded highly mobile younger children opportunities to exercise agency through collaboration. The rules and norms that governed children’s spatial practices were influenced by teachers' decisions and actions and these were enabled or constrained by spatial affordances. My findings suggest that, in addition to the ‘iron triangle’ of adult:child ratios, group size, and qualifications, space is an affordance that can create the conditions for quality practices, rich lived experiences, and teachers’ and children’s agency. A number of theoretical, conceptual and empirical contributions are made to our understandings of young children’s lives in group based ECE settings.</p>