Intergenerational park design for active and engaged communities. This project will assess the opportunities and barriers for physical activity for intergenerational park users within South East Queensland. In 2015, approximately 80% of the world’s adolescents and 25% of adults were insufficiently active. Physical inactivity costs the Australian economy $13.8 billion annually, and contributes to the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Local and neighbourhood parks can offer opportunities fo ....Intergenerational park design for active and engaged communities. This project will assess the opportunities and barriers for physical activity for intergenerational park users within South East Queensland. In 2015, approximately 80% of the world’s adolescents and 25% of adults were insufficiently active. Physical inactivity costs the Australian economy $13.8 billion annually, and contributes to the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Local and neighbourhood parks can offer opportunities for all ages to be physically active and engage across generations, yet are often under-designed and under-utilised for physical activity. Evidence-based design guidelines for active intergenerational parks for use across Australia will lead to higher quality parks that more effectively encourage physical activity and improve health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Equity and diversity in the Australian architecture profession: women, work, and leadership. This project will develop strategies to maximize women's participation in architecture, improving human resource practices within architectural firms and developing a diversity policy for the national professional association. Together these outcomes will increase women's representation within architecture, and help all architects achieve a greater work life balance with its concomitant effects of improv ....Equity and diversity in the Australian architecture profession: women, work, and leadership. This project will develop strategies to maximize women's participation in architecture, improving human resource practices within architectural firms and developing a diversity policy for the national professional association. Together these outcomes will increase women's representation within architecture, and help all architects achieve a greater work life balance with its concomitant effects of improving individual health, wellbeing and national productivity. Increasing the visibility and recognition of female architects will directly support innovative practice in architecture, which will advantage all attempts to create socially and ecologically sustainable built environments in Australia.Read moreRead less
Assimilation of architectural and services design in early design modelling. How can buildings in a climate as varied as Australia's balance the best environmental comfort standards for their human occupants, cost and at the same time meet the urgent imperative of reduced energy consumption and associated carbon emissions? This practice-based research will develop tools to support more informed decision making in the earliest stage of an integral approach to services in the design of buildings. ....Assimilation of architectural and services design in early design modelling. How can buildings in a climate as varied as Australia's balance the best environmental comfort standards for their human occupants, cost and at the same time meet the urgent imperative of reduced energy consumption and associated carbon emissions? This practice-based research will develop tools to support more informed decision making in the earliest stage of an integral approach to services in the design of buildings. It will provide knowledge about designing architecture that is more environmentally responsive, can provide comfortable air in more optimised ways, that consume less energy and do this through promoting smarter use of information in practice.Read moreRead less
Making better decisions about built assets: learning by doing. This research will assist the built environment professions and their clients to make better decisions about new developments through a novel 'learning by doing' approach. Used successfully in other fields such as natural resource management, this idea will capitalise on the large number of asset investments undertaken to benchmark original stakeholder intentions and aspirations against the reality of current performance. Decisions w ....Making better decisions about built assets: learning by doing. This research will assist the built environment professions and their clients to make better decisions about new developments through a novel 'learning by doing' approach. Used successfully in other fields such as natural resource management, this idea will capitalise on the large number of asset investments undertaken to benchmark original stakeholder intentions and aspirations against the reality of current performance. Decisions will be re-evaluated in the context of contemporary economic, social and environmental criteria to enable existing multi-criteria models to deliver more sustainable outcomes that are also feasible and in the national interest, and consequently minimise the industry's current exposure to future climate change.Read moreRead less
Strategic Assessment of Building Adaptive Reuse Opportunities. This research will review a large database of existing buildings, many of which have exceeded their useful life. An innovative model will be developed to enable Australia's building and property industries to identify the most viable opportunities for building adaptive reuse. The model will integrate financial, environmental and social sustainability, enabling community stakeholders to make informed decisions with widespread benefits ....Strategic Assessment of Building Adaptive Reuse Opportunities. This research will review a large database of existing buildings, many of which have exceeded their useful life. An innovative model will be developed to enable Australia's building and property industries to identify the most viable opportunities for building adaptive reuse. The model will integrate financial, environmental and social sustainability, enabling community stakeholders to make informed decisions with widespread benefits. The research is aligned with the national priority area: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia: Transforming Existing Industries. The expertise developed in this project will be regionally and internationally applicable, providing momentum for the growing adaptive design and conservation market.Read moreRead less
Carbon neutral communities: making the transition. This project has well defined National benefits, both economic and social, for the collaborative partners, the business community, policy makers, community groups and the broader Australian community. It contributes toward NRP 1, through developing practical measures for reducing GHG emissions in Australian urban areas, and strategies for overcoming barriers to greater uptake of energy efficiency and alternative technologies; and helping Austra ....Carbon neutral communities: making the transition. This project has well defined National benefits, both economic and social, for the collaborative partners, the business community, policy makers, community groups and the broader Australian community. It contributes toward NRP 1, through developing practical measures for reducing GHG emissions in Australian urban areas, and strategies for overcoming barriers to greater uptake of energy efficiency and alternative technologies; and helping Australia to meet its greenhouse reduction targets. The project economic benefits to through energy savings; stimulating innovation in urban design, building design and transport use; promoting new business opportunities; and encouraging more sustainable lifestyle decisions. Read moreRead less
Repurposing urban construction waste to create diverse wildflower meadows. Wildflower meadows have been planted extensively in European cities for aesthetic and biodiversity benefits. In SE Australia, they are stunning, but rare, features of critically endangered grassy woodlands because most native wildflowers cannot cope with intense grazing and high soil nutrients associated with agriculture. This project aims to develop a novel process for establishing native wildflower meadows in urban park ....Repurposing urban construction waste to create diverse wildflower meadows. Wildflower meadows have been planted extensively in European cities for aesthetic and biodiversity benefits. In SE Australia, they are stunning, but rare, features of critically endangered grassy woodlands because most native wildflowers cannot cope with intense grazing and high soil nutrients associated with agriculture. This project aims to develop a novel process for establishing native wildflower meadows in urban parks and degraded grassy woodlands by repurposing low nutrient mineral waste from the construction industry. It will have multiple benefits including restoring urban biodiversity, increasing people's mental well-being, developing new markets for recycled construction waste and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. Read moreRead less
Designing Learning Spaces for Diversity, Inclusion and Participation. This project aims to provide evidence-based guidance on how to design and/or modify mainstream schools to make it easier for students with disabilities to participate. It seeks to inform architects, educators, and policy makers about disabled students' spatial requirements and to develop strategies and tools to support the process of co-designing schools with people with lived experience of disability. The outcomes will includ ....Designing Learning Spaces for Diversity, Inclusion and Participation. This project aims to provide evidence-based guidance on how to design and/or modify mainstream schools to make it easier for students with disabilities to participate. It seeks to inform architects, educators, and policy makers about disabled students' spatial requirements and to develop strategies and tools to support the process of co-designing schools with people with lived experience of disability. The outcomes will include an inclusive learning spaces design framework. This is expected to benefit all students' access and meaningful involvement in learning through the development of more inclusive learning spaces. The research is significant because it integrates previously dissociated knowledge from architecture, education and health.Read moreRead less
Lifetime Affordable Housing in Australia: Integrating environmental performance and affordability. Existing dwellings and the locations of suburban housing with respect to employment centres result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Water and other environmental issues are also important in housing performance, and there is currently a perceived trade-off between these factors and the affordability of housing. For the first time in Australia, this study will focus on overcoming this appare ....Lifetime Affordable Housing in Australia: Integrating environmental performance and affordability. Existing dwellings and the locations of suburban housing with respect to employment centres result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Water and other environmental issues are also important in housing performance, and there is currently a perceived trade-off between these factors and the affordability of housing. For the first time in Australia, this study will focus on overcoming this apparent policy dilemma. The research will inform future housing policy in strengthening Australia's economic and social fabric, while contributing towards Australia's National Research Priority 1 'Environmentally Sustainable Australia'. Outcomes will provide significant national economic, social, water use and greenhouse gas benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Putting death in its place. The project aims to link 890,000 population records to place of residence from 1838 to 1930, to examine the relationships between where people live, mortality, life expectancy and health. Where people live impacts their life-course outcomes. Using novel matching techniques, the project expects to identify intergenerational changes and the spatial dynamics of inequality and social mobility. Expected outcomes include the creation of a public resource of linked data and ....Putting death in its place. The project aims to link 890,000 population records to place of residence from 1838 to 1930, to examine the relationships between where people live, mortality, life expectancy and health. Where people live impacts their life-course outcomes. Using novel matching techniques, the project expects to identify intergenerational changes and the spatial dynamics of inequality and social mobility. Expected outcomes include the creation of a public resource of linked data and a better understanding of long-run health and inequality. These should provide economic and social benefits by informing policy aimed at contemporary social and health challenges, enhancing our understanding of Australian history, and developing public resources.Read moreRead less