Designing for wellbeing: realizing benefits for patients through best practice hospital design. The environmental design of healthcare facilities has been shown to directly affect the wellbeing of patients and their families. Poorly designed environments exacerbate patient anxiety and stress and diminish their healthcare experience. Environments designed to support a patient’s wellbeing result in improved health outcomes. Building upon Australia’s international leadership in contemporary hospita ....Designing for wellbeing: realizing benefits for patients through best practice hospital design. The environmental design of healthcare facilities has been shown to directly affect the wellbeing of patients and their families. Poorly designed environments exacerbate patient anxiety and stress and diminish their healthcare experience. Environments designed to support a patient’s wellbeing result in improved health outcomes. Building upon Australia’s international leadership in contemporary hospital design, this project aims to evaluate, prioritise and strategise the best means for realising benefits of environmental design factors that contribute most significantly to achieving positive outcomes for patients and families. It aims to achieve this through a comprehensive comparative case study analysis of new Australian paediatric hospitals.Read moreRead less
Play about Place: Expanding the impact of Creative Placemaking after COVID. This project aims to establish a new approach to placemaking through the development of urban play projects. The project expects to generate affordable and engaging experiences that activate existing public spaces, a typology and methodology for analysing the impacts of urban play, and a comparative study of urban play in Melbourne and Christchurch. Expected outcomes include creative placemaking strategies and projects, ....Play about Place: Expanding the impact of Creative Placemaking after COVID. This project aims to establish a new approach to placemaking through the development of urban play projects. The project expects to generate affordable and engaging experiences that activate existing public spaces, a typology and methodology for analysing the impacts of urban play, and a comparative study of urban play in Melbourne and Christchurch. Expected outcomes include creative placemaking strategies and projects, a connected impact study, and an industry resource for local government outlining our approach. This should provide significant benefits, including First Peoples storytelling experiences, city activation post-pandemic, community engagement, the potential to create jobs and provide economic and social benefit for Australia.Read moreRead less
Rational lateral-bracing design for steel-framed domestic structures. For the 150,000 new Australian houses built annually to remain safe, despite expected increases in structural loading due to climate change, rational design approaches are desperately needed. This project will provide the industry with the necessary tools to develop optimised and innovative solutions to brace houses for extreme events and yet maintain affordability.
Codesigning processes to improve technology service provision for aged care. This research investigates the learning and implementation of novel technologies applying a participatory approach with aged care residents. In partnership with Martin Luther Homes (a not-for-profit aged care provider) and The Brainary (an educational technology provider), we will co-design recommendations and innovative services that are necessary to enable strategic planning and technology uptake of residents. We cre ....Codesigning processes to improve technology service provision for aged care. This research investigates the learning and implementation of novel technologies applying a participatory approach with aged care residents. In partnership with Martin Luther Homes (a not-for-profit aged care provider) and The Brainary (an educational technology provider), we will co-design recommendations and innovative services that are necessary to enable strategic planning and technology uptake of residents. We create value through the shared goal orientation bringing use of technology in aged care and business together as a service. Co-creating processes exploring technologies with older adults will translate into residents receiving the support they need. We can expect to achieve better quality of care and equity in technology use. Read moreRead less
The design and construction of quality, sustainable and affordable pre-made housing in Australia - optimisation and integration. Historically, industrialised construction has resulted in an industrialisation of the parts, rather than an industrialisation of the ensemble. In contrast, this project will integrate architecture and engineering, as well as construction and development to optimise the ensemble, and deliver architectural quality in industrially produced affordable housing.
A new approach to structural design that incorporates the effect of non-structural components. The construction industry is a significant contributor to the Australian economy. Each year billions of dollars are spent erecting new high rise buildings. Further, Australian engineering firms bid on major construction projects throughout the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. The research described here promises to deliver economies to the Australian construction industry as well as e ....A new approach to structural design that incorporates the effect of non-structural components. The construction industry is a significant contributor to the Australian economy. Each year billions of dollars are spent erecting new high rise buildings. Further, Australian engineering firms bid on major construction projects throughout the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. The research described here promises to deliver economies to the Australian construction industry as well as equipping local firms involved in structural design to better compete for offshore work .
Community benefits will take the form of reduced construction costs and the capacity for a more complete and up to date knowledge of the structural performance and risk of aging assets, thereby increasing community confidence and safety.Read moreRead less
The sound of space: architecture for improved auditory performance in the age of digital manufacturing. This project will combine complex custom architectural surface design with acoustic modelling and simulation to look for novel solutions to the challenges of noisy interiors. It will apply digital modelling in new ways including the construction of high fidelity full scale prototypes for testing in an open office environment and a church.
Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. This project aims to research the design and performance of innovative biomimetic braced battered micropile group footings. This project will test Surefoot, the new concrete free footing, in the laboratory, in the field, and through numerical and analytical modelling. Surefoot’s mechanisms of action are poorly understood but clearly more complex ....Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. This project aims to research the design and performance of innovative biomimetic braced battered micropile group footings. This project will test Surefoot, the new concrete free footing, in the laboratory, in the field, and through numerical and analytical modelling. Surefoot’s mechanisms of action are poorly understood but clearly more complex than current micropile theory; this project will research the mechanism of load transfer from micropiles to the soil and soil response.Read moreRead less
Design guidelines for safety-critical controllers in high-risk environments. This project aims to generate novel product design guidelines for developing safer controllers for use by potentially stressed individuals in high-risk situations. It will do this by generating specific insights and verifying generalisable solutions from the context of total artificial heart recipients –who must engage with critical controllers constantly. This project expects to generate new knowledge in design by esta ....Design guidelines for safety-critical controllers in high-risk environments. This project aims to generate novel product design guidelines for developing safer controllers for use by potentially stressed individuals in high-risk situations. It will do this by generating specific insights and verifying generalisable solutions from the context of total artificial heart recipients –who must engage with critical controllers constantly. This project expects to generate new knowledge in design by establishing a new research topic around an under-examined user cohort. Expected outcomes of this project include interaction design theory developments and improved controller design techniques. This should provide significant benefits and competitive advantages by lowering stress and improving safety across a range of contexts.Read moreRead less
Fire resistance of complex light gauge steel framed wall systems. This project aims to investigate the thermal and structural behaviour of high-strength Light gauge Steel Framed (LSF) wall systems when exposed to fire, and develop a generic model for predicting fire resistance levels of all LSF wall systems. Plasterboard-lined LSF walls are increasingly used as cost-effective load-bearing walls in low and mid-rise buildings worldwide. This has required new wall designs with complex steel stud wa ....Fire resistance of complex light gauge steel framed wall systems. This project aims to investigate the thermal and structural behaviour of high-strength Light gauge Steel Framed (LSF) wall systems when exposed to fire, and develop a generic model for predicting fire resistance levels of all LSF wall systems. Plasterboard-lined LSF walls are increasingly used as cost-effective load-bearing walls in low and mid-rise buildings worldwide. This has required new wall designs with complex steel stud wall configurations, but their fire resistance is not understood. This project will provide validated fire resistance data and fire design methods for a proposed national Fire Design Handbook and steel design codes, enabling more widespread, safer use of these walls. This will benefit the Australian steel industry, the construction industry and the community.
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