Sustainable Design in an Urban Infill Development: A Case Study of the Studio at Cambridge Department of Architecture
Catherine Martin
Sustainable Design in an Urban Infill Development: A Case Study of the Studio at Cambridge Department of Architecture
| The built environment is responsible for 50% of CO2 emissions in the UK; and constructing, habiting and maintaining an increasingly urban society creates a vast drain on natural resources and large waste streams. Urban infill is one approach to minimisation of the physical and energy footprint of cities, but densification has historically led to adverse social effects. Good design of urban infill developments will achieve an efficient balance between the environmental and social impacts of urbanisation. A Post Occupancy Evaluation of the studio extension to the Department of Architecture’s environmental and energy performance, combined with a perception study of important stakeholders, shows that the design and approach to this building are successful in reducing overall energy consumption and provide users with a satisfactory working environment. Further research is required to determine how energy consumption and use of space can be made more efficient, and recommendations are made to the Department for improvements that can be made to the performance and management of the Studio in the short and long term. |
Subject: