Research Subject Area: Architecture

REF impact found 54 Case Studies

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2. Achieving Greener Building Services in Practice for Europe

Summary of the impact

The work described here has impacted on European policy and standards concerning energy efficiency in Building Services.

The impact arises from two Welsh School of Architecture led and European Commission funded projects, HARMONAC (focussed on inspection of air-conditioning systems) and iSERV (focussed on automatic system monitoring and feedback). These pan-European projects demonstrate achieved energy savings of up to 33% of total building electricity use in individual buildings, and potential savings up to €60Bn. These projects demonstrably impacted the recast European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the revision of EU Standards (European Committee for Standardisation (CEN)).

Submitting Institution

Cardiff University

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Building

Protecting Maritime and Coastal Heritage at home and overseas

Summary of the impact

A programme of research conducted by The Centre for Maritime Archaeology (CMA) at the University of Southampton has influenced, at a national and international scale, the management and protection of underwater and coastal heritage. The research has directly influenced public policy, nationally through the English Heritage Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Agenda, and internationally by underpinning primary legislation and current practice in Uruguay. Capacity building has resulted in new educational infrastructure, the Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage (CMAUCH) in Alexandria, Egypt, which has changed attitudes towards maritime heritage throughout the region.

Submitting Institution

University of Southampton

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
History and Archaeology: Archaeology

Archaeological Heritage Management in Austria

Summary of the impact

Bangor's research into Austrian archaeology has since 2008 resulted in significant impacts on Austrian archaeological heritage management, the archaeology labour market, and relationships between archaeologists and metal detectorists. Specifically, the National Heritage Agency (Bundesdenkmalamt; `NHA') has made significant changes to its policies, especially putting contracts to tender and introducing the first minimal standards for archaeological excavation, following a ministerial edict to change contract awarding practices. Recommendations on minimum salary levels for specific responsibilities in archaeological fieldwork have largely been adopted. The issue of how best to regulate metal detecting is being discussed on a national scale and attitudes towards detectorists are undergoing substantial change.

Submitting Institution

Bangor University

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture
History and Archaeology: Archaeology

Art as an agent for change in the work of Professor Lucy Orta

Summary of the impact

Professor Lucy Orta's work, is developed in creative partnership with Jorge Orta, as Lucy + Jorge Orta, and tackles global issues that affect all our lives. Their collaboration sets out to utilize art as an agent for awareness and change, with public dissemination aimed at triggering new thinking and action on issues related to sustainability. Their work has led to an enhanced public understanding of these issues and its impact is evidenced by high level commissions; partnerships with prestigious institutions; media coverage; audience figures; and public engagement activities.

Submitting Institution

University of the Arts London

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Built Environment and Design: Architecture

Climate Change Mitigation in the Built Environment

Summary of the impact

Research carried out at the University of Greenwich has explored issues surrounding sustainable living and climate change mitigation in existing buildings. The research identified the relationships between people and the built environment and developed a series of behavioural interventions to inform building users of the energy they were consuming and provide guidance on how this could be reduced. The socio-technical relationships were used in a public engagement programme to promote debate amongst the over-65s and the interventions by Registered Social Landlords to support behaviour change and reduce energy consumption in domestic buildings. The outputs have also been used to inform Social Housing policy development.

Submitting Institution

University of Greenwich

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Building, Other Built Environment and Design

Constructed Landform – A Design Vocabulary for New Rural Architecture

Summary of the impact

This impact relates to a body of practice-based research undertaken by Professor Graeme Hutton (since 2000) and centres on a single output, `The Shed' (2009), a 500m2 constructed residence and studio in rural Perthshire. The research has contributed to an advancement of thought and refinement of rural design practice internationally and locally. It has:

A. Informed a critical direction for professionals in architectural design relating to designing for predominantly landscape contexts

B. Informed wider society of the critical debate surrounding appropriate architectural designs for rural contexts

C. Established benchmark references for guiding planning and design judgements for sensitive rural locations

D. Transcribed this rural design research into the broader debate about architecture in the rural and urban built environment.

Submitting Institution

University of Dundee

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Design Practice and Management

Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Engagement

Summary of the impact

Dr Watson's research is concerned with the understanding of heritage as a cultural phenomenon and the ways in which this is represented in tourism and in public engagement. The research has focussed on a re-theorisation of issues such as visuality and representation in the public sphere of cultural and heritage tourism and the ways in which this is implicated in modalities of marketing, destination development and the community management of cultural heritage resources. He has sought opportunities to apply this thinking in the real experience of tourism management and marketing in the City of York, one of the world's foremost heritage tourism destinations.

Submitting Institution

York St John University

Unit of Assessment

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management 

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Curatorial and Related Studies

Arediou-Vouppes: Exploring a Rural Community in Late Bronze Age Cyprus

Summary of the impact

The Arediou Vouppes project has been examining a Late Bronze Age settlement in the Cypriot rural hinterland, specifically focusing on the archaeological characterisation of a little-known type of agricultural site. A key aspect of the project has been to promote a wider understanding of the value and relevance of the past (both recent and ancient) as a means of safeguarding the archaeological record for future generations through the encouragement of local engagement in the construction of narratives of cultural heritage. Our primary beneficiaries have been identified as members of the local Cypriot community at Arediou, although we have also sought to foster an improved sensitivity to community perspectives of `the past' from heritage custodians in Cyprus which will inform their practice.

Submitting Institution

University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

Unit of Assessment

Classics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture
History and Archaeology: Archaeology

Enhancing community engagement with the historic environment

Summary of the impact

Successive Scottish Governments, local authorities, statutory bodies and sector agencies have sought to address issues of community (re)engagement with their historic environment within community-building and place-making social agendas. Through History Tomorrow, our commercial history unit, we have been central to initiatives designed to restore property of the past to communities. Our major impact is with Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) projects like Prestongrange, Kilmun, and the Ochils Landscape Partnership (OLP), where community volunteers were trained and empowered to undertake their own research, thereafter becoming trainers themselves. Imparting such training skills to community volunteers restores a sense of possession of their `own' histories and effectively inculcates post-funding sustainability amongst them.

Submitting Institution

University of Stirling

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

‘Greening’ the conservation of ruined heritage sites using soft capping and ivy

Summary of the impact

The impact of this research has been to change architectural conservation practice to utilize plants as agents of conservation rather than remove them from ruins and other heritage sites. The impact stems from new scientific evidence based on integrated laboratory and field studies carried out at the School of Geography and the Environment in Oxford, by Professor Viles and her team, demonstrating that plants and other organic growths can be protective and contribute to successful and cost-effective conservation of heritage sites. The impact has been realised through close collaboration with English Heritage throughout the research process.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture

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