Design Yearbook 2017

MSc in Sustainable Buildings and Environments (SBE)
Neveen Hamza
Contributors: Alan J Murphy, Barry Rankin, Halla Huws, Hassan Hemida, Ivan Marquez Munoz, Liam Haggarty, Richard Allenby, Paul Yeomans
MSc students in SBE use building and urban performance simulation tools and a deeper understanding of building physics to underpin their
architectural design approaches. This academic year we were joined by students from the MArch and MAAPL-D route. The students worked on
three live projects with their estates departments and Newcastle City Council. They engaged with a number of well-established professionals in
the field.
The Engineering Excellence Quarters in Newcastle University Campus studies: we were asked by the University to start looking at massing ideas for
the project to maximize capturing the sustainability aspects of the site. Students looked into the environmental impacts (such as wind speed and
shadowing studies) on pedestrians and how different massing ideas could lead to a unified campus where pedestrian movement is facilitated and
the natural environment is moderated.
The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle: working closely with the Estate Department to improve the 1960’s building. The occupants complain from
drafts in winter and overheating and less effective natural ventilation in the wards year round. The project addressed possibilities of aesthetic
improvements, and insertions of social interaction spaces while moderating the indoors climate using building performance simulations. Students
also expanded their explorations to look at climate change scenarios and environmental architectural concepts can prevent the need for cooling.
Fisherman’s Lodge in Jesmond Dene: the students presented design proposals for the public consultation that was managed by English Heritage
and Newcastle City Council. Fisherman’s Lodge has been derelict for over ten years and ideas for its revival and extensions into various possible
functions were introduced to the council to help them build ideas of potential usage. Building and urban performance simulation were used to
maximize the sustainability potential of the projects and underpin design decisions in such a dark and historic valley.
182 Top -Wuxia Zhang Bottom - Lwigina Ramirez Castillo