Sustainable architectural design of the Central Mediterranean

The climate of the central Mediterranean archipelago of Malta is characterised by hot dry summers and cold humid winters. For centuries, the architecture of these geoheritage islands, erected in the local limestone, has addressed the physical characteristics arising from the topography. This industrial mineral, the source of dimension stones for the building construction industry since time immemorial, is being depleted at a rapid rate. The Islands have a significant stock of buildings which, due to growing public awareness, development planning policies and central government initiatives for heritage protection, are being restored, conserved and re-used. This paper explores contemporary sustainable residential architecture completed in recent years in existing urban contexts from environmental, technical and financial perspectives. Adopting a holistic approach to architectural design, bioclimatic and passive considerations would enhance the environmental quality of the existing built environment. Integrating them in the redevelopment through modifications and extensions to existing buildings in order to meet contemporary habitable standards rather than demolishing and developing new residential developments proved to be a viable option from all three perspectives. The resulting sustainable design solution optimizes on energy and land resources through minimising the impact/s on the natural environs which future generations will be enjoying. In addition to having healthier interiors, a prerequisite for the human wellbeing of users, such an approach is financially more remunerative. Based on case studies, this study concludes that energy site sensitive environmental design decisions integrated in existing residential properties is a secure socio-economic investment in the built heritage. The re-designed modifications and extensions are not only sustainable in terms of thermal and natural lighting but also in terms of building materials and construction techniques.peer-reviewe

Beirut Arab University - Faculty of Architecture, Design & Built Environment Newsletter May, 2022

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Exploring the use of new school buildings through post-occupancy evaluation and participatory action research

This paper presents the results of the development and testing of an integrated post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach for teachers, staff, pupils and community members using newly constructed school buildings. It focusses on three cases of UK secondary schools, demonstrating how users can be inspired to engage with the problems of school design and energy use awareness. The cases provided new insights into the engagement of school teachers, staff and young people regarding issues of sustainability, management, functional performance and comfort. The integrative approach adopted in these cases provided a more holistic understanding of these buildings’ performance than could have been achieved by either observational or more traditional questionnaire-based methods. Moreover, the whole-school approach, involving children in POE, provided researchers with highly contextualised information about how a school is used, how to improve the quality of school experiences (both socially and educationally) and how the school community is contributing to the building's energy performance. These POE methods also provided unique opportunities for children to examine the social and cultural factors impeding the adoption of energy-conscious and sustainable behaviours

OUZAI ROAD SLUMSAN EXPLORATORY STUDY FOR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

The notion of health and wellbeing issues in urban areas has triggered genuine advances in research and applications striving to achieve valid sustainable outcomes for living environments. According to the 2017 UN Climate Change Conference held in Bonn, Germany, the world is becoming attentive to depending on sustainable policies and practices which are supported in several international environmental agreements and conferences that were initially held to tackle the issue of global warming, economy crisis and social equity. This research addresses one of the most compelling problems in Lebanon; informal settlements and the vice of sustainability and related health and wellbeing issues. The research focuses on Al-Ouzai area as a living example of all disintegrated realities in a residential dense settlement. This is an exploratory study that utilizes available secondary data and some primary ones based on observations done in 2017/18. The aim is to furnish a strong base for a future in-depth investigation in the area that is planned to take place in the following year through NCRS. The research utilizes a comprehensive SWOT analysis approach that covers the basic elements of sustainable development thus furnishing basis for future research and planning intervention in the area

Crafting knowledge exchange in the social science agenda

To any social science researcher the term “Knowledge Exchange” is a key buzzword in the academic community and wider society. In an article by Contandriopoulos, Lemire, Denis, and Tremblay (2010, p. 456) it was pointed out that knowledge exchange “rests on an implicit commonsense notion that this ‘knowledge’ must be evidence based”. This evidence, based within a social science context, relies upon two strands: theoretical data and empirical data. When examining the notion of Knowledge Exchange it becomes apparent that the concept has deep and meaningful connotations. These connotations have been driven by the involvements of the public and private sectors. Moreover, work carried out by Benneworth and Cunha (2015, p. 509) concludes that higher education institutions’ involvement in knowledge exchange “remains dynamic and influenced by universities” own strategic choices and relationships’. Traditionally, universities have had two key missions: to teach undergraduate/postgraduate students and to undertake research. Striukova and Rayna (2015, p. 488) have recently observed that universities now have a third mission, “knowledge exchange”, and that knowledge exchange plays a vital “integral part of the mix, without which the other two missions cannot run successfully.” Knowledge exchange is also a fundamental feature of “sustainable communities” (Powell, 2013) through the partnerships between HEIs and communities by which they serve. This is a point we will return to

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DESIGNING HEALTHIER KIDS’GARDENS: IN TRIPOLI, LEBANON

Nowadays, cities are human’s dominant habitat. Green spaces should be considered during city planning, since researchers indicate that gardens have positive effects on human health and wellbeing. This paper aims to ameliorate the physical health of kids as a main concern, which will consequently enhance their mental health. It also investigates different green spaces, especially public gardens, located in Tripoli, Lebanon. This paper uses observation, designed questionnaire and direct interviews to analyze the current condition of one of the city’s gardens that is devoted mainly for kids.The outcome of this paper is a list of recommendations for having healthier gardens and community in the future

ARCHITECTURE AGAINST CRIME

The accelerated development in the industry of weapons has reshaped the human behaviors, which led to spreading of wars and terrorism. Since World War I, homeless people could not live without making crimes as a source of income. Residential compounds, private proprieties, and public projects have become attraction points magnetizing robbers. Consequently, architects have realized the importance to use design strategies reducing crimes. The scale of crime prevention is varied to cover a single building or a group of buildings. This paper proposes awareness-guidelines for \u27architecture against crime\u27 to be considered before setting the urban design of residential compounds in particular. It is a qualitative research based on a theoretical approach defining the meaning of crime then presenting a literature review highlighting previous architectural attempts in crime prevention. After that the paper deducts specific criteria for reducing crimes in the residential compounds. These criteria will be examined through analyzing three public housing projects; (WOES Public Housing in New York City, Sejong Public Housing Development, Sejong City, South Korea, and Abode at Great Kneighton Cambridge Shire Housing Project, Cambridge, UK). These case studies have been selected for implying certain urban treatments and elements that urban designers provided to reduce crimes. This analysis ends with a comparison between the case studies to conclude general guidelines that can be used as a formal code in the urban design of housing projects. Finally, the paper sets a group of conclusions to be a warning alarm provoking architects and urban designers to think firstly and before anything in life safety

MONITORING DAILY MOBILITY PATTERNS FOR UNIVERSITYSTUDENTS USING GPS TRACKING: TRIPOLI AS A CASE STUDY

Due to the current rapid growth of cities and technology, younger generations are spending more time in vehicles for their daily trips from home to various destinations, including their educational facilities. It is important to understand how people are using these spaces, and measuring this ‘understanding’ would need to consider a huge number of factors. This paper aims to help understand the pattern of movements in Tripoli city by monitoring Beirut Arab University students for a defined period of time using a GPS tracking method, and then comparing it with the spatial configuration of the city. This preliminary pilot study will raise awareness of the habits and methods of movement among the youth – either their use of mobile vehicles or their walking habits. This awareness is essential information that would help decision-makers in establishing appropriate future socio-health plans for the younger generation. The study shows huge variations in mobility and activity behaviour between genders, in terms of the distances covered, the speed of movements, the time spent in vehicles and the locations. In addition, the pattern of movements shows different degrees of correlation with the spatial configuration of Tripoli city in Lebanon