Modular sustainability within the landscape

This study will examine the ecological and creative potential of sustainable traditional and contemporary hard landscaping materials within the corporate, civic and domestic environment. It will focus on the commonalities and shared design issues which link the architect, landscape architect and the enthusiastic amateur, and how their collective response to sustainability are fundamentally interdependent. Satellite and aerial imagery of the earth reveal patterns of humanity in the form of structural fingerprints on the earth’s surface. At the click of a mouse one is able to zoom in on cities, intersecting highways, parks and factories etc and identify one’s own particular module in the global matrix. This is an unambiguous identifiable visual reference of our significance to the greater blueprint. The sustainability of materials is an intrinsic issue in the process of designing and planning urban landscapes and environments. Embodied energy and remanufactured materials are as significant to the design brief as aesthetic and commercial considerations. There is an array of inevitable practical and procedural concerns that affect both complicated and banal construction and design processes when sustainable materials are recognized and utilized. Car parking for example is an issue that connects the public in more ways than just the obvious. The effect of carpeting of the landscape with asphalt and the direct association with drainage and flooding have an impact on developments ranging from commercial complexes to domestic driveways. These common motifs are applicable to architects, designers and planners, in short, most constituents of property owning societies. The option of turning green to grey on the global blueprint is no longer credible. Complacency is the enemy of creativity. Through a selection of comparative case studies, examples of innovative initiatives and analysis of the role of education and community, the creative potential of restrictive and (paradoxically) liberating sustainable landscaping practices are recognized and discussed

Sustainable Urban Habitats: A study of the threads that connect design intentions to practical implementation

The absence of a shared definition of the variable that is sustainability is a volatile element in the multi factor equation known to us as the urban landscape. The sustainable infrastructure of our urbanised habitats is a fundamental matter for planners and architects et al, but this is often more of a theoretical concern than a practical application of innovative design implementation. The lack of a shared understanding of sustainable practices contributes to a reliance on conventional orthodoxies, and the ‘play it safe’ approach to the design of public spaces structurally and aesthetically. This study focuses on the methodological and creative threads that connect sustainable design concepts to their viable outcomes. The recent phenomenon of significant population growth within UK regional city centres has emphasised the demand for user-friendly ecologically enhanced public spaces. The synthesis of native species ecology and innovative utilisation of hard landscaping is a fundamental element in the establishment of the concepts of ownership and place. The successful employment of these concepts are debatable. The strands that link worthy sustainable architectural and planning design intentions to their seemingly logical conclusions are frayed, tangled and often severed. Through a selection of comparative case studies and examples of advanced initiatives this paper examines the causes of this entanglement and paradoxically also highlights the innovative capacity of reversing the existing ‘fixed mould of aesthetic convention’

Sustainable Urban Habitats: The Contributory Components of Viable Eco-Diverse Landscapes

This study examines the conceptual, ecological and structural elements that contribute to the development of sustainable urban habitats. It is argued that the establishment of genuinely sustainable urban environments has been hampered by the lack of a clear and agreed definition of sustainable practices amongst building professions. Whilst this militates against the synthesis of sustainable architectural and landscaping design methodologies, it also highlights the piecemeal adoption of sustainable design pedagogy within university design departments. With a few exceptions the embedding of sustainable design principles within design departments has been pedestrian. As a consequence this has contributed to the maintenance of fuzzy ideology and practices regarding sustainability within built environment professions. One of the more obvious manifestations of this phenomenon is the absence of creativity when amalgamating relevant native species, ecological diversity and landscaping materials within UK city centers. This can be traced directly to inconsistent pedagogical approaches when addressing ecological applications within the built environment. The paper reviews the threads that connect genuine aspirations for sustainable habitats within built environment professions and university design departments to their inevitable erratic outcomes. The fundamental association of the concepts of place and ownership and the creative application of pertinent eco-diversification are intrinsic to genuine sustainable cityscapes. This matter will not be resolved by tweaking the relevant frameworks and organizations. The ‘play it safe’ orthodoxies of existing professional anatomies and educational structures are not an option, what is needed is the fundamental re-design of the existing modes of practice. The paper will discuss how this is possible, cite institutional and commercial innovation, good practice and outline the potential for genuine sustainable urban habitats

Greening the Grey: The Design Outlook for Ecological Urban Sustainability

The compact city is deemed to be a sustainable city, by governmental agencies, stakeholders and vested interest constituents. Higher density living is seen as a desirable contribution to genuinely sustainable urbanity, the greater number of people, the richer the community; “urbanity is based on density”, urban sprawl in un-sustainable. Development of brown field sites is seen as key to accommodating the exponential rise in the urban population. Former industrial complexes are being ‘revitalized’ into domiciles, centres of commerce and recreation zones, but at what cost? This paper considers the impact of the transition from industrial to residential urban habitats and assesses the role of design in creating harmonious attachments to these developments for their inhabitants. It correspondingly examines the critical application of diverse ecologies in this process and the potential to establish notions of place and a more sustainable environment. The urban landscape is a trans-disciplinary design construct, the creation of ecologically diverse landscapes within brown field developments is an achievable goal, but the design rationale and application should be contextually plausible. These themes are evaluated and the design options reviewed, in the mission to build a more eco-diverse, human friendly, urban renewal design paradigm

Do Architects Draw Trees? – Shifting the Perception of Urban Landscape Form

Architects are beginning to embrace the notion of landscape and,moreover, to acknowledge the conceptual scope of a dynamic and creative synthesis of ecology and materiality. In so doing, the conception that architects could not (or should not) draw a tree, is being consigned to the landfill site of antiquated practice. There is an increasing acceptance amongst planners, urban designers and governments that the greening of urbanity is necessary to, and indicative of, a viable, sustainable future. However, whether or not the traditional design rationale (modernism) delivers the necessary innovative outcomes is open to question. The visual homogenization of urban developments within our cities is symptomatic of both hackneyed design orthodoxies and a tokenistic approach to sustainable practice. Advocates of ‘landscape urbanism’ (Waldheim, et al 2006) offer a more progressive supposition for change, such as the use of natural processes to engender ecological diversity. However, in reality the paradigm shift necessary for redefining the nature of ‘acceptable’ spatial and structural constituents, within urban developments, is a challenging process. The paper debates the proposition that traditional design values and practice contribute to the fragmented adoption of genuine sustainable ecological applications within the urban landscape. It contends that rather than enriching, civilizing and sustaining urbanity; the reliance on time-honoured practices contributes to the establishment of bland and fundamentally unsustainable public spaces. As the demarcation between landscape and architecture becomes less profound the role of ecology is also viewed as integral to ‘placeness’. The fusion of spatial form and ecology serves as a valuable addition to sustainable development. Whilst grass roofs and living walls are examples of this, a more proactive approach to bridging the cavity between the aspiration of greener urbanity and its successful implementation is urgently required. The complex or ‘wicked’ problems that hinder sustainable innovation have in part led to the reliance on unchallenged prevailing design traditions. For any urban development to maximise its claim to sustainability, architects, landscape designers and planners need to demonstrate a more dispassionate approach to implementing change

How will the sustainability aspiration of the 2007 constitution of Montenegro be realised in the developing architectural and urban form of the Boka Kotorska region?

This thesis examines the potential to establish a resilient model of urban development in the Boka Kotorska region of Montenegro (Figure. 1) against a backdrop of dynamic adjustment to economic models, urban form and the cultural identity of local communities. As such, it examines the role of vernacular architecture, ecologies and philosophies as a stimulus for a more indicative model of facilitating healthier ecosystems within a region that proclaims its ecological ambitions in its post independence constitution of 2007. Developers in the study appear to be quick to market the vernacular as a marker of sustainability based on tradition and supposed innate relationships with cultural heritage. However, the concept of vernacular is founded on its etymological origins, therefore open to interpretation, which can result in ambiguous depictions of vernacular architecture and landscapes within urban developments. The traditions and cultural heritage of Montenegro and by extension the Boka Kotorska is complex. Montenegro is geopolitically wavering between closer relationships with the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and historic connections with Serbia, Russia and the Eastern Orthodox religion. Additionally, Montenegro is a selfdeclared eco state, on the face of it committed to ecological values, but the objective of creating this will be compromised if the population is not empathetic to environmental objectives. Examining areas in transformation within the Boka region this thesis considers the reshaping of urban form and the consequential effect on cultural identity. Accordingly, the primary objective of this thesis is to examine the suitability of existing sustainable and resilience models to the long-term ecological health of the region. Additionally, a pragmatic and accessible sustainable development tool is initiated as a more culturally sensitive marker of ecosystem health. The Vernacular Ecology Index (VEI) is a newly designed assessment method for sustainable urban development. It is composed of five elements (energy, culture, systems, placeness and vernacular) that are indicative of the spirit of the subjective and objective within the context of the urban ecosystem. Within the components there are integrated indicators that aim to reflect and measure the viability of the individual element. When synthesized with their counterparts the index indicates strengths and areas in need of improvement within the designated study subject. Most importantly the index acts as a visual illustration of ecological progress as it is a critical intention to involve communities in the process of ecological appraisal, or put simply ‘mutual interaction’. One of the primary purposes of the Vernacular Ecosystem Index (VEI) tool is to establish networks of benchmark practice in order to stimulate feedback loops to complimentary regions, ultimately benefitting the broader bioregion. Applying the index to a number of projects in a stipulated locality effectively offers an overview of the urban ecosystem’s health that could potentially pinpoint ecological strengths and weaknesses of the identified region. If ecological values are to be embedded within the cultural experiences of local communities there should be a collective understanding of what that means regarding urban development. It is therefore a foundational aspect of this thesis to offer a more systematic approach to ecosystem health by identifying a model of system appraisal based on vernacular conceptual foundations

The Boka Kotorska: a vernacular response to sustainable urban environments

This study focuses on the development of the Boka Kotorska region of Montenegro. As such it attempts to analyse the viability of sustainable development in the region and considers the role of vernacular architecture and ecology as contributory factors. The development of the tourist industry within Montenegro is a key element within the overall strategy for economic growth. This has obvious implications for the urban development of the case study area as uncontrolled deregulated expansion threatens the future viability of attempts to create genuine environmentally sensitive planning policies. Accordingly, this study raises and discusses many of the issues faced by stakeholders in implementing innovative spatial and architectural development

Efficacy and Safety of Elective Switching from Intravenous to Subcutaneous Infliximab [CT-P13]: A Multicentre Cohort Study

BackgroundIntravenous [IV] infliximab is a well-established therapy for inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] patients. A subcutaneous [SC] formulation of infliximab [CT-P13] has recently been shown to be as effective as IV infliximab after two doses of IV induction in a randomised trial, but there are no data to support elective switching of patients on maintenance IV infliximab therapy. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of an elective switching programme to SC CT-P13 in patients treated with IV infliximab.MethodsPatients on established maintenance IV infliximab, who switched to SC CT-P13, were included in this retrospective multicentre cohort study. Disease activity was monitored serially with the Harvey-Bradshaw Index [HBI] for Crohn's disease [CD] and the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index [SCCAI] for ulcerative colitis (UC) for up to 12 months at months 3, 6, and 12. Faecal calprotectin [FC] and C-reactive protein [CRP] were recorded at baseline and follow-up, if available. Infliximab trough levels were measured prior to switch and at months 3, 6, and 12 following switch. The primary outcome measure was treatment persistence at latest follow-up. Secondary outcome measures included infliximab pharmacokinetics [PK], safety, need for corticosteroid rescue therapy, and need for surgery.ResultsWe included 181 patients, of whom 115 [63.5%] had CD. The majority [72.4%] were on 8-weekly dosing of intravenous infliximab prior to switching, and more than half [59.1%] were on concomitant immunomodulatory therapy. The majority of patients (CD: 106, 92.2%; UC: 46, 76.7%; and IBD unclassified [IBD-U]: 5, 83.3%) were in clinical remission. Treatment persistence rate was high [n = 167, 92.3%] and only 14 patients [7.7%] stopped treatment during the follow-up period. There was no significant difference between baseline and repeat measurements at 3, 6, or 12 months for HBI, SCCAI, CRP, or FC. Of the total cohort, 25 patients (13.8%) had perianal CD. Of these, only two patients [8%] had worsening of perianal CD and required antibiotic therapy and further examination under anaesthesia [EUA]. Both these patients also switched back to intravenous infliximab. Median infliximab level increased from a baseline of 8.9 µg/dl [range 0.4-16] to 16.0 µg/dl [range 2.3-16, p ConclusionsAmong patients on IV infliximab maintenance therapy switched to SC CT-P13, we observed high treatment persistence rates and low rates of immunogenicity, with no change in clinical disease activity indices or biomarkers. Infliximab levels increased after switch to SC CT-P13, and only ATI was associated with serum infliximab levels. Patient acceptance and satisfaction rates were high with SC CT-P13

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care