The Centre for Subtropical Design - a Collaboration Between a Local Government Authority and a University (original) (raw)
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The historic South East Queensland Regional Plan 2005-2026 (Plan) is a statutory response to managing growth in one of Australia's fastest-growing regions. It seeks to maintain a prosperous liveable community and a sustainable environment. The vision includes the statement 'development is sustainable, well designed, and the subtropical character of the region is recognised and reinforced'. The explicit inclusion of the subtropical aspect with sustainability in the regional planning agenda, ensures recognition of appropriate design for climate as a highly relevant planning issue that cannot be ignored. The plan identifies thirteen principles to guide subtropical planning. These principles demonstrate that recognition of the region's subtropical character is not just an issue which relates to building design, or even to the design of neighbourhoods but permeates all aspects of the SEQ environment and affects all aspects of human settlement within that environment. It i...
Faced with global warming, Australia aims to wean itself from mechanical approaches to cooling homes. Cities are searching for passive solutions to residential development. These involve the use of porches, basements, natural ventilation, tree shading and the like. In 2016, the Brisbane City Council introduced the New World City Design Guide: Buildings that Breathe (BtB), a non-binding policy document to guide new development in a subtropical climate. The aim of this study was to establish the effectiveness of BtB on overall development outcomes in Brisbane. We found that development applications received after the implementation of the BtB policy incorporated more subtropical design elements than those applications received before the policy. However, overall designers and developers had responded poorly to subtropical design guidance due to various path dependencies. We conclude that discretionary and flexible planning may not be in the public interest in the present era of climate emergency.
City Designed for Subtropical Living - Carrying forward the momentum from Subtropical Cities 2006
At a time when cities around the world are increasingly looking and feeling the same, and similarly adding to mounting environmental crises, the Subtropical Cities conference hosted by the Centre for Subtropical Design in Brisbane a few months ago generated keen enthusiasm for ways subtropical environments can produce new models for urbanism and address the problems of the contemporary city. Subtropical Cities was characterised by a genuine sense of excitement about how, in the subtropics, we can plan and design urbanism that is enriched by commitment to local distinctiveness through attention to climate, cultural values and landscape. The conference confirmed that if we are to face the challenges of today and the future, we need a framework that accommodates complexity and diversity. Invaluable micro-tactics and subtle incremental changes which dwell on amenity and liveability are necessary; not the tallest, not the biggest, not the most spectacular! Such excesses are easily achieved!
A taste for place: The cultivation of an audience for climate-responsive architecture in Queensland
Proceedings of the Twenty First Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand, A Moulis and Deborah van der Plaat (eds), State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, July 2011., 2011
The architecture in Queensland, uniquely in Australia, has long been understood in terms of climate. Historically seen as a solution to the problem of heat, local buildings have been framed (by the present day historian rather than the nineteenth-century architect) in terms of site-specific technical amelioration rather than art. In the present day however, this situation has reversed: the local climate is now highly valued in terms of lifestyle and cultural capital, with a corresponding rise in the taste for and perceived artistic value of ‘regionalist’ architecture. Documenting the shifting values attached to ideas of climate and art in both the late-nineteenth and early twenty-first centuries, and architecture’s often changing relationship to these, the paper seeks to demonstrate not only the limitations of such climate-centric readings but the cultural logic that often underpins them. Two comparative ‘flagship’ projects, GHM Addison’s New Exhibition Building of 1891, commissioned by the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association; and the Queensland Art Gallery’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) project, completed in late 2006, will provide the focus for this discussion. Examining the institutional framing of climate, art and industry in each building, the paper argues for the need to understand the regional-specificity of Queensland architecture as a matter of public policy, a state attempt to train an audience and taste for architecture in and of Queensland. Considering these issues, the paper outlines the ambitions, scope and methods of the ARC Discovery research project, ‘The Cultural Logic of Queensland Architecture: Place, Taste, and Economy.’
Principles of Subtropical Design for Detached Houses
2005
This report records the findings of a research project aimed to develop principles for the design of the detached house and its site, appropriate to a subtropical lifestyle. ... The Centre for Subtropical Design, a partnership between QUT and the Brisbane City Council, QUT students and the ...
Subtropical Queensland: Climatic Diversity and Appropriate Design Responses
Climate zones are defined using a variety of criteria, depending on the purpose. The Bureau of Meteorology has broadly divided Australia into six climate zones (equatorial, tropical, subtropical, desert, grassland, temperate) based on the dry-bulb temperature and humidity. However, these climate classifications are too general to be adopted for climate design strategies. Designing a built environment need more precise information on sky conditions, rainfall and wind, apart from temperature and humidity, necessitating a rigorous climate analysis. Microclimatic characters can not be overlooked, as their influence in built environment has been well established. This paper explores the climate diversity observed in " subtropical " Queensland with the case studies of Mackay, Rockhampton and Brisbane which belong to the climate zone two of the Building Code of Australia (BCA). Climate data has been retrieved from the website of Bureau of Meteorology, Australia. This data is then used for detailed climate analysis in order to make recommendations for each city based on their climate. Mackay experiences hot and humid condition for majority of the period. Higher cooling requirement in Mackay necessitates the use of wind movement to achieve comfort condition. Building orientation should facilitate wind flow inside the building most of the time while allowing solar access in winter. Rockhampton is hot and humid during summer; however, heating and cooling requirements throughout the year are almost equal. Building structure should respond to the large temperature swing to maintain comfortable indoor condition. Evening cooling breezes along with thermal mass can ensure comfort condition for Rockhampton. Brisbane experiences hot and humid summer. Total heating requirements outweigh cooling requirement in a year. Winter solar exposure need to be ensured, similarly, summer cooling breezes need to be incorporated in design.
Climate responsive design strategies for Sydney Metropolitan Region
Australia has got a very diverse climate conditions. The diversity is huge, given that even in a city scale, distance from the nearby sea modifies the microclimate of each place. This paper will present climate studies of four different locations (Sydney, Bankstown, Camden and Penrith) within Sydney Metropolitan Region. The study will use climate data from Bureau of Meteorology, Australia. Climate analysis tools such as Building Bioclimatic chart, Mahoney tables and wind roses are used to understand the climate and to formulate strategies for planning and building design. This study shows that the diurnal temperature range is larger at the location far from the nearby coast. The wind directions and speed are varied from one place to another with reduced wind speed towards inland locations. Building design strategies, which consider climate features, such as orientation, building structure, windows and ventilation, shading, location of outdoor spaces and courtyard options, are discussed in detail in this paper.
Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, 2002
Research is carried out in the form of a survey, which attempts to explore and demonstrate the approach of architects to climate responsive building design practice in South-East Queensland. The hypothesis for the survey is to identify if architects take climate responsive design (CRD) principles into consideration during the design stage of a project. Results indicate that architects understand the importance of designing in response to the environment; they value CRD as important and believe that CRD strongly contributes to good design; there will be a need for specialised consultants for largescaled projects to aid in dealing with sustainable ideas. However, there is a decline in the commitment from beginning to the end of the project and they believe that the main hindrances are the client (budgetary constraints, lack of understanding) and Town Planning rather than their own lack of understanding. They also think that clients must be educated in how to maintain climate responsive processes of the building.