Professor Henrik Shoenefeldt
BETWEEN HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABILITY: RESTORING THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
Professor Henrik Schoenefeldt is leading a large research project on the environmental history and heritage of the Palace of Westminster, started in 2016. A primary objective of this research is to provide a detailed and critical understanding of how environmental and technical considerations, such as ventilation, lighting, climate control and fire safety, have influenced the original design of the Palace of Westminster. This in turn informs the restoration and renewal programme of the Palace, demonstrating how academic research can be applied in practice
The documentary film ‘Preserving the Palace’ (2019) offers an introduction to the research and the manner in which it has fed into the work of the restoration and renewal programme over the first three years of his secondment. Link to the film can be found here:
The research has yielded various academic publications, including the book Rebuilding the Houses of Parliament – David Boswell Reid and Disruptive Environmentalism.
Professor Marialena Nikolopoulou
SOLUTIONS FOR OUTDOOR CLIMATE ADAPTATION (SOLOCLIM)
This is a European Industrial Doctorate project funded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, to enables young researchers to generate solutions for urban outdoor environments.
Projections show that urbanisation could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050 and the cumulative effect of all the negative urban climate impacts of urbanisation such as the occurrence of urban heat islands as well as distinctive wind patterns in cities create discomfort and health risks. As cities create their own climates, the solutions to these problems are to be found in the (re-)design of cities.
SOLOCLIM develops solutions from small scale around buildings to a larger neighbourhood/city scale and test their effects. SOLOCLIM trains experts in this field and offers training for advanced climate responsive design that will be offered to the PhD students as well as some parts to a broader community and beyond the duration of the project.
Nick von Behr (PhD candidate)
TECHNICAL STANDARDS, NOVEL MATERIALS AND BUILDING DESIGN
This thesis examines sixteen example historic buildings in three modern metropolises: Ile-de-France/Paris, Lille Metropole and Brussels. These buildings were constructed using (at least partially) novel reinforced concrete and cement materials-systems. Early technical standards for these novel materials-systems included new industrial patents, building requirements and technical guidance. These were applied using prior technical knowledge about iron and steel components, as well as economic imperatives for more fire-resistant structures and better sunlit interiors. There were also social and political demands for better air circulation, greater hygiene and more affordable housing. The thesis considers all of these factors in determining key relationships between technical and aesthetic drivers in historic building design.