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The rapid increase of rates of change, disruptive events, risk and uncertainty increasingly threaten the long-term utilisation of hospital buildings. This challenge calls for an evolution in the lifecycle thinking that has always been integral to the hospital building design processes; or an approach that is termed 'future proofing'. Yet the implementation of future proofing as an emerging design requirement is impeded by lack of holistic understanding of the concept, and clarity about its objectives. As such, this research aims to provide a conceptualisation of future proofing via a taxonomic hierarchy. We interviewed sixteen experienced hospital architects from leading consultant firms across Australia to explore their general perceptions, and implementation in practice, of future proofing. The semi-structured interviews were informed by and indeed tested a theoretical model of future proofing previously constructed via literature review and were analysed and validated via thematic analysis and member checking. Our findings align theoretical understanding with hospital architects' practice-based perceptions and experiences of future proofing; elucidating future proofing as a dynamic meta-capability involving a multi-purpose hierarchy. Accordingly, a hierarchical integrated model of future proofing in practice was developed based on three axes (Survive, Evolve and Thrive), respectively defining three sets of spectrums with two extremes ranging from passivity to activity (Resilience-Mitigation, Maintainability-Improvement, and Changeability-Transition). While in previous research future proofing has been oversimplified and perceived largely in terms of adaptability, our findings support a more expansive definition of future proofing that includes various lifecycle design considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a combined method -- survey and semi-structured interviews -- to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of digital design environments for supporting architects' sustainable design practices. In most contemporary firms, architects' sustainable design aspirations are reliant on the use digital design tools and associated computational platforms. Past research, however, suggests that a level of uncertainty exists about whether these tools and platforms are sufficient for this purpose. To investigate this issue in an Australian context, architects were invited to take part in an online survey to identify general trends and perceptions, leading to a series of semi-structured interviews, to analyse the issues in detail. The survey results (n = 70) suggest that despite considering sustainable design an important objective in their design practice, participants believe that digital design tools require further development and improvement. Detailed interviews (n = 15) then identified specific factors affecting the usefulness of digital design tools. These results enhance our understanding of Australian architects' experiences using digital design tools. It also contributes to improving the tools that support sustainable design practices throughout the architectural, engineering and construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines the role of Daniel Dering Mathew in the early architectural history of Australia and his recognition as the country's first trained architect. Topics discussed include Mathew's upbringing and his educational background, his work in Great Britain, a problem on his design of a Palladian-style courthouse and the conclusion.

• Transformative change is needed in landscape practice to enhance its climate agency. • Little is known about the barriers and facilitators of designing for climate change. • Insights from Australian practitioners highlight lack of agency as a key barrier. • Transformation in structures and systems of decision-making processes is needed. • Improved advocacy, engaging with policy and collaboration advance designers' agency. The way we plan and design our landscapes, infrastructure, and cities has to transform if we want to meet the needs of our society and address climate change without breaching the earth's ecological boundaries. Landscape architects are known as environmental stewards. They are trained to create a balance between the built and natural environments. However, landscape architects' agency to lead climate change actions is restricted. Little is known about the barriers to addressing climate change in landscape architectural practice, and the levers to increase landscape architects' agency in climate change leadership. This paper addresses this gap through an in-depth empirical analysis of barriers and facilitators of climate change action from the perspective of landscape architecture professionals. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 practitioners from Australia. The results show that those interviewed perceived the profession had limited agency and influence in leading climate decisions. Other barriers exist and are grouped against the three spheres of transformation: 1) design implementation barriers influencing the built outcomes (practical); 2) structures and systems barriers influencing the design decision-making processes (political); and 3) socio-cultural barriers including values, ideologies, and beliefs (personal). The most restricting barriers that emerged were those related to limited project budget and timeframes, informational and technological aspects (access to reliable data, tools, and skillsets), as well as those related to political systems and structures in place (regulations, and design standards). Key facilitators to address existing barriers are identified, including creating awareness through practice and advocacy, active involvement of professionals in all life stages of projects, especially in planning and policy creation, and closer collaborations with other built environment sectors beyond sub-consultancy. The findings can pave the way towards increased agency and impact of the profession to bring climate change agendas to the forefront of landscape design practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

That architects leave the profession is something that seems ‘known’. In addition, there has been continuous concern that women in particular leave. However, the extent of departure is unclear. Much of the information around these observations come from surveys, is anecdotal or study women in isolation from men. This paper provides some firmer data on the movement of men and women into and out of the profession using Australia as a case study. It collates and analyses historical and contemporary data to delineate the complex patterns of participation in and leaving of architecture. While the sources of data are often limited and approximate, this analysis nonetheless highlights a number of factors affecting the tenure of architects in their profession. The economy is an obvious factor and the data mirrors the economic fate of the country. The paper firmly demonstrates that gender is a factor with a strong impact on leaving the profession – a movement that clearly adversely affects the diversity of the profession. A further factor in leaving is age, which interacts with gender: women begin to leave when young and men when older. Diversity is increasingly proving to be an important factor in the ability of an organisation or a profession to survive, let alone meet, the challenges and opportunities of the globalised twenty-first century. The paper concludes with a plea for better data sources to better clarify how, and to what extent, biases nudge many architects out of the profession. Understanding the extent and nature of these biases helps the formulation of tactics to foster greater diversity to engender a more resilient profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dr Margaret Anne Feilman (OBE) (1921–2013) was one of Western Australia’s most notable and influential planners. With qualifications in architecture and planning, she pioneered an approach to town design that integrated the built form with the natural environment. Her work resulted in,inter alia, the establishment of innovative residential neighbourhoods across Western Australia. Over her 34 year professional career she subscribed to many of the philosophies of the New Town Movement, but also recognised the need to adapt British planning solutions to the Australian social, economic and environmental context. She was an advocate of individualised and situational planning and of incorporating community values and concerns. She also fiercely argued that planning schemes needed to be realistic in their scope and take account of the resources and needs of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of trees in urban environments can mitigate outdoor thermal stress. Growing global urban population and the risk of heatwaves, compounded by development driven urban warmth (the urban heat island), means more people are at risk of heat stress in our cities. Effective planning of urban environments must minimise heat-health risks through a variety of active and passive design measures at an affordable cost. Using the Solar and Longwave Environmental Irradiance Geometry (SOLWEIG) model and working within the bounds of current urban design, this study aimed to quantify changes in mean radiant temperature ( T mrt ) from increased tree cover at five different 200 × 200 m urban forms (including compact mid-rise development, residential and open grassy areas) within a suburb of Adelaide, Australia during summer. Following a successful validation of SOLWEIG, street trees were strategically distributed throughout each of the five urban forms and the model run over five warm sunny days (13–17 February 2011). Results showed spatially averaged daytime (7:30–20:00) T mrt reduced by between 1.7 °C and 5.1 °C at each site, while under peak heating conditions (16 February, 14:00) T mrt reduced by between 2.0 °C and 7.1 °C. The largest reduction in T mrt under peak warming conditions was at the residential site, despite having the fewest number of trees added. Directly below clusters of trees, T mrt could be reduced by between 14.1 °C and 18.7 °C. SOLWEIG also highlighted that more built-up sites showed higher T mrt under peak warming conditions due to increased radiation loading from 3D urban surfaces, but over the course of the day, open sites were exposed to greater and more uniform T mrt . This study clearly demonstrates the capacity of street trees to mitigate outdoor thermal stress and provides guidance for urban planners on strategic street tree implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]