Output details
16 - Architecture, Built Environment and Planning
University of Edinburgh (joint submission with Heriot-Watt University)
Active Landscape - Passive Building: A Design-Build Case Study
The project addresses complexities tied to the 'triple bottom line', the interrelated environmental, social and economic concerns of sustainable discourse. By moving to the site and acting as general contractor for the project, the author researched methods of community engagement and environmental interpretation directly. Construction was completed through direct engagement with local trades people, often farmers within the local community. Drawing from locally embedded knowledge and material practices, this exchange impacted directly on design through materials selection and construction methods. This exchange also challenged local conventions tied to building scale, feasibility of off-grid applications, and appropriations of vernacular building traditions. The project introduced the local community to a range of passive and active energy conserving techniques unfamiliar in the area.
The house has been recognised locally, nationally and internationally:
The Ontario Association of Architects presented the project as the first case study of exemplary sustainable design on their professional website. The OAA is the professional governing body of architects in Ontario with 5,000 members.
The project was featured with a 5 page review in Dwell magazine, with a readership of 330,000.
It was selected by HISE, Slovenian Design Journal, as one of the best homes of 2013 and was subsequently exhibited in Ljubljana.
It was the cover feature of the international design tablet magazine Edition 29, which includes designer audio overviews.
The project has featured on websites: ArchDaily, the most widely read architecture website in the world, Dezeen, inHabitat, Archilenta (in Russian), Thisispaper, the Ruralist, Treehugger, ARQA (Argentinian), and Architizer.
The house has been integrated into the curriculum of two Universities in Canada:
It is a case study project and featured as a site visit for students of Ryerson University. Fanshawe College in London, Ontario included a video interview with the author as part of their ‘Applied Sustainability’ MOOC.
