Work Packages

This project has four interlinked work packages, detailed below.

Work package 1

Led by Professor Tim Ibell

Work Package 1 will address Research Objective 1. WP1 will consider how maximum levels of performance could be introduced into the design process. WP1 will examine the structural implications of widely varying structural section sizes. Parametric studies will be undertaken to examine potential changes in the structural response of optimised structures.

Work Package 2

Led by Dr John Orr

Work Package 2 will address Research Objective 2. The potential for embodied energy savings identified in WP1 is matched by new architectural possibilities for non-prismatic structures. WP2 will consider how engineering practice must change to enable the design of these new geometries. We will examine the processes of design management required to embed this culture by looking at how value is best generated and then delivered and maintained within a whole life framework.

Work Package 3

Led by Dr Alex Copping

Work Package 3 will address Research Objective 3. In a future design environment where the effect-resistance gap is minimised, many conventional structural geometries may possibly be precluded. The number of unique elements will increase and each element may have a more complex geometry. WP2 will establish what these geometries might be and how they could be realised at the design stage; WP3 will determine how they could feasibly be constructed.

Work Package 4

Led by Professor Stephen Emmitt

Work Package 4 will address Research Objective 4. WP4 runs through the entire project, and aims to identify some of the unintended consequences arising from each of the feasibility studies of WP1-3. Through our surveys of industry, interviews, and design workshops, we will identify the key sources of material efficiency, and examine where these might change in future design methodologies