Occupant informed design, analysis and enhancement of Kuwaiti Government housing, for improved ecological performance and cultural identity
Supervisors:
Dr John Littlewood,
Dr Keireine Canavan, Dr Penny Carey (external)
Research Group / Theme:
Ecological Built Environment Research & Enterprise Group (EBERE)
Research Degree Type: MPhil/PhD
The doctorate project study set in Kuwait to investigate the design problems of existing Kuwaiti government dwellings and establish future directions for Kuwaiti government dwellings with a bioclimatic approach, which takes into consideration human and climatic conditions enabling occupants to perform their daily activities, using minimum energy sources.
The doctorate is investigating how new government dwellings in Kuwait could be designed and constructed using traditional cultural features and bioclimatic approach to reduce energy consumption for artificial lighting and cooling and increase occupant comfort and wellbeing.
The project's aim is to identify how traditional Kuwaiti architectural methods hold insights for the development of more culturally appropriate and ecologically sensitive dwellings, with reference to Kuwaiti government dwelling construction. The approach will be based upon current understanding of the relation between culturally appropriate and ecologically sensitive building design, and on the applicability of vernacular architectural methods in Kuwait and countries with a similar climate to Kuwait. Thus examining the requirements of Kuwaiti government dwelling occupants in terms of comfort, aesthetics and cultural and religious adequateness, all the while providing the region with a design model that, besides satisfying these conditions is environmentally sustainable.
The project will show how design strategies for new Kuwaiti government dwellings can be adapted to meet the needs of occupants and climate change by using ecological design approaches, while maintaining Kuwaiti cultural identify and vernacular features; which will be of benefit to Kuwait and other countries in the region with similar climates.
Contact details:
moalhazim@cardiffmet.ac.uk
