Architecture Research Staff

• Dr. Neil Burford
• Dr. Fraser Smith

2nd year Architectural Design

MArch, BA(Hons), BsC

MArch, Sustainable Rural Housing

• 'Progressing cultural identity of rural Scotland using appropriate architectural form', The Cultural Role of Architecture, Lincoln University.
• 'Minimum Energy Maximum Space: High Density Urban Family Housing', SAUD 2010, Amman, Jordan.
• 'Between Country and Town: New Concepts in Sustainable Rural Housing', SAUD 2010, Amman, Jordan

The study intends to address a current knowledge gap and develop appropriate sustainable approaches to future residential development of rural Scotland.

Within the UK three million new homes are to be built by 2020. A significant proportion of new houses are to be provided in rural environments in small Scottish towns and villages. Much of the current rural mass-market housing uses suburban development models based around pattern book urban layouts and generic housing typologies which are intrinsically unsustainable and lead to high carbon lifestyles.The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH will require all homes to be "Zero Carbon" from 2016, it focuses on primarily on technical issues.

If substantial new development utilises CSH and current suburban housing models in rural contexts this will have a detrimental effect on the sustainability of rural communities changing them into disconnected urban suburbs. The majority of the residents will rely upon urban areas for work, play and retail creating a predominantly rural commuter culture. This will have a major lasting effect on the identity and character of the rural environment.

According to the Scottish Government there is a skills and knowledge gap holding back the design of more qualitative, sustainable, economical, energy efficient rural housing. It is now critically important that alternative sustainable approaches to rural communities and rural housing provision are developed.

The final outcome will be a number of alternative tested approaches to rural development that take a holistic approach using design based scenario development assimilating national standards and local contexts. These will be used to develop and test criteria against which more qualitative decision making tools can be created. These will be used to inform future policy making and best practice in the Scottish context and be suitable within a wider UK context and beyond.