Developing Climatic Design Guidelines for Australia's Growing Regional Centres: Proposing an Interdisciplinary, Place-based Methodology

This chapter outlines a novel, interdisciplinary, place-based methodology that was used to develop a climate-responsive building design guide for the Toowoomba region, in Queensland, Australia. There were several contributors to the project outcomes, and this chapter is specifically concerned with the rationale behind the formation of the interdisciplinary team and the project methodology. We present this methodology as novel, not only because it illustrates an alternative type of design contribution for architects – a contribution that was made possible by combining climate science, graphic design, and professional communications with built environment expertise – but because the methodology can inform approaches to climate-resilient and climate-responsive planning policy for other regional urban centers in Australia, and worldwide. In this sense, the project in Toowoomba is presented as a case study for any regional center located outside a major city. This development pattern is an international phenomenon, for example, there are similar trends in Canada, where rural communities exist on the periphery of most major cities, and are experiencing demographic growth, increasing property demand, and “amenity to landscapes” seen to be an attractive alternative to city living. John Friedman highlights that these communities face climatic issues that are both territorially and regionally specific, but also more widespread, presenting particular challenges for local governments in developing appropriate planning policies with limited access to data and resources. Therefore, our task was, first, to collect the weather data needed to define the local climate and to analyse Toowoomba’s local architectural character. Only then, in collaboration with local government and the community, could we engage in a place-based approach (PBA) to research, in which the “essential heterogeneity of rural communities and territories” was foregrounded

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.