Research Centres and Groups
Research centres and groups at Kingston University with a sustainability focus:
Sustainable Design Research Centre
Sustainable Technology Research Centre
Centre for Earth and Environmental Science Research
The Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC) is the hub for sustainable design research in the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture at Kingston University. The Centre has a growing number of experienced researchers with numerous ongoing funded projects. We collaborate with academic colleagues from other faculties within the university creating truly inter-disciplinary research and design solutions.
SDRC research covers a diverse range of topics within the 'Designing for Sustainability' field including:
- use and specification of recycled materials
- sustainable building design
- green branding
- sustainable packaging
- designing for social impact
- indoor air quality and its impact on the health of building occupants
- sustainable landscape architecture
Please visit SDRC website to find out more.
Contact:
Anne Chick
Director, Sustainable Design Research Centre
Reader in Sustainable Design
Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture
Kingston University
C-SCAIPE, the Centre for Sustainable Communities Achieved through Integrated Professional Education, was set up in 2005 as one of 74 Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETLs) funded by HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England). C-SCAIPE is the only CETL that combines sustainability and the built environment.
The Centre sits within the School of Surveying and Planning at Kingston University and has an overarching aim to promote "a deeper understanding of the requirements of professional education in order to produce graduates capable of working to create more sustainable communities." The Centre has quickly established itself as a hub for cross-University sustainability-related activities and has promoted new, risk-taking and interactive ways of teaching. A main aim is to enrich the delivery of professional education at Kingston University.
Please click here to find out more.
Contact:
Judith Farren-Bradley
Research Director for C-SCAIPE and Principal Lecturer
Kingston University
Knights Park, Grange Road
Kingston-upon-Thames
Surrey KT1 2EE
Email: J.Farrenbradley@kingston.ac.uk
The Sustainable Technology Research Centre (STRC) is a multi-disciplinary centre developed initially with support from the EPSRC Science Research Investment Fund. Currently Centre has an inter-disciplinary team of civil, structural & geotechnical engineers, hydrologists, material scientists and management experts and undertaking industry driven research and development work to optimise construction for its cost effectiveness, whilst allowing flexibility for radical innovation and sustainable development. The Centre has acknowledged expertise in the field of Environment friendly sustainable construction materials, and recycling of waste materials for reuse in value-added civil engineering applications. The experience of current researchers is very broad-based and the following list gives examples of research areas being carried out or currently in progress in the field of sustainable construction within the Centre.
- Sustainable Concrete Construction through Resource Efficiency and Use of Different Waste Streams
- Value-Added Recycling of Cement Kiln Dust
- Value-Added Recycling of Ready-mixed Truck Washed Concrete
- Cementitious Materials for Waste Containment
- Recycled Aggregates for Value-Added Concrete Applications
- Feasibility of Recycling Rubber Tyres for Use in Civil Engineering and Construction Applications
- End-of-life Design for Deconstruction and Reuse
- Use of Recycled and Manufactured Secondary Aggregates in Products
- Cement Additions/Replacements and Clinker Performance
- Responsible Sustainable Sourcing
- Re-Carbonation of Concrete- Carbon Capture
- Recycling and Reuse of Glass Waste
Please visit STRC website to find out more.
Contact:
Professor Mukesh Limbachiya
Director Sustainable Technology Research Centre
Faculty of Engineering
Kingston University
Penrhyn Road
Kingston-upon-Thames
Surrey KT1 2EE
Email M.Limbachiya@kingston.ac.uk
Kingston University's Centre for Earth and Environmental Sciences Research (CEESR) oversees research activities at Kingston University in Geography, Environmental Studies/Science and Earth Sciences. Established in the late 1990s, with an International Advisory Panel, CEESR staff are drawn from the School of Earth Sciences and Geography, formed in 2000 through the merger of the Schools of Geography and Geological Sciences, and cognate researchers in other parts of the University.
Please visit CEESR website to find out more.
Contact:
Professor Nigel Walford
Director for Centre for Earth and Environmental Science Research
Kingston University
Penrhyn Road
Kingston-upon-Thames
Surrey KT1 2EE
nwalford@kingston.ac.uk
ArchiLab, the Architectural Science & Technology Laboratory, is based in the School of Architecture & Landscape, in the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture. We specialise in the quantitative and qualitative assessment of environmental and sustainable building design and we have the expertise and equipment to carry out assessments throughout the design and construction process and the occupation of buildings. We are involved in three broad areas: lighting, acoustics and comfort and we are active teachers, researchers and consultants.
Please visit the ARCHILAB website to find out more.
Contact:
Dr Stephen Pretlove BSc(Hons) MSc(Arch) PhD FRSA
Reader in Architectural Science & Technology
Director of ArchiLab
Kingston University
School of Architecture + Landscape
Knights Park, Grange Road
Kingston upon Thames
London KT1 2QJ
s.pretlove@kingston.ac.uk
Research at C-SCAIPE
"C-SCAIPE’s third objective is to provide a focus for integrating sustainability research more widely and deeply in professional education curricula in KU, from which C-SCAIPE will disseminate internationally and thus have an impact both within KU and beyond"
(C-SCAIPE, 2009)
"...C-SCAIPE not only promotes and embeds work carried out by its core staff and by work that it has supported, but by developing close working relationships with other researchers such that joint enterprise outputs can naturally flow into a range of courses"
(C-SCAIPE, 2009)
Research at ARCHILAB
"Research is one of the primary functions of ArchiLab and the home of the ArchiLab Research Group (ARG). This group comprises a number of active researchers who are involved in research within the broad field of environmental and sustainable building design"
(ARCHILAB, 2009)
