Innovative Building Technologies (ibt) - examples and demonstrations

This session will deliver a training session on the wealth of expertise we have developed over the years through real-life experimental projects. TUT invests heavily on advanced, state-of-the-art technologies, workshops and equipment (Maker's Space and the Design Nexus) and is also deeply committed to community engagement and is running a number of experimental projects involving the upgrading of a shack, the building of a rural house and inner city building renovations. TUT has been funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to develop a cycling master plan for Zanzibar where our technological systems and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were used to support the project. Our laboratories allow us to experience our designs using AI; we are able to “step into” our projects, move through them and test them out before they go to site. The TUT WikiHouse is an adaptation of the open-source design freely available online. The project aims to democratise the house construction process, to make it more efficient and to use small-scale local labour in the process. The timber components may be manufactured off site (as we have done in this case) or on site using CNC machines. TUT collaborates with the York Timbers Chair located at the University of Pretoria aiming to experiment with, and promote, the use of timber in construction. The WikiHouse can be built in a few hours using unskilled labour. Timber has gained prominence because of its environmentally sustainable sourcing opportunities, its ease of use, it natural insulation and carbon neutral (or negative) qualities. We also present our Community Engagement Project (CEP) trailer that we had designed and built so that students can easily go to site, set up an office, transport materials and equipment. Some of the themes we explore at TUT are: • Involvement of small scale construction enterprises and labour intensive processes • Building components and systems that involve the end users and allow for multiple agents and stakeholders to make decisions about the built environment We have conducted many case studies analysing existing buildings and making proposals for different ways of design and building that are more sustainable and inclusive and relevant over the life time of buildings and transformative in terms of the built environment as a whole. This will be an interactive session - we will present drawings and building components as well as videos and images of the projects we have implemented.