Architecture, construction
and urban study
research group
summary
The architecture, construction and urban study research group aims to develop high quality, multidisciplinary research and technical solutions. This promotes sustainability in built environment, as well as in design and construction projects.
It underpins our undergraduate and postgraduate courses in built environment and hosts PhD students studying various issues in the sustainable built environment area. The group is also a basis for the academics in the school to pursue research funding and projects, jointly publish academic papers and build up industrial collaboration.
Our research
The research in this group covers various aspects including architectural design and technology, building surveying and retrofitting, construction project management, facility management, urban planning and design, and so on.
The detailed research areas covered by individual researchers are detailed below:
- Sustainable building design and assessments (Professor Charlie Fu, Dr Efcharis Balodimou, Dr Umair Khalid)
- Sustainable construction and project management (Dr Umair Khalid, Dr Waheed Oseni, Dr Shamil Naoum)
- Sustainable urban planning and development (Professor Charlie Fu, Dr Efcharis Balodimou)
- BIM implementation in building design, construction and management (Professor Charlie Fu, Dr Umair Khalid)
- Digital twin in the AEC industry (Dr Umair Khalid, Dr Mohammad Saki, Professor Charlie Fu)
- Sustainable building retrofitting (Dr Efcharis Balodimou, Professor Charlie Fu)
- Curriculum and pedagogy development methodology in built environment (Indira Chauhan, Dr Efcharis Balodimou)
- AI and VR technologies for building design, construction and management (Professor Charlie Fu)
- Sustainable urbanisation in developing countries (Professor Charlie Fu, Dr Umair Khalid, Dr Waheed Oseni)
PhD research projects and topics
- AI-based energy performance evaluation of residential buildings
- Indoor environmental quality for higher education buildings
- Optic fabric solar lighting system for education buildings
- AI-based automatic design of education buildings
- Retrofitting strategies focusing on fabric upgrade (fabric-first approach) and energy efficiency
- Research to establish the extent of problems relating to consumer protection for building safety defects (fire safety and structural) and leasehold abuse linked to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill
- Innovation and digital twinning in construction project management
- Geospatial analysis methods and techniques for urban sustainability assessments
- Sustainable urbanisation in developing countries
Group members
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Professor Charlie Changfeng Fu
Professor of Built Environment
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Dr Efcharis Balodimou (Haroula)
Senior Lecturer in Built Environment
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Indira Chauhan
Head of Subject for Built Environment and Architectural Technology
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Dr Umair Khalid
Lecturer in Construction Project Management
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Dr Shamil Naoum
Senior Lecturer
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Dr Bolanle Noruwa
Lecturer in Quantity Surveying
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Dr Waheed Oseni
Senior Lecturer in Built Environment
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Dr Mohammad Saki
Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and Green Technologies
Selected publications
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Books and book chapters
Fu, Changfeng (2013) Integration and Interoperability of IT Applications in Construction. Scholar's Press, Saarbrücken, Germany. ISBN 9783639702880.
Fernando, Terence, Aouad, Ghassan, Fu, Changfeng and Yao, Jialiang (2009) IT infrastructure for supporting multidisciplinary urban planning. In: Designing Sustainable Cities. Blackwell, Oxford, UK, pp. 242-262. ISBN 9781405179157.
Naoum, Shamil (2019) Dissertation research and writing for built environment students. Routledge Publishing, Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 9780815384625
Naoum, S., People and Organisational Management in Construction. Thomas Telford Publishers, London. ISBN 978-0-7277-4151-6,
Kayode, Oluremi, Akhavan Farshchi, Mahtab and Ford, Andy (2016) Analysis of household energy consumption in Nigeria. In: Going north for sustainability: Leveraging knowledge and innovation for sustainable construction and development. International Council for Research and Innovation. IBEA Publications Ltd., UK, pp. 23-39. ISBN 9781326479510
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Journal articles
Fan, X, Chen, B, Li, X, Fu, Charlie and Li, L (2020) Development of a simplified thermal performance prediction method based on free-running temperatures and building envelope characteristics. Journal of Building Engineering. Item availability may be restricted.
Rizzuto, Joseph, Chauhan, Indira and Rowson, Janet (2020) A growing pool of talent. RICS Built Environment, 1 (1). pp. 34-35. ISSN 2631-8423.
Li, Lingyun, Fu, Changfeng and Lee, Angela (2019) A practical study on reducing CO2 concentration in educational buildings in north-east China. Journal of Construction Research (jcr), 1 (1). ISSN 1609-9451
Harris, Jennifer, Naoum, Shamil, Rizzuto, Joseph and Egbu, Charles (2019) Gender in the construction industry: literature review and comparative survey of men’s and women’s perceptions in UK construction consultancies. Management in Engineering, 36 (2). ISSN 0742-597X
Naoum, Shamil (2019) Dissertation research and writing for built environment students. Routledge Publishing, Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 9780815384625
Rizzuto, Joseph Patrick and Balodimou, Efcharis (2019) Understanding feedback and feed-forward: insights drawn from project-based learning. In: Festival of Learning and Teaching, 3 July 2019, Ealing, London. (Unpublished)
Chauhan, Indira and Rajani, Mita (2019) Technological advancements in surveying: academic and industry perspectives. Civil Engineering Surveyor, 1 (1). pp. 42-43.
Naoum, Shamil, Herrero, Carlos, Egbu, Charles and Fong, Daniel (2018) Integrated model for the stressors, stress, stress-coping behaviour of construction project managers in the UK. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 11 (3). pp. 761-782. ISSN 1753-8378
Rizzuto, Joseph and Chauhan, Indira (2018) Inclusive teaching practices: student diversity. In: University of West London Festival of Learning and Teaching, 27 June 2018, University of West London.
Chauhan, Indira and Rajani, Mita (2018) Should Part M lead to more inclusive designs?: built environment professionals' perspective. RICS COBRA. (In Press)
Rizzuto, Joseph and Chauhan, Indira (2018) Knowing by site. RICS Construction Journal. pp. 16-18. ISSN 1752-8720
Rushchenko, Julia (2017) Conversion to Islam and home-grown jihadism. Project Report. The Henry Jackson Society, London. Item availability may be restricted.
Rizzuto, Joseph and Chauhan, Indira (2017) Learning at work. RICS Building Surveying Journal. pp. 24-25. ISSN 1750-1032 Item availability may be restricted.
Rizzuto, Joseph and Chauhan, Indira (2017) Retention of learning: student perceptions of assessment methods. In: UWL Teaching and Learning Conference 2017, 29 June 2017, London, UK.
Hakiminejad, Ahmadreza, Fu, Changfeng and Titkanlou, Hamideh Mohammadzadeh (2016) The interrelationship of social sustainability and urban form; the case of modern and traditional Iranian cities. In: ICEBESE 2016: 18th International Conference on Environmental, Biological, Ecological Sciences and Engineering, 21-22 Jan 2016, Paris, France.
Naoum, Shamil (2016) Factors influencing labor productivity on construction sites. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65 (3). pp. 401-421. ISSN 1741-0401
Naoum, S. (2016) "Modern selection criteria for procurement methods in construction. A state-of-the-art literature review and a survey.” International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Issue 3/4.
Hakiminejad, Ahmadreza, Fu, Changfeng and Titkanlou, Hamideh Mohammadzadeh (2015) A critical review of sustainable built environment development in Iran. Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering Sustainability, 168 (3). pp. 105-119. ISSN 1478-4629
Akhavan Farshchi, Mahtab and Belgraver, Herman (2015) Social justice in the 21st Century: a study of MNEs tax avoidance and government policies. In: Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economic Research (SASE), July 02-04 2015, London School of Economics, London.
Belgraver, Herman and Akhavan Farshchi, Mahtab (2015) A continuing debate on the ‘race to the bottom’ and tax-avoidance policies of MNE's. In: The Fifth Reading-UNCTAD International Business Conference 2015, At Reading, United Kingdom, 13-14 June 2015, Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK.
Naoum, S., Alyousif, A., Atkinson, A., 2015 “The impact of national culture on the management practices of construction projects in the United Arab Emirates”. ASCE, J. Manage. Eng.
PhD opportunities
All our PhD opportunities can be found on the School of Computing and Engineering research degrees page.
These include:
- Using BIM technologies to promote teaching of higher education-built environment courses
- Computational architectural design
- Indoor environment quality for education buildings.
For more information, please contact individual members of the group or Professor Charlie Fu:
- Tel: 020 82312265
- Email: charlie.fu@uwl.ac.uk
Find out more
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Research Centres and Groups
Find out about our multi-disciplinary areas of expertise, research, and teaching.
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Research impact
Learn how our research has helped communities locally, nationally and internationally.
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The Graduate School
If you are interested in studying for a PhD or Professional Doctorate, the Graduate School is here to support your research.