Current PhD research

Meet a selection of PhD students in the Wellington School of Architecture and learn about their research.

Ryan Simpson

Returning Samoa to a low-carbon built environment

Raphael Lambotte

A House for Paul Virilio: Speculative designs on the edge of perception and speed

Ian Bowman

The history of applied architectural paint colours and decorative schemes on the exteriors of New Zealand buildings 1840-1925

Saikumar Singh

Transnational Identity and Faith-Based Consumerism

Masi (Masoumeh) Shiran

Environmental Impact Assessment of Retrofit Strategies for Residential Buildings in New Zealand: Focusing on Carbon Emissions, Moisture Risk, and Overheating

Thirumarban Madhavaraman

AI in the cost planning of Project Management

Mengke Wang

Policy Impacts on the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Urban Villages: A Case Study of Zhengzhou

Yanxin Liu

Investigating the Role of Urban Agriculture to Food Security in the Context of Post-disaster Wellington City

Pelpuo Rashid Alhassan

An Integrated Low-carbon Building Material Environment Visibility Prototype

Chaudhry Nouman Ali

A rule-based automated plan approval system of single-story timber homes according to the NZ building code using CNN and GAN

Hirda Khalid

Indoor Overheating Risks: Window Design Framework for Multi-Unit Urban Dwellings

Xiaohui Chen

Revisiting Publicness: Navigating Spatial Justice in Public Open Spaces Under Private Development

Cansu Inal Kaynar

Examining the Effect of Reusing Heritage Buildings on the Resilience of Small-Town Centres in New Zealand

Alexis Sutherland

Retrofit of Buildings for Flood Resilience and Adaptability

Jie Jin

Enhancing Pedestrian Interaction in Public Spaces: Integrating Geo-located AR Technology with Street Performance

Negar Nazaralhouei

Constraints to The Adoption of Earth Building in New Zealand

Thathsarani de Silva

Development of an area-based Landscape Character Assessment Methodology for Sri Lanka

Johannes van der Wielen

Pushing the Envelope: Optimising building envelope design for the circular economy by quantifying the reutilisation prospects of building materials

Maxwell Fobi Kontor

Confluence of Urban Informality and Climate Change: Examining the resilience of informal settlements to heat stress in Ghana

Jiaxiang Bai

Improving project management with artificial intelligence and knowledge management

Sneha Shroff

Economics of Circular Economy in Construction

Gehad Mohamed

Adopting Material Passports in New Zealand’s Construction Sector: Investigating Strategic Approaches for Effective Implementation

Giulia Marchesini

Educational Marine Areas: when culture and nature interact through Education for Sustainable Development in Polynesia and beyond

Laura Dunham

Beyond Site and Screen: The Magic Lantern and Effecting Change in New Zealand’s Built Environment, 1880–1950

Armano Papageorge

Autonomous Off-Site Construction: Structurally Optimised and Mass Customisable Building Components.

Sachithra Thilakarathne

Remote Work: Reshaping Physical Space in the Post-Pandemic Era

Daniel Coombes

Witnessing Landscape Contemplation: Three arrivals of contemplation in Aotearoa re-enacted through a Pākehā landscape practice

Eva Forster-Garbutt

The import, trade and patterns of wallpaper in 19th century New Zealand

Hossein Panahi

Urban form characteristics and land surface temperature - A spatial analysis of patterns, relationships and scenarios in New Zealand cities

Leandro López

Leandro's research investigates how hidden river features and characteristics can inform landscape architecture design methods.

Luca Caiaffa

Magical-Real Drawing: Speculative Architectural Cartographies of One Hundred Years of Solitude

Maria Rodgers

(Re)Planting te taiao in urban Aotearoa New Zealand

Oludolapo Ibrahim Olanrewaju

Improving data quality assurance in the construction environment product declaration (EPD) for a reliable whole-building life cycle assessment (WBLCA).

Rana Abdollahi Rizi

Rana Abdollahi Rizi’s research investigates buildings envelope design considering occupants' behaviour and their comfort for building energy efficiency

Ningfei (Shannon) Xiao

Healing Matrix

Yutong Jin

Reimagining Sacred Spaces: The Role of Virtual Reality in Transforming Religious Architecture

Xin Zhang

Enabling Digital Twin Cities to Better Support Social Dialogue on Urban Changes

Willy Missack

Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaption and Wellbeing in Vanuatu

Judith Heshani Silva

Investigating the role of Urban Heritage sites in fostering Sustainable Urban Development in Sri Lanka: a Community-Centered approach

Yunxi Liu

Optimising Low-Toxicity Material Selection: Enhancing BIM for Sustainable Commercial Design

Asma Rashidi Mohammadi

Harmonising Timber life-cycle Informed by Kaupapa Māori: Unveiling Te Ako Torowhānui