Predicting comfort of outdoor spaces in Christchurch
A Victoria University of Wellington Master’s student is developing an innovative tool to improve comfort in outdoor areas of cafes, restaurants and urban areas of Christchurch City.
A Victoria University of Wellington Master’s student is developing an innovative tool to improve comfort in outdoor areas of cafes, restaurants and urban areas of Christchurch City.
Victoria Toner, under the supervision of Michael Donn from the School of Architecture, is working toward a Master of Building Science. Her project focuses on how assessments of sun, wind and temperature can be incorporated into design of public spaces for the Christchurch rebuild.
“Social spaces are key to the new central Christchurch being a vibrant and resilient place,” she says, adding, “no one wants to sit outdoors in Christchurch when they are exposed to a strong north-easterly wind”.
The tool being developed by Victoria, the first of its kind, will enable designers and consultants to assess how each building will affect comfort in the surrounding areas during the design phase.
“Often urban designers rely on standard principles such as increasing road widths to allow sun into urban outdoor areas, which won’t necessarily improve comfort. However, this tool will give insight into how comfortable people will actually feel,” says Victoria.
“What I’m developing for the Christchurch rebuild is an innovative technology that will be available to the construction industry.”
Victoria is currently conducting a survey in central Christchurch for people to complete while sitting down in various parts of the city. It asks about their comfort, while a weather station simultaneously measures the sun, wind, and temperature at their location. This data provides a formula to quantify the level of comfort.
She says people in the construction industry will be able use her formula and tool to predict how comfortable a person will feel in the areas surrounding a proposed development anytime of the year.
“I am able to understand what levels of sun and wind people feel comfortable or uncomfortable with by matching the results of the survey with data from the weather station.”
If you are in Christchurch and would like to take part in Victoria’s research, visit www.tinyurl.com/Comfortable-Christchurch from your smartphone or tablet to take a short survey.
For more information contact Victoria Toner on 027 469 3563 or email tonervict@myvuw.ac.nz