UNSW Built Environment Research

Congratulations Charlotte Firth and Nicole Gardner from the School of Built Environment at UNSW for winning a best paper award in the latest #AUBEA2025 International Conference for their paper titled From Complexity to Capability: Reframing Robotic Fabrication as a Pedagogical Tool in Design Education.

“I’m delighted that for half a decade now, The Australian has recognised UNSW as Australia’s leading research institution in the field of architecture. This is a reflection of the impactful research my colleagues are undertaking on tackling the climate crisis, using big data and advanced digital tools to help us understand cities and make more evidence-based decisions, and creating healthy and equitable places that meet the diverse needs of our society,” said Philip Oldfield, Head of the School of Built Environment. Also a massive congratulations to UNSW Associate Professor Samad Sepasgozar "Research Leader" [World's Top 2 pct] for being named leading researcher in the field 👏 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gEEAfEB9

Proud that our team led by UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture has been awarded an ARC LIEF grant, to establish the Australian Smart Environmental Observatory. Congratulations to everyone involved Deo Prasad AO FTSE, Mat Santamouris Lan Ding, Riccardo Paolini, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Priyadarsini Rajagopalan, Arianna Brambilla, Konstantina Vasilakopoulou, Shamila Haddad, Nigel Goodman, Nasser Bagheri, Matthew Riley, Lisa Chang, Judith Bruinsma

We won the planning research Award 🎉 🥳 Great work and national collaboration 🎉

Delighted that UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture has been named Australia's leading research institution in Architecture for the *fifth year in a row* by 'The Australian's 2026 Research Magazine' ...and amazing too that Samad Sepasgozar "Research Leader" [World's Top 2 pct] has again been named leading researcher in the field - congratulations! https://lnkd.in/gF66nvqt

As part of our End of Year Show, we're holding an amazing panel discussion (in an amazing space!) at White Bay Power Station on "The Future of Adaptive Reuse: Carbon, Culture and Housing" (Saturday, Nov 29, from 1:30 pm) We'll be joined by three amazing speakers - Annie Tennant, Alan Croker and Ben Dircks who will examine how retrofit improves environmental performance, but also reflect history and culture through response to place, community, climate and technology thereby enriching shared narratives, identity and belonging. Tickets are free - join us here: https://lnkd.in/g9sw8saa

🏆 We've climbed five spots to become the top-ranked university in Australia, and equal seventh globally, in the 2026 QS Sustainability Rankings. UNSW performed strongly across the board, ranking first worldwide in the Social Impact category with a perfect score of 100, an Environmental Impact score of 94.4 and a Governance score of 97.7. Read more 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gZ8K2R_j

It was a pleasure to organize the inaugural HDR Connect event in the School of Built Environment under the Smart Cities and Infrastructure research cluster, which I co-convene with Dr. Sara Shirowzhan. The event aimed to provide HDR students with a platform to let our HDR students engage with their peers, both within and beyond UNSW, and to share challenges and solutions they are encountering/ have encountered in their PhD journeys. This event was successfully delivered, receiving highly positive feedback from HDR students. Special thanks to our presenters: Muneeb Afzal (a recent PhD graduate from the University of Technology Sydney, UTS) Kaining Shen (UNSW HDR student) Maryam Fazeli (UNSW HDR student) Mahya Parchami (UNSW HDR student), and Dr Heela Popal, PhD (Research Data Specialist, UNSW Research Technology Services), who delivered an insightful talk on "Using AI/Digital Tools Responsibly – Opportunities, Tools and Challenges" Gratitude also to our guest from UTS Johnny Kwok-Wai Wong, for offering valuable feedback and advice to our HDR students. I would like to extend my thanks to Riza Yosia Sunindijo for his support in his capacity as Deputy Head of School (Research). I look forward to organising the second HDR Connect in 2026.

Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design at UNSW Built Environment, Dr Christian Tietz was invited in October 2024 to make a written submission to the NSW Parliament Legislative Council, Portfolio Committee No. 8 Customer Service - Public Toilets. Following his written submission, the Committee invited him again to give evidence, for one hour in person (video here: https://lnkd.in/gjzS3G4b) in March this year in the Jubilee Room, NSW Parliament, Sydney. In October 2025, the Committee produced their official report 'New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Portfolio Committee No. 8 - Customer Service. Report no. 4. Public Toilets. October 2025' (read report here: https://lnkd.in/gThucBKG) which is being tabled to the NSW Government for consideration. Dr Tietz’s contribution is mentioned on 19 pages out of a total of 190 pages in this report. A government response to this report is mandatory and required within three months, pending the outcome of the response policy changes might be implemented. This report and Dr Tietz’s contributions are now part of the Hansard parliamentary record and are archived. Earlier this term our current IDES2323 Design Studio 2C students have been working on a Public Toilet Design Project based on this enquiry. The students aimed to apply the 12 Public Toilet Design Principles developed by Churchill Scholarship recipient Katherine Webber, a fellow enquiry participant. Below is an image of Dr Tietz with the committee members in the Jubilee Room in the NSW Parliament.