Architectural Engineering Design 1
This module aims to help you develop a basic awareness of the building design process and the design skills and techniques used by engineers. Visits to construction sites help to deepen your understanding of the material covered in lectures and tutorials. The module introduces:
- an overview of the construction sector and the role of the engineers in design teams
- hand sketching and 2/3D computer drafting tools, and their role as an aid to the design process
- communication and IT skills, including programming, used by professionals involved in the design of buildings
- simple assessments of the designed performance of buildings
- a field trip
- training in how to present work through use of graphics, numerical data and text
You’ll have two hours of lectures and six hours of tutorials a week for this module.
Performance of Construction Materials
This module introduces you to some of the technical knowledge and techniques for surveying buildings and structures and identifying common defects using both qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment. Through a two-hour lecture each week you will cover topics such as moisture ingress, surface and interstitial condensation, freeze/thaw resistance, rot and infestation, sulphate attack, carbonation and corrosion.
Fluid Mechanics and the Built Environment 1
Building on Level 1 design modules, you’ll be introduced to engineering concepts that inform and enrich the environmental performance of buildings. You’ll cover the fundamentals of fluid mechanics (fluid properties, hydrostatics, fluid dynamics) and then explore some of these through the analysis of flow through piped water systems and the design of hot and cold water services. You’ll spend around three to four hours in lectures and workshops studying for this module.
Engineering Mathematics 1
This module introduces you to the algebra of complex numbers. It provides a key mathematical tool for analysis of linear mathematical and engineering problems.
You will study the complexity of solving general systems of equations using matrix techniques and review the calculus of a single variable.
You will have a three hour lecture and workshops each week.
Environmental Science for Architects 1
Introducing you to the environmental agenda as it applies to the architectural profession, you’ll explore the key bioclimatic strategies used to maintain appropriate conditions for the occupants of buildings, thus tying together occupant comfort, building schedule and climate. You’ll have a two-hour lecture per week using both physical modelling and computer simulation techniques to gain a better understanding of the strategies involved and their relationship with building design.
Thermofluids
This module introduces the principles of thermodynamics and the thermodynamic concepts relevant to the applications to building environment engineering. Topics covered include: dimensions and units, thermal properties, thermodynamic systems, energy, work and heat transfer processes, perfect gases, steady flow energy equation, 1st law and 2nd law of thermodynamics and basic modes of heat transfer.
Architectural Engineering Design 2
This module aims to provide you with a basic understanding of design software and techniques for the design of simple building services systems. It also aims to give you practical experience of fabrication skills. The lectures will introduce you to the engineering design principles of building services, including heating, lighting, piping design, water supply, drainage and basic control systems.
In the design project tutorials you’ll develop the basic design skills introduced in K11AE1 by carrying out a simple services design project for a case-study building. The project makes use of the knowledge gained from the lectures. The engineering fabrication practicals will give you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the practical skills used by craftsmen responsible for the installations. You’ll have workshops on metal work, plumbing, electrics and wall building. The module is delivered through two hours of lectures and three hours of practicals a week.
Electricity and the Built Environment
You will be given an understanding of the role that electricity plays in controlling the environment within buildings and the wider built environment through two hours of lectures each week.