In January 2017 the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Acoustics Group of London South Bank University agreed to collaborate on a project to quantify and assess the noise emissions generated by the London Heliport operation. This heliport is located by the river Thames in Battersea, in the vicinity of dense high rise and affluent housing. The project also included a study of the subjective response and impact of the noise emissions on the health and well-being of local residents. The project was undertaken by Prof Stephen Dance and Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina and run for 6 months over the Spring/Summer of 2017. The work was reported to the London Heliport Consultative Group (LHCG), of which Steve and Luis are members.

The subjective and objective results showed a high incidence on a large number of affected residents. The findings suggested that the London Heliport is a danger to health with medium risk of long term health effects (hyper tension, higher cortisol levels, and the possible o

London Southbank University is developing a site health and safety training VR tool that can target a user's weak spots.

The tool, presented as a VR game, is married to a psychometric test that the user must take before using the tool, ensuring they experience bespoke challenges each time they engage with the system.

The project is led by LSBU’s Dr Zulfikar Adamu. Some similar VR training tools are in development across the construction industry, however he notes his system’s unique qualities: the psychometric test approach means that each trainee gets a customised training regime, while its game-like feel will encourage regular engagement for continuous development. Indeed, Dr Adamu refers to the tool as being part of the 'serious game' genre, and thus someone using it is a player.

Each time a player starts the game, they must answer about 60 questions based on the established Big Five 'OCEAN' psychometric test. 'OCEAN' stands for five key behavioural traits: Openness, Conscientiousne

Barnaby Rush, who is Masters students, has conducted research to examine the legal and contractual barriers to BIM implementation and how the NEC4 standard form of construction contract has developed to try and incorporate BIM into the contractual arrangement of parties, in order to overcome these barriers and increase wider BIM uptake. His research specifically focused from the viewpoint of contractors working in the British civil engineering industry, as he works for a main contractor in the British civil engineering industry and has first-hand experience of the lack of BIM uptake in this industry compared to the building or architecture industries. There has also been little previous research from the viewpoints of civil engineering contractors on BIM.

Findings from his questionnaire survey and interviews so far suggest that the NEC4 has made several positive changes to incorporate BIM into the contractual arrangements of parties which should assist in increasing BIM uptake in the

LSBU’s Professor Ebohon discussed his expertise on sustainability in terms of the relationships between the built environment and the natural environment. Mitch Cooke, Director of Greengage Environmental, discussed the advice. Mitch described how Greengauge had implemented sustainability into their building developments. He provided examples of his regeneration work, especially in terms of new builds but also touched upon retrofit. Industry are using the research conducted by academics such as John Ebohon to push sustainable innovation within the sector. John and Mitch are due to collaborate on future projects to further harness the academic and industrial relationship.

Two students were selected for the AJ Student Prize by London South Bank University: Dola Mukta, BA (Hons) Architecture (Undergraduate) and Yianna Moustaka, March (Postgraduate). A big congratulations go out to the students on behalf of the School of BEA.

Dola Mukta, BA (Hons) Architecture (Undergraduate)
Project title Education of Autonomy
Project description In a society where the idea of community is vanishing in between the vastness of tall institutional buildings and skyscrapers, the proposal of a live-work educational centre located near Canary Wharf is a result of the interpretation of socio-economic factors of migrant families in the area, as well as aspiring new entrepreneurs. The research focused on the specifics of the surroundings and the response to these. The architectural approach responds to this data to deliver protected live-work spaces formed by a series of separate buildings used for counselling residents in need, and all facing towards the central market space, a soc

Desislava Cholakova takes 2nd winner in the 2020 RIBAJ Eye Line drawing competition with fun, playfulness and mad moments in Brick Lane.

We are delighted to announce that Desislava Cholakova (BA2-studio 1) has won second prize in the RIBA Journal Eyeline competition. A huge congratulations on behalf of Professor Lilly Kudic (Head of Architecture at LSBU) and all colleagues from the School of BEA are sent to Desislava for this exceptional achievement and her tutors for the work they did in preparing her for this success.

The Eyeline competition has become a fixture in the calendar for celebrating the best drawings produced by both students and practitioners. Achieving success in this competition is a great tribute to the work produced by LSBU architecture over the last very challenging year.

Please see here for more details of Desislava’s work.

One of the few upsides of lockdown was that, if a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square, you had a chance of hearing it.

Take the UK-wide scheme called The Quiet Project, which enlisted a network of acoustic engineers and researchers to map out changes to the ambient soundscape during lockdown. It has been building up a database of sound measurements that should act as an invaluable resource for understanding our acoustic environment: how sound correlates with economic activity, say, and how it affects wellbeing.

One of the project leaders, LSBU’s Professor Stephen Dance explained that often it’s a question of finding the happy medium. “You might like waking up when it’s quiet, but in the evening you might want the vibrancy”. The value associated with these positive and negative effects of sound has never really been measured, but this has been a chance. Professor Dance said that lockdown seemed to have lowered urban noise by about five decibels, mostly because of absent traffic. That’s

LSBU is dedicated to protecting our planet and society. We promise to become a university of the future - one that is conscious, one that is responsible and one that is sustainable. 

This year, LSBU is hosting a series of events on Sustainability and Climate Action. This events series is a unique platform to allow LSBU and our partners to advocate and celebrate key sustainability projects being delivering in these increasingly challenging times.As a university wide collaborative initiative, this event series will engage a number of stakeholders from funders to project partners, local and national government to NGOs, as well as current, past and future students.

Climate, Carbon, Energy and Resources (22 - 26 June 2020) The first event in the series will focus on the issues climate, carbon, energy and resources. The energy we consume creates carbon emissions that damage the planet through global warming. The Australian fires and Indonesian floods this year are the consequence of 250 year

As part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Industry-Academia Partnership Programme (IAPP), LSBU is at the heart of a research project that has the potential to positively impact the global fight against non-recyclable plastic waste.  

Collaborating with academics from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Indonesia, and industry partners Lembaga Penerapan Teknologi Tepat (LPTT), PT Mantra Bali, CLEAR Community, and Atelier Ten, LSBU has been researching the impact of coastal pollution in Indonesia, and addressing the urgent need to improve the waste management infrastructure in coastal and rural areas. Indonesia is currently the second largest polluter of plastic to oceans, and over 80% of their waste is mismanaged. 

Jennifer Hardi, the Principal Investigator for the project and Senior Lecturer and Course Director for the BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology and Architectural Engineering course, along with Dr Issa Chaer, Director of Research and Enterprise for LSBU; and Professor Andy

It gives us great pleasure to announce that two of our LSBU teams, who went through the Final CIOB Bright Futures Challenge competition won First place (massive congratulations to Lauren, Ben, Luke - who also won the first place last year, and Royden - who joined forces with them this year) and Fourth Place (massive congratulations to Christian, Livia and Evgenii)! The final event took place at the Stamford Bridge stadium (Chelsea’s football ground). They will be competing again next year in the final for the CIOB Bright Futures Challenge competition tonight. Some of the photos can be found here ttps://www.instagram.com/p/B9nErkAnedM/?igshid=1lkkz01ed03vj  

Out of the seven students participating from LSBU, five are from the Architectural Technology Course, one graduated from Architectural Engineering and is now doing the MSc Structural Engineering course and one is from the Building Surveying course.  

Congratulations to the two teams! The School of BEA is extremely proud of the stude

Students of the first year BEng, BSc and HNC courses were lucky enough to enjoy a geology field trip for the module Materials & Geology. They visited Portland, West Bay, Chesil beach/cove, Lyme Regis, Lulworth Cove and several other locations in the Dorset area.  

A big thank you to Hector, Rabee, Richards, Vireen, Maria, Luis, Ivana, Graham and Chris, who were the academics and technician taking care of the students and to Jeremy, Fiona and Richard, who were the Geologists that undertook tours of the area and delivered the on-site talks. 

A new working group has been formed to assist the development of new test methods to determine acoustic properties of ventilation ducts. The first meeting took place in December 2019 at the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Headquarters. 
The working group has been created by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina, LSBU PhD candidate and Imtech engineer Suzana Zekic and the CIBSE head of research Dr Anastasia Mylona. 
The group is formed at present by ten industry experts in building services noise and mechanical ventilation senior engineers. Some additional prominent consultants have also expressed interest in joining the group. 
The first meeting was very well attended and was led by Luis and Suzana to a highly productive consultative session. It set the clear basis for a sustained and well-coordinated effort. It was encouraging to see the level of interest and engagement in the research work at hand. Our thanks go to all the group members who attended, those who have recently

On 4 February 2020 “The Book of Acoustics” published by BAUX was presented in Stockholm (Sweden). It was created in collaboration with leading acousticians, neuroscientists and designers.

The Book of Acoustics explores the science of sound and provides guidance for designing with acoustics. Complete with facts, figures, diagrams and expert insight, it is the ideal starting point for architectural and interior design projects and sheds light on the interplay between engineering and aesthetics.

Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina of the School of BEA, was part of the panel of experts who contributed and feature in several chapters of the book. The launch of the book so far has been a complete success. It has been written about in Forbes, Interior Design, and Architectural Digest. Due to high demand it will become commercially available online soon.

We hope you enjoy the book!

On Tuesday 3 March 2020, Eliana Voutsadakis took 25 of the the extended degree students to visit FutureBuild 2020, which is the industry's trade event, bringing together opinion-shapers, decision-makers and product innovators to explore the latest thinking.

The students will be aiming to use their visit research as part of their presentation for the Constructing the Built Environment module.

On Wednesday 4 March 2020, Eliana Voutsadakis and 12 of the Construction Management students attended an extremely interesting site visit at 22 Bishopsgate, which, at the moment, is the tallest building in the city under construction. This visit was kindly organised by the CIOB. 

The School of BEA Acoustics post graduate students and Architecture students from the famous Architectural Association (AA) in London, recently attended a series of  interdisciplinary workshops, research presentations, seminars and tours organised at both institutions. 

The Architectural Association School of Architecture is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications have given it a central position in global discussions and developments within contemporary architectural culture.

The educational exchange and collaborative activities took place on 20 February and 27 February 2020 and aimed to raise student awareness of each others’ disciplines,  promote research collaboration and encourage the exchange of knowledge, perspectives,  ideas and insights relevant in the architectural design process.  

This educational exercise has been set

On Wednesday 26 February 2020, guest speaker Professor Paul W Chan - Editor-in-Chief of “Construction Management and Economics”, delivered a Research Hub session on behalf of the School of BEA, about ‘What constitutes theoretical contribution in publishing in the CME field?’

Paul W Chan holds the Chair of Design and Construction Management and is Director of the Graduate School at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in Delft University of Technology. His research focuses on human relations in project-based contexts, and he has managed a number of funded projects that examine how people cope with social, organisational and technological change. He has authored over 90 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, including a co-authored book on Constructing Futures: Industry leaders and futures thinking in construction (Wiley-Blackwell). He is Editor-in-Chief of Construction Management and Economics, and Immediate Past Chair of ARCOM.

In this insightful session, Pau

On 19 February 2020 Professor Geoff Leventhall presented at the Keyworth Lecture theatre. He delivered a fascinating talk entitled “I can still hear it and it’s making me ill”.

The presentation discussed and contested challenging aspects of noise perception and associated annoyance of very quiet noises and even non-existent noises. It considered that multiple external influences and factors could promote adverse responses to noise. Controversial health effects and disturbance from wind turbine low frequency noise were also covered.

Professor Leventhall was Head of Institute of Environmental Engineering and reader in Acoustics at London South Bank University. He was also president of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA). He is a world-leading expert in low frequency noise and infrasounds and is currently a consultant in Noise and Vibration.

The audience valued and appreciated the insights put forward by Professor Leventhall, judging by the numerous comments and questions posed to him.

We are happy to announce that we will be hosting an event on Thursday 5th March 2020 (5:30pm to 8:00pm) about “Retrofitting the Built Environment in UK”. The aim of the event is to discuss the emission of CO2 in London, due to construction industries and propose case studies for sustainable constructions such as sustainable construction materials.

This will be a joint event with CIWEM metropolitan branch.

Feel free to see the flyer for further details.

Please also ensure that you pre-register by emailing Dr Rabee Shamass, Senior Lecturer at LSBU, to confirm your attendance at shamassr@lsbu.ac.uk

On Tuesday 21 January 2020, the winner of the Fan Makers Award, for the 2019-20 academic year was announced. The winner is Musab Mahmood, a first year apprenticeship student on the BEng Building Services Engineering course.

Musab was awarded a prize Bursary of £1,500. The School of BEA would like to congratulate Musab on his Award.