Research & ESD
Achievement
The Cox Group has a major advantage in that environmentally responsive design was embedded in our methodologies long before it became an imperative. From the Sydney School work of the 1960s, epitomised by the CB Alexander Agricultural College in the NSW Hunter Valley, to the Yulara Township at Uluru of 1984, we sought to create inherently sustainable built environments.
Yulara in particular was a seminal project, it being totally reliant upon solar energy, captured water and on-site waste and sewage treatment.
Stepping forward 25 years, The Cox Group has developed strategies and technologies which inform our design work from the beginning of the process. Some of these are evolved by internal research, others by collaborations with research institutes such as the CSIRO and engineers with which we share common goals and long term relationships.
The Cox Group’s methodologies have meant that we were the first national architectural practice to be a fully accredited member of the Green Building Council of Australia. In Queensland, we were the first architectural practice to achieve a GBCA Green Star 5 star ‘as built’ rating for a commercial building, and the first to achieve a 6 star ‘design’ rating.
However, we see the rating schemes as only part of meeting the challenges ahead in creating architecture that is responsive to its contextual environment and flexible in being able to adapt to change – the fundamentals of built environment sustainability.
Understanding + Commitment
We understand that sustainability encompasses the economic affordability of ESD initiatives compared to the return over time from life cycle efficiency. We understand that sustainable places are socially inclusive, culturally diverse and therefore optimised in use.
However, we also understand that approaches to design need to be continually informed by knowledge and research. It is for this reason that we established ‘E-COX’, our internal environmental research group, with members in each of our 5 national branches and our overseas offices – to update on new technologies.
The ‘E-COX Sustainability Manual’ provides all of our staff with immediate access to this knowledge, the post-occupancy evaluation of our projects performance and client satisfaction, and comprehensive set of guidelines applicable to all projects.
Our Approach
We believe that there has been a wide gap in communication between the designers of built environments – planners, urban designers and architects – and the researchers who can impart vital knowledge including scientists, environmentalists, demographers and materials technologists.
We also believe that the most effective gains in the future will derive from strategies that encompass whole urban precincts as well as the individual buildings within them.
Thus our approach always commences with an understanding of who is best to contribute to environmental solutions, for which we have established many relationships not only with engineers but researchers and specialists. It entails looking beyond the site at hand to the wider context. This methodology seeks to embed sustainability in principles into the planning and design before considering the need for particular technologies.
From this point, engaging with our clients and consultants, our methodology encompasses the following:
- Whole-of-life philosophy and understanding
- Energy strategies for either or both optimised conventional systems and alternative energy potentials
- Water sensitive urban design ranging through rainwater to grey and black water strategies as may be feasible.
- Waste management from construction to operation
- Materials ranging from recycled to recyclable, and to new materials technologies
- Daylighting and air quality optimisation
- Transport and alternative transport facilities
Underpinning these strategies are the fundamental relationship between capital cost and life cycle efficiency, our aim being to impose not nett cost increase to a project due to the environmental strategies applied.