Research project exploring the relationship between urban density, environmental performance and architectural form through computational design methods.
The study investigated how a group of buildings could evolve through multiple generations while responding to daylight access and solar exposure requirements. Instead of manually defining the height of each building, an iterative optimisation process was used to generate and evaluate thousands of design variations.
The algorithm continuously adjusted building heights and proportions, measuring solar access across the development and selecting the most effective configurations. More than 100,000 design iterations were evaluated during the process, allowing the system to identify solutions that balanced urban density with environmental quality.
The project combined urban design, environmental analysis and generative design workflows developed in Rhino, Grasshopper, Honeybee and Ladybug.
The resulting architectural proposal explores a porous urban fabric composed of interconnected volumes and perforated façades, creating a distinctive identity while maintaining access to daylight throughout the site.
Project Information
Project: Urban Morphology Study
Type: Urban Design Research
Year: 2015–2016
Status: Academic Research Project
My Role
Research, concept development, computational design, environmental analysis, optimisation workflow development, architectural design and visualisation.
Methodology
Solar access analysis
Environmental simulation
Generative design
Evolutionary optimisation
Urban morphology studies
Parametric modelling
Tools
Rhino
Grasshopper
Ladybug
Honeybee
Key Results
More than 100,000 design generations evaluated
Automated building height optimisation
Environmental performance driven massing
Daylight and solar exposure analysis
Integration of computational workflows into urban design decision-making
