Browsing by Author "Weerasinghe, UGD"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

item: Conference-Full-text
Caring neighbourhoods in managing cities for transforming futures
(Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2019-11-14) Wijesundara, J; Weerasinghe, UGD; Perera, R; Dayaratne, R
City performance ensures references to the spatial form of the city or any built environment as places for people. The quality of a place is a result of the combined effect of place and society that inhabits in it. In managing cities, it is important to understand behavior of different social groups reflected in urban formation and transformation. Several performance dimensions are identified in Good City forms; it should be vital, sensible, well fitted, accessible, well controlled and all of these are achieved with integrity and internal efficiency. They are the collective experience of urban form of a city; at local community space levels, giving birth to neighbourhood sustainability. As an important concept in Planning and Architecture, Sustainability has become vital in contemplation of cities. In the development of neighbourhoods, it has received lesser attention particularly in the context of developing countries for some reason. However, cities cannot be considered sustainable and cared, if constituent neighbourhoods, do not meet sustainability measures. It is clear that the urban form of a city is constantly facing to challenges in transforming into futures, and therefore, should with-stand to impending social, environmental and economic requirements of the neighbourhoods; where people live in and work at. This paper attempts to discover the sustainable identity of a selected residential neighbourhood in Colombo inner city limits as a case sample, to recognize its determinant factors in design formation. Further it investigates the means of improving and maintaining them, to be preserved as long lasting, great urban neighbourhoods. This will address the essentials in caring such urban neighbourhoods as distinctive living entities, which are momentous constituents of changing city.
item: Conference-Full-text
Do bea methods fulfil needs of global sustainability initiatives?
(2013-11-12) Weerasinghe, UGD; Ruwanpura, JY
The last two decades witnessed the notion of sustainable development making its way into growth of all facets of society, including the building industry, which makes a significant impact on the social, environmental and economic well-being of human beings. At present efforts are being made by the building industry to adhere to sustainability norms by introducing green building practices and building environmental assessment (BEA) methods. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a widely accepted BEA method in North America. The existing BEA methods primarily address environmental issues, which restricts the scope within which the performance of a building could be assessed, and are considered as inadequate in addressing sustainable concerns. This paper attempts to determine the extent to which BEA methods adhere to global sustainability requisites with the aid of Agenda 21 - a blueprint for sustainable development adopted by the UN at the Rio Summit - and three selected BEA methods. Accordingly, global sustainability issues as applicable to building industry are determined by analysis of Agenda 21, and are evaluated against credits from BEA methods to establish additional potential sustainability requirements which are verified through feedback from industry professionals.. This exercise paves way for the development of a system to assess sustainability of buildings.
item: SRC-Report
An Examination of the development of structure and materials and their impact on architectural forms with special reference to long span buildings
Weerasinghe, UGD
This research will examine how structural innovations have transformed architecture and form of buildings , from the bulky and massive to the lightweight, while investigating achievement of long span buildings in detail. The research intends to identify structure as an inherent aspect in building; and investigate its impact on architectural form from the past through various technological advancements up to the present- and a possible future. The emphasis will be on long span structural systems, and Tensile and Arch Structures will be examined in detail. This study will not focus on structural analysis, which is highly specialized area in structural engineering. The emphasis will be on horizontal span buildings, while vertical spans - high rise -will be dealt with in general. Although the study will also not specifically investigate other major generators of architecture such as cultural and social attributes, it would inquire into those aspects to substantiate arguments as and when necessary. Implications arising from long span structures such as indoor environment conditions, servicing, energy efficiency and sustainable technologies will be discussed in general depending on the information available.
item: SRC-Report
An Examination of the pattern of energy consumption in high rise buildings in Colombo
Weerasinghe, UGD
According to Ceylon Electricity Board, the total energy demand of Sri Lanka is increasing at an annual average rate of 10%, and it is forecast that the present electricity demand will quadruple during the next 15 years. Research carried out recently in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world has shown that the building industry has become one of the major energy consumers in the world. The tall building, the sealed glazed structure, with a complex systems of services required to keep the building operational, has become one of the most significant users of energy.
item: Article-Full-text
The impact of visual complexity on perceived safety and comfort of the users: A study on urban streetscape of Sri Lanka
(PLOS, 2022) Kawshalya, LWG; Weerasinghe, UGD; Chandrasekara, DP
Increase in the variety of development in urban context has made it more complicated and complex for the users of public spaces. Absence of sufficient information to read the surrounding causes psychological anxiousness leading to perceived danger or discomfort for the urbanites. Consequently, perceived safety and comfort of the users is distinctively low in urban contexts, creating neglected and underused spaces. Complexity is one of the information processing variables as per Kaplan and Kaplan's informational model which helps users to comprehend the surrounding environment. The streetscape plays a vital role in the daily movement patterns within the urban cities and is the transition boundary between the public and private realms. Visual complexity of these streets is a result of different configurations of elements within the urban areas. This research is conducted to ascertain the relationship between visual complexity levels of the streets with the perceived safety and comfort of the users. Shannon Diversity Index (SDI) and Fractal dimension analysis were conducted with 48 SVIs (Street View Images) selected within 1km radius of Colpetty junction, Colombo Sri Lanka covering all the possible compositions found within the context. The visual index data extraction had identified ten major components within the selected 48 SVIs. 78 subjective ranking responses for perceived safety, comfort (preference) and perceived complexity were collected from snowball sampling. Findings of the study revealed that perceived safety levels and preference scores for the SVIs are related to the Shannon Diversity Index calculation in an inverted 'U' shape where the highest and lowest SDI values are related with low preference scores and low safety levels. The SVIs with medium SDI values are perceived as the safest and most preferred by the users of urban streets of Colombo Sri Lanka. The SDI and fractal dimension values were significantly correlated with the perceived complexity scores of the users. The results of this study can be accommodated in the planning and designing of urban streetscapes of tropical climates for sustainable and friendly urban expansions.
item: Conference-Full-text
Sustaining Sense of Place of Kandy, Sri Lanka: The Role of Commercial Spaces
(2015-10-02) Nushra, MNF; Weerasinghe, UGD
Developing a historically important city while retaining the essence of that place is a crucial issue confronted by architects, urban designers and planners worldwide. It should neither be a repetition of elements nor total disregard of conservational norms: if that city is an urbanized living city, many facets such as public services, commercial activities and conservation issues require consideration. Understanding the sense of place is considered as the means of ensuring healthy and sustainable development in a historical city. Sense of place is always related to human interaction with places and is reflected in commercial spaces, which have the potential of creating an identity to a city. Therefore the objective of this research is to explore the sense of place in commercial spaces of a living historical city.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
Urban form in sustainable neighbourhoods
(Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2018-10-05) Wijesundara, J; Weerasinghe, UGD; Perera, R; Wijesundara, J; Dayaratne, R
Urban form is the generalized physical indicator or the manifestation of a built-up area.It demonstrates physical patterns, layouts and structures of neighbourhood designs, which defines the physical character of neighborhoods and communities within the City. Overall, the city or neighbourhood forms are constituted and configured of a set of ‘elements’of its urban form, which could be identified as streets, street blocks, plots and buildings. In each of these configurations, elements are combined in a specific way, originating a different identifiable character, unique to each and every neighbourhood or city. Neighborhoods always possess a strong physical reality inside cities with distinctive physical, social and economic characteristics. They are the main ‘unit’ of city which play a key role in formation of cities. Elements and composition of such formation or the urban form of a neighbourhood are identified as key factors that are claimed to influence sustainability and human behaviour.As an important concept in Planning and Architecture, sustainability is central in consideration of development of cities, and neighbourhoods. Cities cannot be considered sustainable if their component neighbourhoods, do not meet sustainability criteria. This paper intends to examine the relationship between urban form and neighbourhood sustainability to identify urban form of a sustainable neighbourhood. It investigates the elements and composition of urban form that attempted to promote sustainable neighbourhoods, reaching compatible sustainability concepts.