Research Group: Architectural Science Group
Welsh School of Architecture
Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue
Nicholas is the Research Associate responsible for the EPSRC Conditioning Demand: Older People, Diversity & Thermal Experience Project. This research investigates how older people of various economic backgrounds maintain thermal comfort in a landscape of low carbon technologies such as ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers.
Nicholas has worked in architectural practice in Belfast, Rotterdam and Moscow as well as a studio tutor and CAD lecturer. He currently holds a position on the RIBA Validation Panel and was previously a member of the RSUA Education Committee.
Research projects have been focused on user centered design with an emphasis on architectural practice. They include the Changing Ageing Partnership project: Designing Better Homes for the Elderly in Northern Ireland’ which led to funding for his PhD entitled ‘A CAD Based tool to assist design decision making and the assessment of inclusive design’. This research established a CAD based framework which streamlined and evolved architectural processes for peripheral design principles such as those found for inclusive design, dementia or autism.