Desert Rose Emerges
by Margie
The Solar Decathlon, known as the World Energy Olympics, is driving innovation and creating leaders of the future at the University of Wollongong. Edmiston Jones GBB continues to support the UOW Solar Decathlon team on the sidelines of this student led project. The mutual benefit has been supporting the energetic students from diverse disciplines (everything but architecture!) and workshopping our co-design principles. Refer to our previous blog.
We are still glowing from the victory in China when our firm had the privilege of working closely with the UOW Solar Decathlon team at the time. ‘This is architecture that celebrates human life – not itself’ was the citation we received for the architectural contest in the 2013 ten-part competition. The edict still resonates and underpins the ethos of the current project, The Desert Rose.
Almost 200 highly motivated students from every faculty of the UOW have been integrated with students from various departments of TAFE NSW . The proposal is for a dementia friendly eco-home of the future. 44 teams applied to Solar Decathlon Middle East and the UOW team were one of the 22 teams selected for the finals. The Desert Rose house will promote well-being for those with age-related disabilities and will adapt to the occupants’ needs as they get older. It will celebrate life by helping the elderly to live a life of enjoyment in the comfort of their own home for as long as they choose.
[caption id="attachment_3198" align="alignnone" width="450"]
Zones in the house to respect the Islamic culture and lines of sight to assist a resident with dementia.[/caption]
Clayton McDowell, a PhD student at the UOW's Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC), is Student Leader and Project Manager for the Desert Rose House. Clayton is passionate about why we need homes like our Desert Rose for a sustainable future. He knows that as buildings represent about 40% of the world’s energy use there is a huge opportunity to significantly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gasses through innovative design.
Almost 200 highly motivated students from every faculty of the UOW have been integrated with students from various departments of TAFE NSW . The proposal is for a dementia friendly eco-home of the future. 44 teams applied to Solar Decathlon Middle East and the UOW team were one of the 22 teams selected for the finals. The Desert Rose house will promote well-being for those with age-related disabilities and will adapt to the occupants’ needs as they get older. It will celebrate life by helping the elderly to live a life of enjoyment in the comfort of their own home for as long as they choose.
[caption id="attachment_3198" align="alignnone" width="450"] Zones in the house to respect the Islamic culture and lines of sight to assist a resident with dementia.[/caption]
Clayton McDowell, a PhD student at the UOW's Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC), is Student Leader and Project Manager for the Desert Rose House. Clayton is passionate about why we need homes like our Desert Rose for a sustainable future. He knows that as buildings represent about 40% of the world’s energy use there is a huge opportunity to significantly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gasses through innovative design. 
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