Design Innovation to tackle complex challenges

Together with my Arup team, I led the development of YARD, an augmented reality public co-creation research tool to help clients and communities expand their thinking about the problem area and understand a solution’s benefits and interdependencies through co-design. 

Given the scale of the climate change challenges that our cities face, it’s vital that everyone is democratically involved in design and decision-making as we attempt to shift into a more sustainable future. A key part of this public engagement challenge is how to visualise and explain what’s possible and desirable – and new technology has a valuable role to play here.

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Read more at NLA News.

50 Fenchurch Street, designed by Eric Parry Architects, aims to be the most sustainable tall building in London. Our challenge was to design a digital experience that aligns with the architectural vision, addresses stakeholder needs, and meets both environmental and business goals. Along with my team, I implemented an empathetic and collaborative approach to smart design, critically identifying opportunities for digital solutions to add the most value. This resulted in a comprehensive, people-centered agenda, a list of use cases, and options for product solutions.

An R&D study focused on developing a new service proposition that integrates the human dimension of large-scale building retrofitting in the UK, while creating value for Arup's sustainable development agenda. Developed following an extensive research phase, during which we engaged with a diverse range of stakeholders across the value chain, this toolkit serves as a practical guide, empowering engineers and design consultants to incorporate the end-user perspective into their projects.

Part of DEFRA Flood Resilience Programme, Flood AI is developped in partnership with the Environment Agency and Northumberland county Council to create a next-generation flooding resilience early-warning solution for local communities in UK. We explored the application of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and smart sensors to enable communities and supporting groups to make more informed decisions. Discovery and Alpha stage.

An experimental initiative commissioned by the Safer Streets Mission (UK Goverment) and developped in collaboration the Joint Data and Analysis Centre from Cabinet Office, aiming to provide policy-makers with advanced simulation tools to foresee the impact of various decisions. The first pilot focuses in addressing anti-social behaviour in the UK. 

A big part of Human Centred Design's  strength is in what it reveals at the individual and community level, enabling the development of new solutions from previously underserved needs. It is a critical approach to maximise value creation when confronting emerging climate change threats and pondering their response. Once rare, but now common, extremes of temperature or rainfall, have profound and varied implications for the way we live and decisions we take. Events that are said to be once-in-a-lifetime are easy for local communities to overlook or fail to prepare for. Yet, building resilience to these threats through rooting innovation in human needs and bringing people into the design process is now an urgent priority in a world where emissions, despite many efforts, continue to increase.

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Read more in Arup.com.