
PhD, DipArch (Distinction), BArch (First Class)
Philip Oldfield is Head of School at UNSW Built Environment, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Philip’s research interests are focused primarily on sustainable design, embodied carbon and tall building architecture. He is an active member of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), and is author of the book “The Sustainable Tall Building: A Design Primer” published by Taylor and Francis in 2019. He has led over $1 million of funded research projects with diverse inter-disciplinary teams from industry and academia, tackling issues varying from how we use evidence to create high performance buildings, to strategies to simultaneously reduce embodied carbon and cost in buildings. He was a guest editor for Energy and Buildings on a special issue dedicated to embodied carbon, and has also published in The Journal of Architecture, Architectural Science Review, Solar Energy, A+U, Emotion Space and Society and more.
He has a passion for teaching in higher education, across both architectural studio and seminar courses, and has been recognised as a Scientia Education Fellow at UNSW. In addition, he is a British Science Association Media Fellow and regularly writes articles for Architecture Australia, Architects’ Journal, the Guardian and many other publications.
Philip's research is concerned with exploring and improving the sustainable performance of high-rise architecture and high-density cities. More specifically, his research is engaged with three primary themes:
1. The environmental performance of tall buildings and dense cities: Identifying and developing architectural and technological strategies to improve the performance of high-rise architecture and dense cities to contribute to reduced global carbon emissions.
2. Embodied carbon and material sustainability in large and tall buildings: Developing design strategies, technologies and mechanisms to reduce embodied carbon in buildings.
3. Social sustainability and liveability in tall buildings: High-rise architecture can only contribute to reduced carbon emissions if the typology offers attractive and equitable places to live. As such, this research explores the narratives and experiences of those who live and work in tall buildings. It seeks to develop design strategies and governance mechanisms to improve these experiences.
Other Papers / Articles (commercial / short articles - selected)
Television, Newspaper and Radio Interviews (selected)
My Research Supervision
Aysu Kuru: Biomimetic adaptive building skins: An approach towards multifunctionality
Hyungmo Yang: Designing Better Apartments: Spatial layouts of units for families with children
Linda Romanovska: Evaluation of urban green infrastructure from a whole-of- life perspective
Florence Wong: Mass Engineered Timber (MET) Construction - Opportunities & Barriers of its development in hot & humid Asian Pacific cities as comparing with more advanced North America and Europe
Eunike Krisit Julistiono: Vertical Extension: Investigation into Strategies, Structural Performance and Sustainability
Noni Nuriani: Feedback Loop into Energy Modelling Practice in Australia’s Commercial Office Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits
My Teaching
I am course leader of ARCH1161 / PLAN1002: Building Environment. This is a core first year course for Architecture and City Planning students examining the built environment and climate change.