Fieldstudies is a dedicated research group within Fieldwork that investigates how strategic design thinking can address critical issues within the built environment. Our industry faces challenges on multiple fronts– increasing construction productivity and housing supply while addressing rapid decarbonisation, minimising environmental impact and providing healthy spaces to live, work and learn. Our research approach is to focus on areas our work can most impact – housing innovation, materials for a sustainable future and the adaptive reuse of existing buildings.  Our research through Fieldstudies deepens our understanding of the areas where design-thinking and architecture can push for greater civic equity. This requires a spirit to explore, and advocate for what is necessary, and it is this focus that makes our research practice rich, difficult and complex. 

Housing Innovation
Fieldstudies is actively undertaking research in Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to develop a modular concept model that is low-carbon, affordable, healthy, and adopts principles of Designing for Manufacture and Assembly  (DfMA) for a positive, adaptable, long-term legacy. This exciting research is identifying key innovations in design standardisation and industrialised manufacturing processes that can reduce construction time and waste, embed quality control, enable high performance, improve site safety and through the balance of these processes achieve a cost-effective outcome.

Materials for a Sustainable Future
The materials we choose to build with shape not just our spaces, but our future. Within Fieldstudies, we’re challenging conventional practices by researching and promoting materials that are regenerative, healthy, built to last and beautiful. Through global and local investigations, close collaboration with suppliers and makers, and open knowledge-sharing, we’re actively driving a more sustainable shift in construction. We apply thislearning directly to our work, embedding sustainable materials into live projectsto test, refine, and demonstrate their potential in real-world contexts.

Adaptive Reuse
Our adaptive reuse research explores how existing buildings can be transformed to exceed contemporary performance standards while significantly reducing environmental impact. By maximising the value of current assets, we aim to extend the life of the building and reduce reliance on finite resources. This includes minimising dependence on our energy and water grid, maximising energy generation and on-site water capture, eliminating waste to landfill, and reusing existing materials through circular construction methods. Through comprehensive performance assessments and cost-benefit analyses, we target building upgrades with a payback of under ten years. Our goal is to deliver exemplar projects that demonstrate cost-effective, future-ready design to the wider built environment industry.