Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes – Part A: Building Code Compliance
40 minutes – Part B: Design and Reiterate
40 minutes – Part C: Final Concept
10 minutes – Reflection

Talking about bushfires often involves addressing sensitive issues. Bushfires are innately linked to death and dying, and as such, may evoke strong emotions, opinions, or raise challenging questions about values and beliefs that have no easy answers.

Please review the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues factsheet for information on how to create a safe environment for your students and monitor all students during and after conducting this lesson. If you're aware of any students who may struggle with this content, chat with their parents or caregivers about a strategy for this child prior to the lesson.

Part A: Building Code Compliance

Step 1.

Below and in the design document is a ‘Thought Starter’ for this phase of the design process.

Students can read through these accounts independently.

Provisions for Learning Support: Read through these accounts as a whole class, allowing time for students to share their thoughts and reflections.

Are the requirements of the National Construction Code good enough?

If the aim is to minimise the number of buildings damaged or destroyed in extreme fire events, the answer is no.

But that’s not the aim. Like most government regulation, the code requirements are about balancing competing interests.

All building regulations are subject to cost-benefit analysis. They must demonstrate a 'net cost benefit' to the community – that the cost of compliance will be less than the benefit delivered to the general community.

It’s a cold calculation about the risk and potential cost of homes being destroyed in bushfires versus the more certain costs involved in requiring all homes to be built to more stringent building codes.

– Raymond William Loveridge

(Source: https://theconversation.com/australian-building-codes-dont-expect-houses-to-be-fire-proof-and-thats-by-design-129540)

Step 2.

Explain to students that the code doesn’t specify exactly how a building must be built, only how a building must perform in bushfire conditions. This means innovative designs, materials and construction methods can be readily approved, so long as a residential building on bushfire-prone land is designed and constructed to reduce the risk of ignition from a bushfire appropriate to the risk from bushfire flames, burning embers, radiant heat and intensity of the bushfire attack.

Step 3.

Facilitate a discussion:

How expensive is too expensive? Mr Loveridge is talking about the physical monetary costs of erecting a new building. But are there things that could be lost in a bushfire with indefinable value?
Consider the cost of losing human lives during a bushfire event. How much of an investment is a person ‘worth’, in this sense, to be protected?
Consider the cost of losing irreplaceable (and therefore priceless) photo albums or mementos.
Consider the cost to the environment. The code considers it a cheaper alternative for a less fire-resistant house to burn down and be rebuilt, but this is not sustainable practice.
Is time a cost factor? People who have lost their homes are likely to need somewhere to live in in the short term. Would students be willing to compromise on their vision to get a building erected quickly? Or is there a way to mitigate this challenge, perhaps with a portable style building or a core structure that is immediately livable but can be improved upon over time.
The average cost of building a new home in Australia in 2018 was $313,800. Can students put a price on how much extra they’d be willing to spend on a more fire-resistant home?

Part B: Design and Reiterate

Step 1.

Independently, students will begin to explore solutions that address the Problem Statements identified in the Define Phase, drawing upon the knowledge discovered in the Research Phase.

Step 2.

Firstly, ask students to reflect on the persona they created in the Empathize Phase, and the challenges that person faced during and after a bushfire. Students should keep this person in mind as they set about creating a solution, as the purpose of the project is ultimately to help that person and address their needs.

Step 3.

Direct students back towards Bushfire resistant housing ideas (https://www.edigitalagency.com.au/architecture/best-bushfire-resistant-house-design-ideas/) and Fire resilient homes for Australia (https://www.design-estate.com.au/affordable-fire-resilient-homes-for-australia/) for some great visual inspiration for their housing designs.

Step 4.

Guided by the design document, students create four initial concepts for fire-resistant housing.

Students shouldn't spend more than ten minutes on each design; they’re only quick initial sketches.

These concepts should include:

A floor plan (bird's-eye view). Are rooms laid out in such a way to increase fire resistance?
The surrounding grounds. Is this area cleared land, or does it feature a lawn or water break?
An image of how the front of the house will look. The outer shape of the house may be a major fire-resistant feature.
Materials used in construction. Include the skeleton, outer cladding, shutters, doors and furniture as well as a brief analysis of the benefits and costs of these materials. Different materials have different qualities and have different implementation limitations. For example, a house made entirely from steel with predominantly steel furniture might be highly resistant to bushfire, but it would be prohibitively expensive and difficult to manufacture.
Features such as sprinklers and shutters, labelled.

Students might find that their favourite or particularly strong elements are being repeated and reiterated across multiple designs, and these parts of each idea might make their way into the final concept. However, students should try not to fixate on a single idea. The purpose of this stage is to explore a variety of different options, being as creative as possible. Students might find that an idea they hadn't given much thought to actually becomes their preference as they work through it.

Provisions for Learning Support: If students are really struggling to be creative and break out of the shackles of their own inner critic, consider guiding students through the ideation method of the ‘worst possible idea’. The concept is simple: in small groups or as a whole class students come up with solutions to the problem that are impossible, impractical or just downright silly. No idea is off limits (and no idea should be met with resistance).

What about building a house that is permanently underneath a waterfall? A bushfire would have a hard time impacting that building, and you can worry about the soggy furniture and lack of oxygen – maybe never?

The purpose of this exercise is to relax and encourage students, boost their confidence and stoke their creativity. Then the important part: turn an inquisitive eye on some of these ideas to challenge assumptions and gain insight and inspiration into what might potentially be a brilliant idea with a little tweaking.

A waterfall house would be tough, but is there somewhere to make the outer cladding of a house permanently damp? Perhaps through the use of moss or soil …

Step 5.

Ensure students don't erase or throw out any of their initial sketches. Students can abandon an idea if it's proving too challenging and can create more than four initial drafts if they are feeling motivated and engaged, but only by working through an idea and trying to conceptualise it will inspiration be uncovered, problems be identified and designs be improved upon and streamlined.

Provisions for Learning Extension: Four is a good minimum number of concepts, but if students are engaged, consider extending this part of the phase. Allow students to review each other's designs and return to the drawing board to incorporate new inspirations.

Step 6.

When students believe they have figured out the strongest solutions, they draft a final concept.

This concept is larger and more detailed than the four initial sketches, although be aware that it is still a draft and not a presentation piece. This concept is to demonstrate the results of the iterative process and students' developed thinking.

Guided by the design document, students label their concept with appropriate technical information and explain the thinking behind their solution as informed by the research they undertook in the previous lesson.

Reflection

Ask students to identify one area where their design went through multiple iterations. This could be as simple as reworking the placement of sprinkler systems so that the facade of the building was both functionally protective and pleasing to view.

Students write a short reflection on their thought process while working through this challenge. Why did they make these changes? Was the change easy or difficult to implement? Were there any flow-on effects from making the change? For example, moving the sprinklers might affect the positioning of the windows.

Where to next?

Students will have spent significant time streamlining their idea and should feel confident that it addresses the problem statements that they identified in previous lessons. The evaluation phase asks students to present their understandings from the entire unit in a presentation piece and reflect on how well they have met the goal of the unit.

Teacher Reflection

It can be challenging to try a different teaching methodology, but it is a great way to further develop your practice.

In the design process model the instructor's task is to challenge students' preconceived ideas, foster their curiosity, pose challenging questions and provide support and guidance to students as they are self-directed in pursuing knowledge. This can potentially be difficult for students who are more familiar with the traditional role in learning of instructors as the main disseminator of information.

Take a moment to reflect on your practice by answering one or two of the following questions.

Did students appear confident in approaching the tasks of this lesson? If so, what's one thing you think you did that was effective in supporting them? If not, what's one thing you could do to better support them in the future?
What's something new or interesting or that you liked about this lesson? Why?
What's one aspect of this lesson that you found challenging to teach? Why?
What's one area of your practice that you felt these lessons helped you develop or practise? How?
What's one part of this lesson you would do differently if you were to teach it again in the future?
Were there any parts or activities that students may need more time on before progressing to the next lesson?
Did you identify any gaps in students' understanding?

Bushfire-Resistant Housing - Ideation and Prototyping Phase

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