LIST OF DISSERTATION PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY ACADEMIC STAFF

ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/3

Perit Ruben Borg

The areas i shall be continuing to work on for next year with regards
dissertations are a build up on those i completed this year:

§ Self Compacting concrete.

§ Limestone filled cement – limestone concrete

§ Transport properties in concrete and Durability – pfa in concrete.

§ Life Cycle Analysis and embodied energy of materials.

Professor Denis De Lucca

1. Valletta - Memories of the Baroque in its contemporary urban scenario.

2 Interactions between historical and contemporary urban spaces and

buildings.

3 The architecture of power & representation in past and present Valletta

4 Tourism in Malta : Capitalising on our Baroque heritage

5 I Capitali del Barocco – An example of themed city networking in

southern Europe

6 Slipping contexts: Renzo Piano and Valletta beyond Baroque?

Perit Joseph Falzon

1. Party Walls

The existing legislation on party walls assumes a form of construction totally

unrelated to modern developments. Buildings were generally assumed to be
low rise (in general not more than two floors) without basements and built in
stone masonry. Modern developments in construction and materials used has
made most of this legislation irrelevant and this is giving rise to litigation. Party
walls have several function in addition to the separation between properties. It
has to provide adequate sound and thermal insulation. It has to support load
both of the superstructure and side loading. It has to ensure an adequate
barrier to water penetration at all times.

The study aims to assess present practice in the construction of party walls in
the light of present legislation and propose a modern legislative framework for
this type of construction.

2. The Flat Roof

Flat roofs are part of our culture and system of construction. The flat roof may
be required to perform several functions including: a private open space, a
place to locate services; a collecting area for surface water, etc. It has to
provide an acceptable visual roofscape.

The study aims to assess present practice in the construction and use of flat
roofs in the local context and make proposals for the optimum design for flat
roofs.

3. The Green Roof

The construction of green roofs has become very popular in recent years.
They can provide an excellent amenity for many buildings by creating a
pleasant personal open space. On the other hand there is a price to pay for all
this both in terms of construction and maintenance of the building. In addition
roof gardens reduce surface water and the collection and use of surface water
is an important means of reducing energy consumption. In addition run-off
from roof gardens in normally highly contaminated with plant nutrients which
limits its subsequent use to irrigation only.

The study aims at a consideration of roof gardens in the local context to

assess their performance and limitations and decide whether they can be
considered an acceptable proposition for a building.

Perit Kevin Gatt

Specific Research Area

I have been awarded a small funding allocation to undertake a water

conservation project in about 13 Gozitan schools. This will involve:

1. conducting a water audit to determine current water usage practices;

2. understanding historical consumption volumes;
3. installing flow aerators on taps and flushing volume reducers where
possible;
4. any other measures.

This project will need to start earlier than usual and it is envisaged that the
first meetings will be held after Easter. I have already spoken to the Dean,
informing him of my intention to offer one student the possibility to work on
this project as part of the dissertation, and he has agreed. Thus what you
invest now, and in the summer, you will reap in the forthcoming year.

Therefore there is the opportunity for one student to work on this research
project and have the dissertation focused on this research. If anyone is
interested, I need a quick reply and commitment. This will be based on a first
come first served basis.

Main Research Areas

1. Using peer pressure to promote greener choices

2. Developing a Local Agenda 21 for a Locality (this can be done for more
than one Local Council if there are more than one person interested)

3. Green building rating (some work has been done on domestic buildings
but there is scope for work on industrial, tourism, commercial, public
buildings etc)

4. The Effectiveness of Fiscal Measures on Greener Actions (we can split

this into citizens and businesses)

5. Quantifying the cost of administrative burdens in the construction

industry

6. Levels of waste separation (industrial, tourism, commercial, public

buildings etc)

7. Identifying the waste mix (requires support from Wasteserv)

8. Characterising the Maltese people’s attitude to waste separation

9. Areas related to sustainable development:

a. Assessing Government strategies against sustainable
development criteria
b. Determining the public’s understanding of sustainable
development

10. Areas related to climate change

a. The extent to which climate change issues are factored in
Government policy

11. Areas related to water resources

a. developing and executing water audits
b. establishing the water footprint of different sectors

12. Areas related to solid waste management

a. developing and executing waste audits
b. measures related to developing a waste footprint
 13. Areas related to wastewater management and reuse
a. Characterising people’s perception to the use of treated sewage
effluent

14. Characterising water consumption in public buildings and determining

the potential for reducing water consumption

Perit Ramon Gauci

Emergent Technology in Design: A study on the theories behind the use of

CAD programming in contemporary design.

The Development of Romanesque Architecture

Scripting Architecture
Hypermedia-scapes: The New Electronic Interface in Architecture
Architectural Landscape as a Political Agenda
Utopian Landscapes

Perit Adrian Mifsud

1) Index properties of Clay-bearing soils and rocks of the Maltese Islands

(continuation of Nadine Debono's Dissertation, focusing on particular
sediments rather than a wide range as Nadine did this year)
2) Mineralogical characterization of the clay-bearing rocks and soils of the
Maltese Islands using X-Ray diffraction techniques.

Dr. Eur. A.Mollicone

General Areas of Interest : Descriptive Geometry and Computer science.

Examples of Themes: -Representation of Architectural Orders.
-Baroque vaults

Dr Joseph Spiteri

Design and Accessibility Related Topics

• Effects of the Equal Opportunities Act on architectural design.

• Effects of the Equal Opportunities Act on refurbishment projects.
• Access for All and Conservation Projects.
• Accessibility Audits of buildings. A Methodology.
• Access for All in Hotels. A review of existing hotels. (In say Sliema, or
Bugibba)
• Access for All in Schools. A review of existing schools. (Primary,
Secondary))
 • The effects of the Equal Opportunities Act on the building industry.
• Case studies. Implementing Access for All in important buildings (eg.
Museums, Churches).
• Reasonableness provision for Access for All.
• The cost implications of implementing Access for All.
• Implementation of Access for All in prehistoric temples.
• Building design and Access for All for deaf people.
• Building design and Access for All for persons with visual impaired and
blind persons.
• Emergency management systems and persons with disability.

Management related topics.

• Implementing quality systems in architectural design firms.

• Implementing quality systems in contractor firms.
• The cost / benefits of quality systems in the building industry.
• Facilities management.
• Health and safety procedures in the building industry in Malta.
• Method statements manual for the Maltese Construction Industry.
• The costs and benefits of introducing ISO 14001, environmental
management systems in the Maltese Construction Industry.

Valuations

• Valuation of property: The effects of local planning on property values.

• Valuation of property: The effects of changing legislation on property
values.
• Valuation of compulsory acquired property:
• Construction site management. A survey of Maltese practice.

Design Related Issues

• Architectural design as an extension of client organisations.

• Architecture. An ‘art’ or a ‘service to the building industry’?