Contents

Thirty chapters across the four strands of the specification. The book is organised around a single chain of reasoning rather than a list of isolated topics:

Design decision→Physical mechanism→Measurable performance outcome

Tied to that, every chapter names the change in thinking it is designed to produce — the way a student’s understanding shifts, not just the topics it covers. Open a strand to see each chapter and its shift.

The Built Environment and Human Settlement

Change in thinking: Buildings are no longer seen as neutral or technical objects, but as deliberate human responses shaped by social values, environmental conditions, and historical context.

Architectural Design of Domestic Dwellings

Change in thinking: Design is no longer understood as appearance or layout alone, but as a balanced response to function, climate, sustainability, and responsibility to users and place.

Architectural and Environmental Heritage

Change in thinking: Heritage is no longer treated as a static record of the past, but as a practical source of lessons about place, materials, and long-term sustainability.

Site Selection, Planning, and Context

Change in thinking: A site is no longer viewed as an empty plot, but as a complex context shaped by infrastructure, policy, landscape, and community that must guide design choices.

Health and Safety in Construction Technology

Change in thinking: Safety is no longer viewed as a checklist to comply with, but as an outcome created — or undermined — by informed design, planning, and behaviour.

Universal Design in Domestic Buildings

Change in thinking: Universal Design is no longer treated as a specialist add-on, but as an early design mindset that supports inclusion, independence, and lifelong usability.

Sustainable Use of Materials

Change in thinking: Materials are no longer selected only for cost and performance, but as choices with lifecycle impacts, embodied carbon consequences, and ethical implications.

Construction Materials – Properties and Uses

Change in thinking: Material selection is no longer based on habit or labels, but on understanding material behaviour and matching properties to purpose and performance.

Design Thinking and Investigation

Change in thinking: Design is no longer understood as having a good idea, but as a structured process of investigation, testing, and refinement in response to a brief.

Developing, Planning, and Managing Solutions

Change in thinking: Good solutions are no longer expected to happen automatically, but are planned, controlled, monitored, and evaluated throughout development.

Graphical Communication and Modelling

Change in thinking: Graphics and models are no longer treated as final drawings, but as tools for thinking, testing, and controlling design intent.

Craft Skills, Processes, and Techniques

Change in thinking: Craft is no longer seen as basic making, but as precision work where skill, accuracy, and safe practice determine quality.

Communicating and Reflecting on Learning

Change in thinking: Communication and reflection are no longer treated as presentation tasks, but as methods for judging quality and improving future work.

Principles of the Building Fabric

Change in thinking: The building fabric is no longer understood as separate parts, but as one system that must simultaneously deliver structure, thermal control, moisture control, airtightness, fire safety, and acoustics.

Functions and Performance of the Building Fabric

Change in thinking: Building performance is no longer assumed from materials alone, but understood as the result of correct design, sequencing, and detailing.

Substructure and Superstructure Systems

Change in thinking: A dwelling is no longer viewed as an abstract form, but as a coordinated set of substructure and superstructure systems assembled to achieve performance.

Retrofitting and Improving Existing Dwellings

Change in thinking: Existing homes are no longer treated as problems to bypass, but as real-world constraints to analyse and improve through careful retrofit decisions.

Passive and Low-Energy Housing

Change in thinking: Low energy use is no longer seen as something achieved by adding efficient systems, but as something largely set by how a dwelling controls heat loss and heat gain through passive design.

Buildings, Health, and Human Wellbeing

Change in thinking: Occupant wellbeing is no longer treated as a bonus, but recognised as a core outcome shaped by fabric performance, air quality, light, and comfort.

Ecological Building Design

Change in thinking: Environmental impact is no longer considered only at the end, but evaluated across design choices, construction methods, and whole-life consequences.

Building Regulations and Standards

Change in thinking: Building regulations are no longer seen as barriers to creativity, but as safety and quality frameworks that shape responsible design decisions.

Indoor Environment and Human Comfort

Change in thinking: Comfort is no longer assumed to be subjective, but defined as a set of measurable performance requirements that guide design and systems choices.

Heat Transfer and Thermal Behaviour

Change in thinking: Heat transfer is no longer treated as theory, but as the practical basis for understanding energy use, fabric performance, and efficiency measures.

Ventilation and Airtightness

Change in thinking: Air movement is no longer understood as an incidental by-product of construction, but as a deliberate, measurable design decision shaping heat loss, air quality, moisture, and performance.

Energy Performance and Operational Carbon

Change in thinking: Energy performance is no longer a vague claim, but a measurable outcome that can be calculated, compared, and improved through design decisions.

Energy Sources and Space Heating Systems

Change in thinking: Heating systems are selected in response to calculated demand, efficiency, and carbon impact — not by default or habit.

Water Supply and Conservation Systems

Change in thinking: Water is no longer treated as an unlimited utility, but as a finite resource that must be delivered, heated, and conserved responsibly.

Drainage and Wastewater Systems

Change in thinking: Drainage is no longer viewed as hidden infrastructure, but as a health and environmental responsibility requiring safe, sustainable system design.

Electrical Supply and On-site Generation

Change in thinking: Electricity is no longer understood simply as a utility supply, but as a safety-critical, performance-related system increasingly integrated with on-site generation.

Smart Home and Control Technologies

Change in thinking: Smart technologies are no longer viewed as novelty features, but as coordinated systems that monitor conditions, improve safety, optimise energy use, and sustain performance over time.

© Trevor Hickey 2026