The presenter David Cox is the Managing Director of Cox Architects, a Brisbane based firm which has experience in designing different types of fire-resistant buildings for many years. David’s interest in designing appropriate structures in bushfire areas began in the 1980’s when he carried out research work on mainly industrial and commercial buildings. Since then … Continue reading Steel in bushfires webinar
Australia is no stranger to bushfires. However, the summer of 2019-2020 proved to be unprecedented in many ways. By mid-February 2020, thousands of bushfires across the country had claimed the lives of over 30 people and a billion animals, and burnt around 20 million hectares of land. With approximately 3,000 homes and several thousand other … Continue reading Bushfire resilient building design
The recent bushfires extended from September last year until the end of March. We were therefore under attack for half a year. It exposed many weaknesses in our built environment and the stewardship of our natural resources. We were found exposed because of directionless development and the vulnerability of our built assets to both wildfires … Continue reading Bushfires – Assets and liabilities
The fire we were escaping from was the Applethorpe fire in Queensland which started on the 6th September 2019. We were some of the first groups to be evacuated in the 2019 fires. Since then many thousands of people in most states have been evacuated to escape the bush fires/wildfires currently spreading over Australia. View … Continue reading Bushfires – Take what is valuable
One reason for Australia’s procrastination on the adoption of new technology to help prepare us for the effects of our harsh environment is because most believe nothing can be done to protect us from bush fires. The reality, however, is that this is simply not correct and doing nothing is a symptom Australia can ill … Continue reading Bushfires – What’s in a name?
This fire evaculation case study discusses the after-effect and possible advances in high rise fire safety. Urban planners, lawmakers and architects should be constantly questioning the connection between building and nearby buildings, and can’t afford to underestimate the importance of adequate access for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles to navigate around buildings and provide … Continue reading High Rise Fire Safety in Smart Urban Planning
The effects of being in this situation are considerable but if viewed objectively, it can teach us all many things including what not to do. This article tries to explain to the reader what it is like to be trapped in a burning building and it parallels this experience with principals of behavioural studies. There … Continue reading Trapped in a burning building
For many years, the majority of Australians have been comforted by the thought that the prevalence of bush fires doesn’t concern those living in urban areas. Whilst there might be empathy for our ‘country cousins’, many don’t consider these fires to be a direct threat. So is this assumption correct or just a misguided myth? … Continue reading Bush Fire Architecture
