Smart building skins 

This research theme investigates how building envelopes can operate as climate-responsive interfaces across scales-moving from material innovation to building-level optimisation and ultimately to district-scale environmental integration. Our work examines how façades mediate complex interactions between indoor and outdoor comfort, microclimate, solar exposure, and nature-based solutions, revealing performance dynamics that conventional modelling often overlooks. Research in the lab spans thermochromic coatings, bio-based composites for additive manufacturing, and vertical greenery systems, exploring how each contributes to adaptive shading, cooling, and energy efficiency across climates. Parallel efforts integrate near-surface microclimate metamodels, façade clustering via machine learning, and microclimate-driven simulations of tree–building interactions, enabling façades to be evaluated not as isolated surfaces but as active components of larger environmental systems. Together, these projects advance a cross-scale, data-driven framework for designing envelopes that respond intelligently to their climatic and urban context, positioning smart skins as catalytic elements in shaping resilient, low-energy buildings and districts.