Overview
Ahmad Kotbi gained a Bachelor in Architecture from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia in 2002, he then worked in a construction company as a junior site architect. After a year he began working at the University from which he graduated, as a teaching assistant to teach subjects like basic design and drawing skills. In 2006 he was granted a scholarship to study a Masters degree in the University of Sydney, Australia. By 2008 he had completed a double major Masters degree in Illumination Design and Sustainable Design.
Ahmad Kotbi then joined the University of Sydney as a demonstrator to teach a daylighting module, when he became interested in research into daylighting in buildings. In 2010 he returned home as a lecturer in King Saud University, teaching design projects. Then in 2014 he was granted a scholarship to study a PhD degree at Cardiff University and started in October 2014.
Selected publications
Kotbi, Ahmad, Ampatzi, Eleni and Jenkins, Huw 2017. Using solar screens in school classrooms in hot arid areas: The effect of different aspect ratios on daylighting levels. Presented at: PLEA2017: 33rd International conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Edinburgh, Scotland UK, 3-5 July 2017. Published in: Brotas, L., Roaf, S. and Nicol, F. eds. Design to Thrive. Passive and Low Energy Architecture Conference. Edinburgh: Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings, Vol.3, pp. 3253-3260.
| Kotbi, Ahmad and Ampatzi, Eleni 2016. Using solar screens in school classrooms in hot arid areas: the effect of different perforation on daylighting levels. Presented at: PLEA2016: 32nd International conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, 11-13 July 2016. Published in: La Roche, Pablo and Schiler, Marc eds. Cities, Buildings, People: Towards Regenerative Environments Passive and Low Energy Architecture Conference . Los Angeles, CA: PLEA, Vol.2, pp. 691-698. |
Research
Thesis
Perforated screens to optimize Daylighting and maintain privacy in girls' schools in Middle East
The research will investigate the properties of the traditional shading device “MASHRABIA”, the different ratios between solid and void, different colours and different thicknesses will be evaluated to test their effect on thermal gain, daylight factor distribution and the visibility between inside and outside.
A building sample will be produced as a computer model to be tested in Design builder for thermal gain, and in Radiance for Lighting properties, and finally, a 1:1 scale model will be produced to test the ratios and the thicknesses, human subjects will be recruited to give their opinion about each aspect in the matter of visibility and privacy from different distances away from the MASHRABIA.
Keywords: Daylighting, illumination, mashrabia, shading device, solar geometry, heat gain, daylight factor