By Abbas Nazil
A leading architecture expert has warned that many modern buildings are not designed to cope with the rapidly changing climate and may struggle to remain safe and comfortable in the coming decades.
Susan Roaf, a professor emeritus at Heriot-Watt University, said current building designs are largely unprepared for the climate conditions expected in the 2030s and 2040s as global temperatures continue to rise and extreme weather events become more frequent.
Drawing on more than 50 years of experience designing buildings for extreme environments ranging from the deserts of Iraq to Antarctica, Roaf cautioned that existing architectural approaches may expose people to greater health risks and place additional strain on energy systems.
She explained that the world is entering a period of significantly warmer temperatures, with climate records being broken repeatedly each year.
According to her, many workplaces, homes and public sector buildings are still designed based on outdated climate assumptions and therefore may not function effectively under future weather conditions.
Roaf noted that policy discussions often focus on keeping homes warm during cold seasons, but the need to design buildings that remain cool during extreme heat is becoming increasingly important.
She warned that stronger storms, heatwaves and cold snaps could put pressure on electricity systems, which means buildings must be capable of remaining habitable even during power outages or system failures.
Her concerns are detailed in a new book titled Adaptive Thermal Comfort: At the Extremes, which she co-authored with climate comfort experts Fergus Nicol and Michael Humphreys.
Roaf said some modern building designs, particularly large glass office towers, may need to be reconsidered as work patterns evolve and more people adopt remote or hybrid working arrangements.
High-rise glass buildings, she explained, often require significant energy to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures and can quickly overheat or become too cold if mechanical heating or cooling systems stop functioning.
She pointed out that the taller a building is, the greater its dependence on energy-intensive systems to regulate indoor climate conditions.
Recent experiences in rural Scotland demonstrated the vulnerability of some modern structures when electricity supply is disrupted.
During extended winter power outages in several communities, lightweight modern homes were found to lose heat much faster than traditional buildings constructed with heavier materials.
Roaf also raised concerns about the design of hospitals, schools and care facilities that rely heavily on sealed façades and mechanical ventilation systems with limited or no opening windows.
Such systems, she explained, can sometimes circulate air between rooms, potentially spreading pathogens and affecting indoor air quality.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, studies conducted in Scottish hospitals suggested that naturally ventilated spaces were associated with lower transmission risks compared with some mechanically ventilated environments.
In response to those findings, hospitals in Lanarkshire introduced infection-prevention measures in 2020 that included increased use of natural ventilation, which helped reduce clusters of infections.
Despite these experiences, Roaf said many newly constructed healthcare facilities still rely heavily on sealed designs that limit natural airflow.
She warned that during heatwaves or power interruptions, such buildings may struggle to maintain safe indoor temperatures and air quality, especially for vulnerable patients.
Roaf therefore called for a global shift toward the next generation of climate-resilient buildings designed to operate efficiently using natural ventilation, shading, solar energy and local energy storage systems.
These so-called “mixed-mode” buildings would rely on natural systems for much of the year and only use mechanical heating or cooling when absolutely necessary.
According to her, such approaches would not only reduce environmental impact but also improve the health and wellbeing of occupants.
She emphasised that preparing societies for future climate conditions requires cooperation across multiple sectors, including governments, regulators, engineers, architects, health experts and communities.
Roaf concluded that combining scientific research with practical design solutions will be essential to ensure that future buildings are safe, sustainable and capable of withstanding the environmental challenges of a changing climate.