Built Environment

Open Polytechnic employs a wide range of learning and teaching experts who provide academic and learning support to our distance learners.

We also use contractors, mostly off campus, who are subject matter experts in their fields who provide academic support and marking services. 

As a specialist provider of open flexible distance learning, we also employ highly skilled courseware design and development, and education technology professionals, administration and customer support staff, as well as library and learning centre staff who are all focused on helping Open Polytechnic learners achieve their educational goals. 

Find out more about our workforce by selecting an area below.

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  • Built Environment
    • Alan Morris-Reade

      Academic Staff Member - Built Environment

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Alan Morris-Reade

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member for Built Environment.  I facilitate a number of Built Environment courses. My main focus is in the area of Quantity Surveying.  I have taught across a range of Construction-related courses.

      Relevant education and work experience

      I have the NZ Certificate in Quantity Surveying and have over 40 years of experience in the Construction industry predominately as a quantity surveyor and/or project manager.  This also includes 6 years of teaching.

    • 

      Alison Holleyoak

      Academic Staff Member - Built Environment

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Alison Holleyoak

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in Built Environment. I presently teach across the three construction disciplines of Architectural technology, construction management and quantity surveying.

      Education

      BA(Hons) Architecture, Post graduate Diploma – Architecture, Post graduate Certificate Teaching (Adults), E-learning certificate. 

      I am a qualified and registered UK architect (RIBA and ARBUK), Member of CABE (Chartered Association of Building Engineers) 

      Relevant experience

      I have 30-plus years’ experience within the construction industry and 15 years of teaching architecture. I have worked and taught in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.  have sat on several advisory boards for construction and education.  

    • 

      Dr Negin Imani

      Academic Staff Member - Built Environment

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Dr Negin Imani

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in Built Environment teaching a number of Architectural Technology courses. 

      Relevant education

      • PhD, Architecture Sustainable Building Design, Victoria University of Wellington
      • MArchEng, Architectural Engineering
      • BArcEng, Architectural Engineering

      Relevant work experience

      I have more than 17 years of experience in teaching and practice. I have worked as a senior architect in architectural and engineering consulting companies and have been engaged in teaching and supervising research conducted by bachelor’s and master’s students. I have taught a wide variety of courses in New Zealand universities and Polytechnics.

      Research interests

      Besides my role at open polytechic, I am a Lead Researcher working on one of the research projects funded by the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge. Being the primary investigator of the research project, I am supervising a research team of scientists from different disciplines.

      My research interests include energy performance of buildings, Thermal comfort analysis, Biologically-inspired innovation in architecture and building design, Bio-inspired thermoregulation, Biomimetic approaches to energy efficiency, Bio-inspired materials, Intelligent materials, and Eco-materials.

      Publications

      Imani, N., & Vale, B. (2022). Heating with Wolves, Cooling with Cacti: Thermo-bio-architectural Framework (ThBA). Taylor & Francis, CRC Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9781003081937/heating-wolves-cooling-cacti-negin-imani-brenda-vale
      Imani, N., Vale, B.,(2021). Biomimetic Design for Building Energy Efficiency 2021. Biomimetics Journal, MDPI Open Access Publishing. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biomimetics/special_issues/Biomimetic_Design
      Imani, N., Vale, B.,(2020). A Framework for finding inspiration in nature: Biomimetic Energy Efficient Building Design, Energy and Buildings, Volume 225, 15 October 2020, 110296: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110296
      Imani, N., Vale, B.,(2020). The Development of a Biomimetic Design Tool for Building Energy Efficiency, Biomimetics 2020, 5(4), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics5040050.
      Imani, N., Sayah, I., Vale, B., & Donn, M. (2019). An Innovative, Hierarchical Energy Performance Data Visualization for Facilitating Recognition of Thermal Issues, CAADRIA 2019, Wellington, New Zealand
      Imani, N. (2019). Energy Efficiency and Biomimetics, Architectural Science Review newsletter, 5(3), NSW, Australia.
      Imani, N., & Medi, H. (2018). Biomimetic Technology and Nature Inspiration. Naqshejahan- Basic studies and New Technologies of Architecture and Planning, 8(2), 71-79.
      Imani, N., Donn, M., & Balador, Z. (2018). Bio-Inspired Materials versus Conventional Materials: Contribution of Biology to Energy Efficiency of Buildings. In Leticia Myriam Torres Martínez, O. V. Kharissova, & B. I. Kharisov. (Eds.), Handbook of Ecomaterials. Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG.
      Balador, Z., Gjerde, M., Isaacs, N., & Imani, N. (2018). Opportunities for Developing Thermal And Acoustic Building Insulations From Agricultural Wastes. In Leticia Myriam Torres Martínez, O. V. Kharissova, & B. I. Kharisov. (Eds.), Handbook of Ecomaterials. Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG
      Imani, N. (2017). Bio-Inspired Design Approach Analysis: A Case Study of Antoni Gaudi and Santiago Calatrava. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Civil, Environmental, Structural, Construction and Architectural Engineering, 11(8), 1161-1167.
      Imani, N., Donn, M., & Vale, B. (2017). Biomimicry as Innovation: a systematic review. Paper presented at the Back to the Future: The Next 50 Years 51st International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA), Wellington, New Zealand.

    • 

      Marius Dryfhout

      Academic Staff Member - Built Environment

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Marius Dryfhout

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in Built Environment.

      Relevant education

      • Advanced Trade Certificate
      • Diploma in Teaching
      • Diploma Specialist Subjects
      • NZ Certificate in Adult and Tertiary Teaching
      • NZ Certificate in Language Teaching

      Relevant experience

      Since completing my teacher training in 1992, I  have taught a wide variety of construction-based courses in various parts of New Zealand. I have always maintained a keen interest in the industry, and I have been involved in a number of construction projects, as well as some voluntary building work in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

    • 

      Masi Shiran

      Academic Staff Member - Built Environment

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Masi Shiran

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in Built Environment. I presently teach across the two construction disciplines of Architectural technology and construction management.

      Relevant education

      • MArch. in Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand)
      • M.A. in Urban Regeneration and Development, The University of Manchester (UK)
      • B.Sc. in Architecture engineering, University of Mazandaran (Iran)

      Relevant work experience

      I have 10-plus years’ experience within the construction industry and teaching architecture.

      Research interests

      My research interests include sustainable architecture, Iranian architecture, place attachment, and elderly housing. 

    • 

      Séan Irion

      Academic Staff Member - Built Environment

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Séan Irion

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member for Built Environment.

      I facilitate a number of Built Environment courses. My main focus is in areas of Construction Management. I have taught across a range of Construction related courses.

      Education

      • National Certificate in Adult Education (Level 5)
      • Bachelor of Engineering (Civil)

      Work experience

      I have 20 years of work experience in the education sector.

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