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The TORUS Project
Exploring attitudes to novel and sustainably efficient architecture.
The TORUS project represents a practice-led exploration into architectural efficiency, sustainability, and adaptability. Developed through collaboration between Lab4Living at Sheffield Hallam University and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the project interrogates how innovative structural forms can deliver measurable performance gains while addressing human-level concerns of accessibility, affordability, and quality of life.
At its core, TORUS examines the potential of an organic, toroidal shell structure to outperform conventional cuboid forms across key efficiency metrics. Analyses of solar exposure, ventilation, thermal properties, and embodied energy demonstrate that the design maximizes energy capture, reduces material demand, and enhances passive comfort. Precast concrete panels, for example, show significantly lower embodied energy and cost over time compared to traditional brick or block, while modular adaptability ensures reduced site footprint and faster construction timelines.
Academically, TORUS offers a methodological framework that bridges conceptual design with empirical validation, advancing discourse on sustainable dwelling typologies. For industry, it provides a replicable model of prefabricated efficiency that is orientable, modular, cost-effective and can be adapted across diverse climates and geographies. For funders, the project evidences tangible returns: reduced construction costs, minimized environmental 'tread lightly', impact, and scalable pathways toward sustainable housing solutions. By situating efficiency not only in technical performance but also in social acceptance and adaptability, TORUS aims to reframe architectural offers as integrated systems, responsive to ecological imperatives and human needs alike. It is both a research endeavour and a practical proposition.
Artist impression of the Torus dwelling concept in a rural setting demonstrating how creative practice and design innovation can help catalyse sustainable futures.
Original sketch models of the modular dwelling concept.
Presentation models used as discussion prompts during the research.
Contact Heath directly for the full sustainability performance report.