Unlocking spaces for everyone has never been more important for public and private sectors within the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Knowing how shape the invisible forces that surround us brings a new dimension to designing buildings. Clients, architects, planners, landscape designers, and engineers, not only influence the lives of the residents of their buildings but touch the lives of everyone else viewing, passing by, and sitting next to them. Buildings have the responsibility to care for and protect the context they sit within. Forward-thinking legislation and the possibilities offered by the Industry 4.0 such as advances in computational capabilities and interoperable open-source tools, unlocked microclimate assessments as never before, in the UK and internationally. Bioclimatic design, a branch of urban climatology, is currently used to transform spaces into destinations, for people, flora, and fauna. By covering aspects of wind engineering, natural and artificial lighting, outdoor thermal comfort, and air quality, bioclimatic designers help shape inclusive, safe, resilient, and attractive spaces, buildings, and infrastructure. This creates more sustainable cities and communities, lowers disparities, heat vulnerability, lack of daylight availability, and poor air quality. This chapter describes the ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’ of bioclimatic design at the city- and building-scale, followed by how it is now fully embedded in the pre-planning stages of medium-to-large buildings across the UK and in many other countries globally.
