Tri-Directional Learning in Sustainable Industrial Building Design: Connecting Teaching, Research, and Practice

Industrial buildings are essential to the green transition by providing production and storage facilities required in the expansion of renewable energy. However, these buildings are often related to high embodied emissions, short lifespans, and limited reusability, while receiving little attention in sustainability policies, research, teaching, and practice. This study investigates how a tri-directional learning model integrating research, practice knowledge, and teaching can support sustainability knowledge creation for factory and warehouse (FW) buildings. The study combines focus group interviews with architectural practitioners and a constraint-based design seminar with master-level students. The findings indicate that practice-based insights can inform teaching, where students develop alternative design strategies that contribute to subsequent research questions and hypotheses. Within the scope of this study, the tri-directional process concludes at knowledge synthesis and hypothesis generation, while experimental testing and dissemination back to practice remain future steps. The model nevertheless supports knowledge production under real-world constraints and the development of sustainability strategies for FW building design emphasizing adaptability and lifespan extension.