Aspects of Building Design Management

Aspects of Building Design Management

C o n t e n t s Editorial

Stephen Emmitt 3International Building Design Management and Project Performance:

Case Study in São Paulo, Brazil

Leonardo Grilo, Sílvio Melhado, Sérgio Alfredo Rosa Silva, Peter Edwards

and Cliff Hardcastle 5Design Management from a Contractor’s Perspective: The Need for Clarity

Patricia Tzortzopoulos and Rachel Cooper 17Forming Core Elements for Strategic Design Management: How to Define and Direct

Architectural Value in an Industrialized Context

Anne Beim and Kasper Vibæk Jensen 29Modelling Trade Contractor Information Production

Colin Gray and Salam Al-Bizri 39Rules of Engagement: Testing the Attributes of Distant Outsourcing Marriages

Paolo Tombesi, Bharat Dave, Blair Gardiner and Peter Scriver 49Building Stories Revisited: Unlocking the Knowledge Capital of Architectural Practice

Ann Heylighen, W Mike Martin and Humberto Cavallin 65Book reviews

Stephen Emmitt 75

This special edition of Architectural Engineering andDesign Management takes part of the journal’s title,

design management, as the theme The paperspublished here were originally submitted to aconference held at the Technical University ofDenmark, organized by the CIB’s working groupW096 Architectural Management A select number ofauthors were subsequently asked to revise andextend their papers for inclusion in this specialedition Papers were selected to give a broad view ofdesign management and the variations in approachand style are indicative of the authors’ backgroundsand approach to their subject area The work reportedalso has an international flavour with contributorsrepresenting Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark,England, Puerto Rico, Scotland and the US It ishoped that in taking such a multi-faceted approach,the papers will stimulate debate and further researchinto this rapidly growing field.

In the first paper, Grilo et al provide a useful

insight into design management and the performanceof construction projects from an internationalperspective The case study from São Paulo, Brazil,helps to highlight the cultural differences withininternational design and project teams and thechallenges arising from such temporal configurations.Coordination and management of informationfeatures strongly, as does the implication of designchanges and late decision making Cultural normsand socio-technical differences pose significantmanagement challenges to such workingarrangements Indeed, the clearest result from thecase study is the need for participants to understandthe roles and responsibilities of other stakeholdersthrough appropriate communication All of which

point to the need for better management of theinterfaces between project participants.

In the second paper, Tzortzopoulos and Cooperinvestigate design management from the perspectiveof contractors working in the UK With contractorsassuming and taking managerial responsibility for thedesign process in the majority of projects in the UK,the issues of roles, responsibilities and control ofdesign value have taken on increased importance.Two case studies help to identify some confusionover the term design management and the lack ofclarity regarding the design management role inpractice The paper raises an important issue aboutwho is best qualified to manage design, and judgingfrom the case study findings it would appear thatthere is considerable scope for improvement incontracting organizations Of practical help is theidentification of skills necessary for effective designmanagers The authors conclude with a plea forgreater clarity of stakeholders’ roles in designmanagement with a view to achieving effectiveprocesses and best value.

Defining and directing architectural value withinindustrialized buildings in Denmark forms the thrust ofthe paper by Beim and Vibæk Jensen Thisphilosophical, yet pragmatic, attention to coreelements of strategic design management helps tooutline an approach for achieving architectural qualitywithin an industrialized context The authors arespecific in their aim: to help architectural officesidentify the characteristics and specific workingmethods for industrialized architecture, although thepaper does have a wider application Case studies andexamples drawn from interviews with architects helpto add some colour to their theoretical model Similarly,Editorial

Stephen Emmitt

testing the model in architectural education andreflecting on the results adds further to the authors’argument This is a paper about empowering thearchitect and helping to improve architectural quality.

In the fourth paper, Gray and Al-Bizri attempt tomodel the not inconsiderable amount of informationproduction by trade contractors in the UK Theauthors have focused on an area of engineeringdesign/design management largely overlooked byresearchers to date, despite its importance to thematerialization of buildings By concentrating on therole of trade contractors, the authors propose ageneric sequence of design activities for constructionelements, which recognizes project specificrequirements and interactions with other components.The design of a precast concrete cladding panelprovides a worked example In addition to exploringthe complexity of the detailed design phase, theauthors conclude by arguing for a knowledge base forall technologies to guide the user to the mostappropriate solution Presumably such an approachwould also help to make the management of thisphase in the life of a design project more effective,thus helping to reduce uncertainty and associatedwaste during the realization phase.

Continuing the theme of information production

and documentation, Tombesi et al report on the digital

outsourcing of architectural services from anAustralian perspective This paper clearly identifiesthe challenges for researchers and practitioners inpresenting a balanced view of the opportunitiesand perils inherent in digital outsourcing and thecreation of distant alliances This paper isinteresting in that it does not concentrate solelyon information communication technologies; moreimportantly, it addresses the socio-technicalcharacteristics and cultural routines of the firms

involved in such relationships The complex technical characteristics of architectural practices andthe need for clear criteria and protocols whenoutsourcing work are emphasized The experience ofthe research project to date has shown that distantcollaboration changes significantly with thedocumentation requirements of the firms involved.Thus, it is crucial that the purpose of the work isclearly defined and the structure of the professionalcollaboration designed with the same care as thatgiven to the building.

socio-A common feature of the papers is the issue ofknowledge and information transfer In the final paper,

Heylighen et al tackle knowledge capital inarchitectural education This work draws heavily onthe experience of the authors at the University ofCalifornia – Berkeley, and posits a good argument forstorytelling as a precursor to good design and itsmanagement In addition to providing usefulreflection on their educational programme, theauthors aim to create a discussion forum for dialogueabout how knowledge is generated and disseminatedin architecture Largely implicit in this paper is therelationship between storytelling and effective designmanagement, especially through the ability todevelop relationships in collaborative arrangements.Hopefully, this is an area for further research

Explicit and implicit in the papers is the issue ofhow actors work, or at least attempt to work,together Collectively, the papers help to emphasizethe softer side of design management and the inter-relationships between people, technologies andmanagement Continuing the design managementtheme, two books are reviewed that deal with relatedfactors The first deals with partnering and integratedteamworking, the second with the integration of valueand risk management.

■ Keywords – Building design; construction; contracts;

globalization; project management; qualityECONOMIC SCENARIO AND

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN BRAZILWith a population close to 186 million people, a grossdomestic product (GDP) around US$1.492 trillion anda GDP per capita of US$8100 (CIA, 2005), Brazil hasthe largest domestic market in Latin America Locatedin the south east of the country, São Paulo is Brazil’smost important city, and is the third largest in theworld in terms of population, behind Tokyo andMexico City With regard to the Brazilian constructionindustry, São Paulo is also the most significant state

for development, with about 30,000 residential unitsbuilt annually just in the metropolitan area of SãoPaulo city (Conjuntura da Construção, 2005).

In the 1970s, foreign investment brought aboutsignificant growth rates in Brazil, which led to theimplementation of large infrastructure projects andthe development of a competitive heavy constructionindustry However, public expenditure and growthrates were severely constrained after a shortage offoreign investment in the 1980s Monthly inflationrates of up to 80% discouraged measures to improveefficiency owing to the attractiveness of financialoperations Low productivity, lack of quality andhigh material wastage contributed to create

The decline in construction demand in developed countries has led to the search for business opportunitiesoverseas and the entry of foreign companies into emerging markets Recent advances in information andcommunication technologies have also favoured the procurement of architecture, engineering andconstruction services on a global basis, and have led to the establishment of international design teams Theemployment of foreign design firms for complex building projects in developing countries can promotebenefits such as technology transfer and innovative architectural and engineering design solutions However,it can also bring about additional risks that, if not recognized early in the procurement process, can createdifficulties during the design and construction stages International design teams may exacerbate traditionalcommunication problems as a result of differences in language, managerial style, organizational andindividual culture, lack of personal contacts and poor adoption of communication technologies This paperexplores the technological, managerial, organizational and cultural barriers that may arise from theemployment of foreign design offices for complex building projects in developing countries Analysis of acase study in São Paulo suggests that the engagement of foreign consultants requires careful planning,innovative managerial approaches, attention to behavioural issues, appropriate communication andinformation technologies, sensible choice of procurement routes, and mutual understanding of stakeholders’roles and responsibilities.

International Building Design

Management and Project Performance:Case Study in São Paulo, Brazil

Leonardo Grilo, Sílvio Melhado, Sérgio Alfredo Rosa Silva, Peter Edwardsand Cliff Hardcastle

a negative image of the construction industry,according to public opinion.

In the past decade, globalization, marketopenness, privatization of state-owned enterprises,monetary stability, fiscal constraint and shortages inpublic expenditure, changes in the procurement law,decline in profit margins and increasing customerconsciousness have all contributed towardsreshaping the profile of the construction industry.Some sectors responded promptly and establishedextensive measures to address the inefficiencies thattraditionally plagued the industry.

Government-driven policies, such as the BrazilianQuality and Productivity Program (PBQP-Habitat),inspired in the Housing Quality Program of São PauloState (QUALIHAB), enforced the gradual implementation

of quality management systems as a requirement forconstruction and design firms to take part in publicbids According to the Brazilian Technical StandardAssociation, about 280 construction firms and 160design and project management offices werecompliant with ISO quality management systemstandards and about 1550 contractors were compliantwith PBQP-Habitat’s requirements in the four levels ofexigency (D, C, B and A) up to February 2003 (ABNT,2003) These figures clearly illustrate the increaseduse of quality systems in the Brazilian constructionindustry However, despite improvements achievedin some segments, advances across sectors anddifferent regions of the country remain heterogeneous.Foreign companies are present in varioussegments of the Brazilian construction industry Thedecline in construction demand in developed countriestends to enhance the search for opportunities on aninternational basis and the entry of foreign competitorsinto developing markets In Brazil, the entry of foreignorganizations has exposed the technical andcommercial weaknesses of local firms In addition, thelack of mutual agreements to regulate the trade ofbuilding design services between countries hasenhanced these limitations Musa (1996) listed somerelative weaknesses of local architectural offices incomparison with foreign firms, such as lack ofresponsiveness and flexibility, difficult relationshipswith technical designers and reduced involvement ofclients in the decision-making process Musasuggested some measures to reduce the impact of

globalization and stressed the importance of initiativesaimed at reducing barriers to entry for Brazilian designpractices in other countries, such as diploma validationrequirements, excessive taxation and the need to setup a branch with a local company in order to gain accessto these markets.

Despite recent improvements, the constructionindustry is still considered as backward comparedwith other industries Frequently, constructionmethods are poorly chosen, workers are not properlytrained and on-site supervision and projectmanagement are lax Extensive waste, informality andproject time and cost overruns are recurrent TheBrazilian construction industry also lacks consistentindustrial policies, since its activity level is oftenerratic and driven by political motivations, such asabsorbing non-skilled workers In its annual report onthe construction industry, for example, the BrazilianInstitute of Geography and Statistics highlights thatthe informal sector was responsible for 63% of thevalue added by the construction sector in 2003 (IBGE,2003; Zaidan, 2005).

The Brazilian industry is dependent ongovernment programmes such as low-incomehousing, infrastructure and other civil works The highcost of capital, credit scarcity, public expenditureshortages, political turbulence and economic shockshave recently affected the performance of the sector,despite a national housing shortfall in excess of7.2 million units (Fundação João Pinheiro, 2005;

Garcia et al, 2005) The construction industry

experienced outstanding progress in the 1990s.However, the inconsistent economic growth in recentyears may affect long-term initiatives workingtowards the improvement of the performance of theBrazilian construction industry.

POTENTIAL BARRIERS FOR BUILDINGDESIGN MANAGEMENT

In no other important industry is the designresponsibility so detached from the productionresponsibility as it is in construction (Banwell, 1964).Harvey (1971) criticized the separation betweendesigners and contractors in England Contractors areoften excluded from the design process, whiledesigners are expected to undertake responsibility forelements of the construction that they do not fully

understand The construction industry presents acomplex responsibility chain and nobody seemsprepared to satisfy the client (Egan, 1998) Somecommentators argue that designers could benefitfrom the early involvement of contractors, who, undertraditional procurement systems, are not usually

involved before the bidding process (Pocock et al,

Frequently, designers and contractors are workingtogether for the first time on a project Even if theirparent companies have collaborated in the past,actual team members assigned to a new project willprobably be unknown to each other (Groák, 1992).The fact that project team members do not knoweach other in personal and organizational terms isrelevant (Brown, 2001).

Stakeholders commonly approach projects withparticular expectations Although these expectationsvary according to the project type, clients usuallyseek time and cost certainty, and quality Designersfocus on aesthetics, functionality and a minimal useof resources Conversely, contractors expect feasiblemethods, viable schedules and a profit margincommensurate with the level of risk transfer Theunderlying divergence of objectives can hinder teambuilding and encourage an adversarial approach.Selected by their reputation, designers will focus onquality; whereas contractors, hired by competitivetendering, tend to concentrate on efficiency andeconomy (Bobroff, 1991; Nam and Tatum, 1992;

Barlow et al, 1997).

Architects have been accused of abandoning theirresponsibilities within the project team (Weingardt,1996) and studies point out that they have beenincreasingly replaced by contractors and projectmanagers in the design management role (RIBA,1992; Gray and Hughes, 2001), mainly as a result ofpoor communication with clients and deficient costand time management The Tavistock Institute (1999)recommends the appointment of architects for thepurpose of design integration and of otherprofessionals for project management, since thelatter involves duties that are unattractive toarchitects and which could thus be neglected if theywere to undertake a project management role.

An adequate level of client involvement candemonstrably enhance overall satisfaction with the

investment and the likelihood of meeting establishedgoals (Davenport and Smith, 1995) If the client adoptspractices that promote a collaborative environment,the stakeholders will be encouraged to increase thequality and efficiency of their services in all stages ofthe process (Jawahar-Nessan and Price, 1997).

Procurement systems can also influence theproject performance and the integration betweendesign and construction teams The selection ofprocurement routes should consider aspects such asproject type, building complexity, design andconstruction schedule and budget, and clientorganization and experience (Chan and Chan, 2000).

Love et al (1998) suggest a range of criteria to

establish client requirements and informprocurement choices, namely, speed during designand construction, variability, flexibility to designchanges, quality, protection against risks, complexity,responsibilities, total price and arbitration.

POTENTIAL DIFFICULTIES FORINTERNATIONAL BUILDING DESIGNTEAMS

Despite recent technological developments,communication between organizations (or evenwithin a single organization) has been identified asa main driver of failures in construction projects.Research carried out by British insurance companiespointed to poor communication and lack ofcoordination as primary drivers of client dissatisfaction,claims, frustration with unattended items, lack ofpositive relationships and incomplete information(Brown, 2001).

Communication and functional issues, whichinvolve not only the organizations but also theindividuals, cannot be ignored Without an analysis ofindividual skills, cultures and interests, there will be littleunderstanding of roles or respect for leadershipstructures, which can enhance rivalry and reluctance tocooperate Issues such as roles, cultures andcommunication must be addressed if personal skills areto be optimized on behalf of the team (Brown, 2001).

In recent years, information and communicationtechnologies have evolved rapidly Providers havedeveloped collaborative systems and started to offerservices that enable project team members tocooperate in a virtual project environment Collaborative

systems can bring about potential benefits, includingreduction of communication failures, savings withposting and photocopying, speed, safety, privacy indata transfer, automatic issue of reports andelimination of document control and distributionprocedures (Chinowski and Rojas, 2003).

However, team members tend to operate inisolation, which inhibits the establishment of trust andthe awareness of individual roles Therefore, projectmanagers need to reinforce individual roles andconciliate team members’ expectations throughoutthe project They should also set parameters forinformation exchange to reduce the likelihood ofexponential increases in data flow and informationoverloads Consequently, remote project teamsrequire leaders who are able to communicate andestablish relationships (Chinowski and Rojas, 2003).

In theory, international design teams canadversely influence team members’ willingness tocollaborate because of factors such as remoteness,impersonal relationships, preconceptions, lack ofadequate technologies to support communicationand data transfer, different languages and particularindividual and organizational cultures On the otherhand, foreign offices can bring a lot of advantages,notably technology transfer, innovative designconcepts and awareness of aesthetic issues.Nevertheless, these benefits can be outweighed bythe potential disadvantages, which should beproperly managed to minimize the likelihood andimpact of their occurrence.

Wang (2000) describes some difficulties in theassignment of foreign designers in Chinese projects:selection by a ‘competition of ideas’ does notconsider the size, reputation and capacity of thedesign practice; lack of familiarity with localstandards may necessitate late design changes oradjustments to plans and specifications by local‘design institutes’; the need for large numbers ofimported components in service engineering;deficient communication techniques; differentlanguages; and long distances

Moreover, Wang (2000) highlights the relevanceof the functional arrangement for the performance ofthe design team The appointment of foreign officesto coordinate the design ensures a broader fidelitywith the original concept, but tends to create

difficulties for local contractors Alternatively, clientscan assign Chinese design institutes for thepreparation of detail plans and specifications so as tofavour buildability in terms of local practice Wangsuggests a hybrid arrangement: the appointment oflocal designers at the outset of the project in order toadapt the design to local standards and to minimizethe involvement of foreign designers in the detailwork It is assumed that this strategy could proveequally beneficial in projects that involve foreigndesign firms in Brazil.

CASE STUDY RESEARCH METHODOLOGYThe technical scope of a case study can be defined as‘an empirical investigation that observes acontemporary phenomenon in a realistic context,especially when the boundaries between thephenomenon and the context are not clearly evident’(Yin, 1994) Investigations that focus on the linkagesbetween complex organizations – such as thoseinvolved in a construction project – may require theadoption of multiple sources of evidence (interviews,documental analysis) and the consultation of multipleunits of analysis (designers, contractors and projectmanagers) to produce more reliable outcomes Basedon a broad literature review, a research instrumentwas prepared and tested in an exploratory case study.The questionnaire comprised open and closedquestions related to the variables:

● integration: quality of interaction between projectteam members

● procurement system: method for the selectionand organization of the project teams for theobtainment of a building by a client

● project performance: time and cost certainty,compliance with client’s objectives, and absenceof claims.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted withseven primary players involved in the projectconsisting of representatives of the construction firm,the designers and the project managers Thefollowing criteria informed the selection of the projectfor the case study – the participation of Brazilianleading construction and design firms, and the size,complexity and uniqueness of the project.

COORDINATION PROBLEMS WITHFOREIGN DESIGN CONSULTANTS ON ACOMPLEX BUILDING PROJECT

With a net floor area of 82,000 m2, the case studyproject creates a distinctive landmark in São Paulo’slandscape Some innovative characteristics of theproject include: appointment of foreign designconsultants; extensive specification of importedcomponents and equipment such as master controlpanels, chillers and lifts; modular panellized curtainwalls; variable air volume systems for airconditioning; duplicated wiring; and an independentpower generation system For the facade, low-emissivity glazing controls solar heat gain and visiblelight transmission An aerogel deposited within theglazing avoids condensation occurring when internaland external temperatures differ Some specificationsof the project were criticized by the project team,such as the reinforcement cover of up to 7 cm andthe 20 different mix designs for the concretestructure, with concrete strengths ranging from30–60 MPa The excessive reinforcement coverrequired the use of water-vapour fans and ice in themixing water to reduce surface concrete cracking Inaddition, the curtain wall was designed to resisttyphoons, despite no previous occurrence oftyphoons in the local region.

The project adopted the traditional procurementsystem (separated design, bid and constructprocesses) with a guaranteed maximum price (GMP)contract divided into four stages, in whichconstruction prices would be gradually reduced Thecontractor was selected through a closed bidfollowed by a negotiation stage The selection criteriatook into account technical, economical and financialcriteria The successful construction company hasoperated in the local market for almost 40 years andhas executed more than 4 million m2of buildings invarying market segments Certification of thecompany’s quality management system, according toISO 9001, was obtained in 1999 The constructionteam was composed of production, technical andadministrative teams, and totalled 18 professionals.

The design concept was developed by US officesin Chicago and New York, and then adapted by localarchitecture and engineering firms The foreignarchitectural office has accumulated experience in

different project types in more than 50 countries Theservice engineering design was developed by a UScompany with branches in different continents Aproject management company from Chicago openeda branch in São Paulo especially to advise the client,whose team encompassed a facilities manager, twoarchitects and a project management team with fiveprofessionals.

The structural design, developed in the US, wasadapted by an Argentine design practice that hadworked for the Brazilian client on another project inSouth America The local design office participated inthe development and coordination of architecturaland urban planning designs With a markedlycommercial character, it focuses on the leverage ofbusiness opportunities within government bodies,public entities and developers The organizationalstructures for the project and the design team areshown in Figure 1.

The case demonstrates that the appointment offoreign design offices fosters innovation andtechnological transfer, particularly in architectural andengineering design solutions, but can adverselyimpact on design management, since a number oftechnical, managerial, cultural and economic factors,such as the development of the local supply chain,should be realized at an early stage in the briefingprocess In this context, it is argued that internationaldesign teams require careful management ofthe work scope for each designer, extensiveconfiguration management, clear authority lines,mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities,management of interfaces and adequate selection oflocal partners The design management may also beinfluenced by the organization of the design team orthe roles and responsibilities assigned to eachdesigner Some of the difficulties faced by the projectteam as a result of deficiencies in the designmanagement for the case study project aresummarized in Table 1 and discussed later.

DEFICIENCIES IN THE SELECTION OF LOCALAND FOREIGN DESIGN OFFICES

The design concept was commended as outstandingand innovative, but team members admitted withhindsight that design development should have beenassigned to Brazilian offices from the outset of the

project, because of their greater familiarity with localconstruction methods and faster decision-makingcapacity On the other hand, the local design officeswere considered unsuitable for the project becauseof its technical and managerial complexity Accordingto the contract manager: ‘It’s inconceivable that oneof the largest design offices in São Paulo doesn’tknow [about] dry wall This reflects a wrong selectionof the partners.’ The design coordination, assigned toa local architectural office, was criticized: ‘When youbring designers together, they do not talk to eachother The coordination is not done or if it is done, itis not done well.’ According to a project manager:‘Architects are considered efficient when they areable to produce compatible drawings, but they arenot always good at coordinating the design process.’The structural design was also questioned.According to one architect: ‘An engineer could findsolutions in this project that have been used all overthe world There is no standardization They possiblyused all the solutions available in the concrete books.’The design of the concrete structure was consideredconservative due to the implicit lack of familiarity ofUS designers with this technology and to the lack oftrust in the reliability of local contractors A consultanthired by the construction firm to review the structuraldesign found material errors and omissions such asbeams with only 50% of the required reinforcement,

which could have endangered the rigidity of thebuilding.

DIFFICULTIES IN THE USE OF THE FOREIGNDESIGNS

The assignment of foreign designers to the designdevelopment assured the incorporation of the originaldesign intent but raised further difficulties for thedesign management In general, US suppliersundertake an essential role in the design detailing.Despite their international experience, the foreigndesign consultants assumed that local supplierswould be capable of detailing the shop drawings.However, Brazilian contractors and project managersnoticed that the design documents were insufficientto inform local suppliers and subcontractors Thisomission led to delays while the problem wasrectified and hampered the mutual understanding ofdesign team members’ roles and responsibilities.

A Brazilian architect who worked in the USarchitectural practice was initially assigned tocoordinate the design Despite the good intention,this proved unfeasible due to the attitude of foreigndesigners, who never made decisions duringmeetings and were considered technically defensiveby other project team members According to thecontract manager, ‘as the project was falling behindschedule, it wasn’t working Foreign designers don’t

design

consultancy Façade

Airconditioning

Buildingsystems Building

Lightningdesign

Architecturallandscaping Architecture

& structure

Contractual relationshipsFunctional relationships

Design team Constructionteam Client team

teamFive

14 main design disciplines

Technicaldirector, 2architects Production,technical supportand administrationteams (18professionals)

23 mainsubcontractors

United StatesBrazilArgentina

FIGURE 1 Project and design team organizational chart

overcome contract terms and don’t run unnecessaryrisks.’

The specification of imported components poseddifficulties for the construction firm as a result of non-standard dimensions, connections and methods ofexecution Moreover, the design concept followed nomodularization precepts The contract managerpointed out that the ‘modularization of the concretestructure differs from the standards of Braziliancurtain wall systems There are differentmodularizations.’

The project also exposed some weaknesses inthe local supply chain An architect highlighted that ‘a

US company delivered a curtain wall faster than alocal factory’

THE POOR QUALITY OF THE BRIEFINGPROCESS

The architect stressed the importance of an intenseinvolvement of the client’s organization throughoutthe briefing process so as to mitigate the risk of latedesign changes:

If I could start it all over again, I would start from thebriefing Defining a brief is one of the mostimportant milestones of a project, but nobody

TABLE 1Deficiencies in the project design process and subsequent impacts on project managementDeficiencies in the design process Impact on project management

Lack of standardization or excessive customization Complex procurement, budgeting, contract management, changemanagement and document control

Conflicting information in different documents Work overload for the project team, complex procurement andbudgeting, construction errors, rework and material wastageLack of information Work overload for the project team, delays in the procurement of

construction subcontracts, complex contract management, cost andtime overruns, insufficient information for procurement purposesProblems in the information flow and communication structure Different level of information between team members, late

incorporation of design changes in the plans, incompatibilitybetween information received by team members, heterogeneousinformation

Delay in the incorporation of design changes in plans and Construction errors, complex document control, reviews with specifications date information, varying levels of information between team

out-of-members, complex contract management with subcontractors,stress, rework, execution prior to the incorporation of information inthe design

Excessive non-reviewed items in plans and specifications Complex document control on the site, risk of errors in theexecution, demand of excessive follow-up meetingsExcessive design reviews Cost and time overruns, construction errors, work overload for

project team, stress, escalation in printing and photocopying costs,delays in the distribution of drawings to the site

Multiple stakeholders in the client team Complex decision-making and approval process, excessive designchanges, varying level of information between project teammembers

Excessive design changes in a late stage of the project Complex contract management with subcontractors, difficult designreview, rework, time and cost overruns, work overload forconstruction and coordination teams, negotiations with the client,rescheduling, changes in the budget, stress

seems to care about it The client should haveparticipated more actively So they came out lateron with solutions used elsewhere, but which couldnot be adopted in this building.

The design management was largely affected byfailures in the scope definition and design changemanagement The Brazilian architectural designerstressed the deficiencies in the briefing process:

The brief should be finished by a given date Thenthis date approached and there were a lot ofchanges Nobody is to blame We were unableto determine [from the brief] exactly what theclient wanted This is a point that should bestressed.

DEFICIENCIES IN COMMUNICATION ANDINFORMATION FLOWS

Ideally, the design management should define whattype of information is relevant for each team memberand establish communication lines, informationflows, timetables and formats to transfer, record anddistribute the information The lack of communicationprocedures can lead to managerial problems, such asvarying levels of information between project teamsor even within a single team According to anengineer:

I received information initially and then a drawingwith different information Then I found that thedesigner did not receive the required informationeither Consequently, he issued drawings thatdiffered from what was agreed upon earlier Thereare three or four client representatives directlyinvolved in the process So different people dealwith the information and sometimes it does notreach all the recipients I received information fromthe project manager that differed from that sent bythe client There are too many people involved, andnot in an organized way.

The complexity of the project and the unusualnumber of participants affected the communicationprocess, which could have been facilitated bycollaborative systems and the adoption of agreedupon coordination procedures.

DEFICIENCIES IN THE CONTROL AND ISSUEOF DESIGN REVIEWS

Ongoing design changes and a lack of criteria for theissuance of design reviews postponed the definitionof critical items The contract manager criticized thedesigners’ lack of commitment to meeting projectmilestones: ‘Works on some floors were disrupted aswe did not know how to progress The mostimportant floors for the client are exactly those wherethe design is behind schedule.’ Reviews too often didnot solve design errors and omissions, and sloweddown the procurement of subcontractors and thedistribution of drawings to the site An engineercomplained about the design review process: ‘Itseems illogical, because issuing reviews is time-consuming, but in some cases we received out-of-date reviews Whenever a review is issued, it shouldcontain up-to-date information.’

The contract manager criticized the planning ofthe reviews: ‘We have drawings with more than 20reviews Why? It is linked to the lack of planning.’ Theprocess also exposed the lack of quality controlprocedures: ‘In the rush, designers deliver anything.Nobody reviews or coordinates These problemsoccur due to the lack of coordination The drawingsare simply incompatible.’ The issue of successivedesign reviews hindered the distribution of drawingsto the site The drawings were being reviewed soquickly and so often that the contractor nearly sentout a version that was already obsolete Decision-making in design review meetings was fast, whichmeant that drawings frequently could not incorporatethe agreed information quickly enough Therefore,the construction firm modified its quality controlprocedure so as to enable the receipt of incompleteor ‘under approval’ drawings, which were given partialapproval and distributed to the subcontractorsthrough coordination meetings.

LACK OF INFORMATION AND DESIGNINCOMPATIBILITIES

The lack of information affected the management ofcontracts with suppliers and necessitated theappointment of additional professionals to theconstruction team Initially, a reduced team wasassigned to manage the lump sum contracts, whichwere soon afterwards replaced by unitary cost

agreements because of the lack of information.According to the contract manager: ‘I shouldn’t careabout it, but I spend 20–30% of my time trying to sortout the consequences of a poor design The design iscalamitous in this project.’ The construction teamreported design errors and omissions and stressedthe lack of quality control procedures Design errorsoverburdened the construction team and hamperedcost estimates An engineer pointed out that ‘alltechnical, procurement and construction problems inthis project are related to the lack of information’ Adelay in the choice of stainless steel for thecurtain wall postponed the schedule by four months.The contract manager complained: ‘We are oncemore building without a design The owner wants tolaunch the project, but had he decided to completethe design earlier, he could have saved time andmoney.’

DEMAND FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OFROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The architect criticized the lack of clear authority linesin the design management Conversely, members ofthe construction and project management teamsargued that the coordination role was definitelyassigned to the architect However, typical roles of thedesign manager – such as control, registration,distribution and issuance of design documents, as wellas quality control and change management – wereundertaken by the construction team, who prepared aspreadsheet to guide the architect According to anengineer: ‘I take a look at the drawings to identifymissing or conflicting data and inform them throughmeetings, e-mails or letters I identify the missing dataand require its inclusion in the design.’

These difficulties were partially caused by a poorunderstanding of design team members’ roles andresponsibilities and a lack of recognized leadership.The dissatisfaction seemed to emerge fromunrealistic expectations, preconceptions andconflicting requirements The team members clearlypresented different understandings of their roles andresponsibilities, as suggested by the architectinterviewed:

Someone has already said that deadlines werenot set to be met I haven’t seen a single deadline

met in this project Now they set an unlikelyschedule They are going nuts to meet it But wewill succeed and it is going to end up with a bigparty.

DIVERGENT INTERESTS AND EXPECTATIONSBETWEEN PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS

Poor coordination procedures led to difficulties, suchas different information levels, between the projectteams An engineer pointed out that three peoplefrom the client team worked directly in the process.Consequently, she received data both from theproject manager and the client, leaving room forextensive doubts Coordination procedures,implemented and supervised by each team leader,should have substantially minimized the emergenceof different information levels between projectteams.

The architect emphasized the conflicting interestsbetween designers and contractors: ‘This isabsolutely normal We’re acting on the client’s behalf.We are protecting the client’s interest in this project;the contractor is protecting his interests.’ Thearchitect also criticized the architects’ detachmentfrom the construction and complained about recentchanges in professional roles, which illustrate theunderlying rivalry between architects and engineers,and the reluctance to change:

Architects are unconsciously relinquishing theirtraditional leadership role, which gives engineersthe opportunity to enter the market Engineers arenot the same anymore I used to learn with them.Now they become bureaucrats who manage thecontract to meet the schedule, even if they have todestroy their partners It really is a battle in thisrespect.

DESIGNERS’ DETACHMENT FROM TIME ANDCOST MANAGEMENT

The contract manager criticized the designers’detachment from cost and time management: ‘It isclear to me There is a historical detachment ofdesigners from cost management that leads toconstruction problems There is a deadline and I don’tknow what I am supposed to do on some floors I amnot inventing this whole story.’ Excessive design

changes and late decision-making affected theprogress of the project and the relationship betweenteam members According to an engineer, frequentdesign changes required an active contractmanagement approach by the construction team:

Frequently, the work is already done when adesign change appears There is rework and ademand for new cost estimates We try to identifythe cost as the design is issued and negotiate itwith the client Then we have to procure it onceagain This demands hands-on contractmanagement

CONTRACT COULD NOT BE IMPLEMENTED ASEXPECTED

The Maximum Guaranteed Price contract wasconsidered comprehensive and conducive toachieving high performance by all parties Accordingto the project manager: ‘The contract has a USstructure, but is organized and precise, and providessolutions for any dispute.’ Despite its strengths, thecontract was not fully adopted, according to thecontract manager, because of the lack of definitionsin the design: ‘The cost should be reduced as thedesign was developed We were unable to do it,however, as the design was incomplete We hadto raise the price Thus, we offered no benefits tothe client.’ According to the project manager, theinexperience of the local supply chain affected thecontract enforcement: ‘A guaranteed maximum price(GMP) contract is clear for a North-Americancontractor The second price is lower than the firstone If the design does not change, then the price isreduced In contrast, a local contractor makes a lot ofdecisions based on assumptions.’ The contractordisagreed: ‘The first cost estimate was R$130 million,because there was only a schematic design The firstGMP was R$128 million and the last R$146 million.Something happened, right?’ He also questioned theso-called ‘concurrent engineering’:

Engineering has been re-invented in Brazil I’vebeen working for 23 years Today, it is much worsethan in the past There isn’t concurrent engineeringif this concurrence occurs during the construction.I cannot procure a curtain wall if I don’t know the

type of glass or aluminium This is not engineeringto me, it is something else.

The assignment of foreign offices to work onconstruction projects in developing countries canbring about benefits, such as technology transfer andinnovative design concepts On the other hand, itposes difficulties for the design management as itmay intensify coordination and communicationproblems, and there may be conflicting interests anda lack of mutual understanding of roles andresponsibilities among project team members.Therefore, it can increase project risks to the client,induce cost and time overruns, cause excessivedesign changes and claims, and have an adverseimpact on quality.

The assignment of foreign offices can adverselyaffect communication and team building dueto different languages, remoteness, impersonalrelationships, lack of face-to-face contacts,inadequate communication technologies and culturalsingularities In the project case study, foreigndesigners assumed a defensive technical attitudeso as not to incur liabilities for their firms, whichdelayed the decision-making at a critical stage of theproject.

The involvement of foreign offices in the designdevelopment stage can warrant fidelity to originalconcepts and compliance with specified solutions.Nevertheless, differences in the level of informationof construction documents, lack of familiarity of localcontractors and subcontractors with foreign plansand specifications, and complexity in estimating,procuring and installing imported items andequipment may arguably affect the design andconstruction management US constructiondocuments present a lower level of information incomparison with Brazilian ones, since subcontractorsand suppliers play an essential role in thedevelopment of the design in the US.

Furthermore, communication problems wereintensified due to the employment of foreigndesigners The Brazilian design team had to learnEnglish and the foreign team had to learn Portuguese.According to the contract manager, nobody in thelocal design team was fluent in English Certainly, this

aspect delayed the analysis of plans andspecifications, affected the clarification of doubts andinduced failures in the interpretation of the designdocuments.

Teleconferences were used by design managersbut without great success Drawings were also madeavailable for download from an intranet at the outsetof the project However, the system was abandonedas the majority of the subcontractors had never usedit before Moreover, design documents distributedthrough the intranet bypassed the qualitymanagement system of the construction firm.Therefore, the availability of promising technologiesdoes not guarantee immediate adoption andacceptance by project team members, since theirimplementation commonly requires investment,training, managerial changes and overcoming culturalbarriers.

The study identified serious deficiencies in designquality management, such as failures in designbriefing and scope management, incompatibilities,interferences, lack of procedures for the issueof design reviews, poor standardization andmodularization, and an excessive number of latedesign changes According to the interviewees, theseproblems emerged mainly as a result of: the unusualcomplexity of the project; deficient selection of localdesign offices; lack of precepts, tools and techniquesfor the design quality management; deficiencies inthe scope management; and inappropriate choice ofthe procurement route.

Although the volume of information exceededoverall expectations, it is assumed that careful designplanning and the adoption of simple precepts, suchas the single statement of information, could havereduced the problems faced by the project team Thespreadsheet developed by the contractors fordocument management purposes denotes aproactive approach that should have beenencouraged The design coordination could haveagreed upon an information demand schedule withclient and construction teams Presumably, thisinitiative was not taken due to conflicting interestsand a lack of trust and genuine leadership within theproject team.

The case study has highlighted some potentialimpacts of the trend for globalization in the

construction industry, such as the purchase of goodsand services on an international basis and theestablishment of international design teams Remotedesign teams promote innovative personal andprofessional relationships, but may conversely raisetechnological, managerial and organizational barriers tothe integration of design and construction Therefore,an informed choice of the procurement method andinnovations in management, technology and humanresources are required to establish trust andstrengthen cooperation in international design teams.

AUTHOR CONTACT DETAILS

Leonardo Grilo (corresponding author): Department of Civil

Construction Engineering, Polytechnic School, University of SãoPaulo, Brazil Tel: +55 11 3091 5459, fax: +55 11 3091 5544,e-mail: leonardo.grilo@poli.usp.br

Sílvio Melhado and Sérgio Alfredo Rosa Silva: Department of

Civil Construction Engineering, Polytechnic School, University ofSão Paulo, Brazil Tel: +55 11 3091 5164, fax: +55 11 3091 5544,e-mail: silvio.melhado@poli.usp.br, Sergio.alfredo@attglobal.net

Peter Edwards: School of Property, Construction and Project

Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.Tel: +61 3 9925 3478, fax: +61 3 9925 1939, e-mail:peter.edwards@rmit.edu.au

Cliff Hardcastle: School of the Built and Natural Environment,

Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK Tel: +44 141 3313630, fax: +44 141 331 3696, e-mail: cliff.hardcastle@gcal.ac.uk

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■ Keywords – Contractors; design management; design

Architectural design is a complex activity whichposes difficult managerial problems Complexities liewithin the technical knowledge, informationavailability, the uniqueness of design and interactionsbetween different stakeholders (Sebastian, 2005).Design involves a number of decisions withnumerous interdependencies (Cornick, 1991; Ballardand Koskela, 1998) There are often conflictingrequirements, demanding an effort to recognize,understand and manage trade-offs, and decisionsmust usually be made quickly and sometimes without

complete information (Reinertsen, 1997; Sanban et al,

2000; Koskela, 2004) A large number of stakeholdersare involved, such as architects, project managers,structural engineers, building services engineers andmarketing consultants Moreover, feedback fromproduction and operation takes a long time to be

obtained and tends to be ineffective (Formoso et al,

Design management, as a body of knowledge,has emerged with the aim of reaching a betterunderstanding of these issues and how they shouldbe tackled In recent years, the rising complexityof projects and growing market competitionhas significantly increased the pressures toimprove design performance i.e to develop high-quality design solutions through shorter timescales.Such complexities affect both designers andcontractors.

In the UK context, procurement routes such asdesign and build (D&B) and Public Private Partnerships(PPP) are currently being widely adopted Theseenable clients and/or owners to benefit from having asingle organization taking responsibility for deliveringthe required building and associated services

according to predefined standards (Bennett et al,

1996) Akintoye (1994) further elucidates that themajority of D&B contractors employ external

Over the past 40 years, a concern with the adoption of business methods to support successful designdevelopment has emerged Design management as a discipline addresses such concern through two centralschools of thought The first focuses on organizing the design firm, and the second aims to better understandthe design process (its nature, stages and activities) and to propose improved communication andcoordination mechanisms Both schools of thought have taken essentially a design professional’s perspectiveto analyse design Nevertheless, the recent adoption of procurement routes in which contractors areresponsible for design, construction and facilities management has imposed on contractors the need tomanage design to maintain competitiveness This paper presents results from two case studies investigatingthe contractor’s role in managing the design process Research results are presented in terms of theproblems contractors face in managing design, the necessity for appropriate design management and theskills contractors believe are required for effective design management The paper concludes by advocatinga need for clarity in the definition of design management from a contractor’s perspective.

consultant architects and engineers to develop thedesign Within this environment, contractors need toappropriately manage the design process to maintaincompetitiveness in the marketplace and to reducewastage both in design and in downstreamconstruction activities (Broadbent and Laughlin,2003).

However, to date, design management researchhas not sufficiently emphasized how contractorscould manage design, what their role is in thisprocess and what barriers they face The concept ofdesign management and the necessary skills tomanage design from a contractor’s perspectiveappear to be unclear Such a gap may be a partialconsequence of the fact that design managementhas typically been approached mainly from theperspective of the different professionals involved indesign (Press and Cooper, 2002) Therefore, a broaderperspective on design management is needed.

This paper aims to partially address this issue byanalysing data from two case studies in whichcontractors were responsible for managing thedesign process The paper discusses the role ofcontractors in design management, examining theskills needs for design managers from a contractor’sperspective Questions for further research are alsoposed.

DESIGN MANAGEMENT

Design management endeavours to establishmanagerial practices focused on improving thedesign process, thus creating opportunities for thedevelopment of high-quality innovative productsthrough effective processes Even though excellencein management is not considered a substitute forhigh-quality creativity and innovation, it can representthe difference between success and failure inmultidimensional and complex project environments(Cooper and Press, 1995).

Emmitt (1999) poses that in architecture, the work

of Brunton et al (1964) represents an early attempt to

introduce managerial concepts in design The searchfor an understanding of how people perform complexcognitive activities has been the underlying principle ofdesign research for the past four decades (Kalay, 1999).During this period, there has been a slow but steadygrowth in understanding design ability Similarly, the

need to provide research and measures to encouragefirms to make use of design for competitive advantagecame to light (Press and Cooper, 2002) It was hopedthat understanding ‘how designers think’ would lead tothe development of methods and tools to help thereliable achievement of high-quality results in design(Kalay, 1999; Lawson, 2006)

In general, past research has focused on twodifferent design management dimensions i.e office orpractice management and individual job management(the management of the design/project in hand)(Sebastian, 2004) However, such distinction may bepotentially misleading since the two interconnect i.e.the management of people and social characteristicsof staff employed will create the unique culture of thefirm, which will in turn affect the way individualprojects are managed (Emmitt, 1999).

From a project management or individual jobperspective, the design process has been studiedfrom two different viewpoints The first aims toincrease understanding of the nature of the design

activity (e.g Lawson et al, 2003) The second

proposes ways in which design should be developedat its different stages, considering both ‘hard’activities and ‘soft’ social design interactions (e.g.

Kagioglou et al, 1998) Along these lines, design

management has been closely related to a concernwith systematic design methods, focusing on theoutcome of design decisions (i.e the product ofdesign) and the activity of designing (i.e the designprocess) (Cross, 1999; Press and Cooper, 2002;

Lawson et al, 2003)

As a result, the need to consider the whole lifecycle of projects became apparent Architecturalmanagement evolved from approaching design asan isolated activity at the front-end of projects, tocover the project from inception through todemolition, recycle and reuse Figure 1 describes thecontext in which design management happens, anddemonstrates the importance of communication andcollaboration with different stakeholders These areessential design and design management skills

Figure 1 demonstrates some of the differentissues that need to be considered by designmanagers Nevertheless, for design management tobe effective, a more detailed understanding of skillsneeds is essential A brief description of such skills,

as discussed in the literature, is presented in thenext section.

DESIGN SKILLS

Design skills are essential for the activity of

designing Bloom et al (2004) state that, put simply,

skills are what an individual possesses, and these canbe learnt both informally (on the job) and formally(through training) It is important to recognize thatthere is a natural way in which humans develop theability to design e.g by categorizing different thingsor through activities such as changing the furniturelayout in our houses However, the development ofdesign skills could be compared to the acquisition ofa language, in that it is a continuous processbeginning in childhood (Lawson, 2006).

It is accepted that in order to locate design skillsand competences (i.e knowledge and behaviours)and to consider their value, one must analyse

the breadth of the profession of design Differingdesign professions have evolved by educationalpush and by corporate and consumer pull, whichmeans that there are various perspectives from whichto assess the design and the design managementprofession and its future (Press and Cooper, 2002).

It is well known that design activity includes highcognitive abilities, including creativity, synthesis andproblem solving Cross (2004) reviews the field ofexpertise in design, linking it to design behaviour andthe design process The author states that expertdesigners appear to be ‘ill-behaved’ problem solversas they do not spend much time defining the designproblem Expert designers are, therefore, solution-focused, not problem-focused Generating a widerange of alternative solutions is a recommendedstrategy in the literature (e.g Reinertsen, 1997).However, Cross (2004) points out that this may not benecessarily good, as most expert designers tend to

FIGURE 1Architectural design management within the project framework, from Emmitt (2002: 40)

define a single solution and then develop it further.The study of the way in which expert designersbehave may provide clues as to how designmanagement should be approached; however, thelinks between these two areas appear to be unclear inthe literature.

Design managers’ skills have been brieflydescribed in the literature It has been stated thatdesign managers need to have the skills tounderstand a comprehensive set of requirements andto support their capture from the client/users andconstruction teams (Barrett and Stanley, 1999) Theyalso require communication skills, both verbal andvisual, to coordinate the exchanges of informationthroughout design development, and to explain theconcepts to the stakeholders whenever necessary(Press and Cooper, 2002) Therefore, design

managers need to have technical skills, looking at

design as a sequence of activities based on arationalized approach to a technical problem;

cognitive skills, approaching the skills and limitationsof the individual designer; and social skills, looking at

how designers interact with other stakeholders andhow this influences teamwork and value generation(Cross and Clayburn, 1995).

Even though such descriptions are important, it isbelieved that more information is needed to supporta better understanding of design management and ofthe skills that effective design managers shouldpossess The currently poor understanding of the roleof design managers within different contexts (e.g.design office, contractors, developers, etc.) may berelated to deficiencies in current definitions of designmanagers’ skills.

RESEARCH METHOD

The epistemological option for this study is based onthe interpretative school of thought The researchuses qualitative approaches to inductively andholistically understand human experience in context-specific settings As pointed out by Silverman (1998:3), a ‘particular strength of qualitative research is itsability to focus on actual practice in situ, looking athow organizations are routinely enacted’ Thus, designmanagement developed by contractors was analysedwith an emphasis on meanings, facts and words toreach an understanding of the phenomena in practice.

Within this context, a case study approach withexploratory characteristics was used to understandthe overall role of contractors in managing design,and examine the skills that design managers need toperform such activity The two companies involved inthe case study are major construction contractorswithin the UK, and both are heavily involved withdesign management due to the type of procurementadopted i.e in both cases more than 60% of thework undertaken involves managing the design

and construction processes The companies were

also selected because they considered designmanagement to be of strategic importance.

Data were collected through (a) seven structured interviews with design managers – four atcompany A and three at company B; (b) participationof one of the researchers in meetings in which designmanagement issues were discussed (six at companyA and four at company B); and (c) documentaryevidence including company information over theInternet and descriptions of design managers’capabilities and skills Specific documents forcompany A included a design management map; amap linking the design and bid processes; trainingprogramme; mistakes made and lessons learnt;designer performance review form; managementsystem procedure; D&B guidance notes; hospitalbidding documentation Documentary evidence forcompany B incorporated procurement information(e.g http://www.dh.gov.uk/ProcurementAndProposals/PublicPrivatePartnership/NHSLIFT/fs/en); biddingdocuments; training needs for design managers; anddescription of the design managers’ role All interviewswere tape recorded and verbatim transcribed,generating a detailed report on design managementissues faced by the companies.

semi-Data analysis was developed with the aid ofcontent analysis According to Krippendorff (1980:21), ‘content analysis is a research technique formaking replicable and valid inferences from data totheir context’ and its purpose is to provide knowledgeand new insights through a representation of facts.The analysis focused on identifying the perceived roleof contractors and its design managers in managingdesign and the problems faced, as well as theperceived skills that design managers should havefrom the contractor’s perspective.

Case study findings are presented for companies Aand B The background of each company isdiscussed, followed by a description of its role inmanaging design Interview quotes are provided toenrich the discussion Finally, the role of designmanagers is discussed The discussion sectionpresents the cross-case analysis and draws majorconclusions.

CASE STUDY 1: CONSTRUCTION COMPANY A

Company A is a major civil engineering andconstruction contractor The company’s turnover isaround £450 million a year, with a staff of about 1200in the UK The company works in different businessstreams and 70–80% of the contracts are procuredthough D&B or PPP The company has main offices in18 different regions in the UK.

Company A was involved in an improvementprogramme called Implementing Best Practice Aspart of the programme, a design managementprocess model was developed The model describesthe design process focusing on the activities to beperformed by the contractor’s design manager Themodel aims to improve design management skillsand therefore bring all company design managers upto a minimum standard.

The model is a prescriptive ‘to be’ generic model(see Winch and Carr, 2001 for a definition) developedat the firm level, presenting six project phases asdescribed in Figure 2:

● get opportunity

● work up to bid: involves all design stages

● win and start up: includes the award of thecontract, mobilization and production information

The model defines project deliverables as well asinformation needs in terms of activities, technology

and people The discussion presented here focuseson the role of design managers within the firm, aswell as the problems faced by the company inmanaging design, which triggered the process modeldevelopment.

Design management problems: the role of designmanagement

In company A, design management is perceived as asignificant risk due to the fact that badly manageddesign can cause increased construction costs,rework, changes and time delays More importantly,poor design can cause failure in bidding, affectingcompetitiveness Even though its importance is clearlyacknowledged, design is the most inconsistentlymanaged process across the company Inappropriateplanning, poor reviews, poor resource availability andpoor quality were issues identified As stated by asenior design manager interviewed:

This is where the problem is, processes areinconsistent at the moment, and design is themost inconsistent, and that’s the best way ofdescribing it.

Design work is always sub-let to externalconsultancies Progress is usually monitored againsthigh-level milestones However, milestones do notfocus on the information that should be produced butrather on major activities such as getting planningapproval Furthermore, there is a belief that the detaildesign phase should be pulled from constructionplanning (as, in most cases, design and constructionare developed concurrently), but this does nothappen because of poor information transfers withexternal designers As a consequence, many designdecisions are taken on site.

Design review meetings occur less often thanwould be appropriate Design fixity (see Kagioglou

et al, 1998 for a definition) should be sought through

these reviews, but the concept of fixity seems to bepoorly understood, and there is no clarity on how itcould be achieved Moreover, defining and controllingthe brief is considered a challenge, as designers havetheir own agendas that often conflict with thecontractor’s interests, as clearly stated in thefollowing interview extract:

FIGURE 2 Design management process model – hierarchical structure

Designers want to reduce their own costs andare not so much [concerned] with reducingconstruction costs.

Further difficulties occur when design is novated tothe company This is generally problematic as theproposed design does not consider the company’sbuilding standards, and there is poor financialflexibility to obtain design changes or details Inaddition, it has been stated that sometimes designersare inflexible in terms of not being able to respond tothe company’s requests because many designconsultancies are small and lack ‘slack’ resources.1

The company has a total of 12 design managerswhich, in general, get involved in large D&Bconstruction projects Of those, three are designersand nine come from different backgrounds e.g.planners, programmers or quantity surveyors.Therefore, it appears that most design managers donot have appropriate knowledge, and possibly do nothave the necessary skills, to manage design This isevidenced by the following interview extract:

We have people doing design management butthey don’t actually know how to do it, they are notqualified to do it because they don’t reallyunderstand the design process so the only thingthat they can check it for is if it is buildable, andrelatively simple plans, quality plans So most ofthem tend to operate as information coordinators,it’s just pushing drawings out of the people, withoutreally analysing quality or the process.

Finally, the company design managers suffer culties with external architectural consultancies as, inmany cases, the latter believe the contractor to betaking over their responsibilities This demonstratestensions with regard to who should manage design –designers as service providers, or contractors as theinternal client.

diffi-Skills required

Company A has difficulties in defining the role ofdesign managers and consequently the skills requiredto perform the activity Company offices in differentregions work independently and this generatesproblems in implementing a unified approach.

Furthermore, some of the company managers believethat as design work is subcontracted, design manage-ment should be too Others believe that design is ofstrategic importance and, therefore, its managementshould be taken over by the company for its ownbenefit, as well as for the benefit of its clients.

Even though there was not an agreement withrespect to subcontracting or developing designmanagement internally, work was conducted as partof the process model design to establish basic designmanagement skills Seven key skills for designmanagers were established:

● programme and performance measurement

● project systems (IT focused)

Those skills were further detailed through a list of 35items summarizing the design manager’s role Theseare described as follows.

First, the design manager should map the specificproject process, based on the generic model Theproject process should form the basis for planningand controlling design development, including thedelivery of work by external consultants andsubcontractors Weekly meetings should be held toensure work is developed to schedule, and the designmanager should have authority to coordinate theparticipants and activities of each phase Second, thedesign manager should appoint appropriately skilleddesign consultants Third, s/he should be thecommunications link between the clients, designersand subcontractors, and therefore be responsible forcontrolling the briefing process and requirementsmanagement In this sense, s/he should be capable ofmaking fast and effective decisions on designmatters Fourth, issues of design aesthetics,buildability, costs, quality and programme constraintsshould be appropriately balanced Drawings shouldbe checked and approved for compliance with thecontractor’s regulations Finally, soft human skills arementioned in terms of providing leadership andestablishing teamwork.

However, it seems that the development of anoverarching standard approach to design manage-ment within the firm remains a major challenge Thisis partially a consequence of the divergentperspectives on design management within thecompany, which has been evidenced throughdiscussions observed by the researcher about theimplementation of the design process model Thesefocused much more on ‘what is a design manager?’than on the implementation process itself Thisdemonstrates the importance and lack of clarity aboutthe design management approach at company A.

CASE STUDY 2: CONSTRUCTION COMPANY B

Company B is an international construction groupwith capability in the design, procurement anddelivery of major projects Its turnover is around £1.6billion, with about 9000 staff in the UK The companyhas a major track record in working through initiativessuch as private finance initiative (PFI) and designbuild finance and operate (DBFO) schemes with thepublic sector.

Company B is involved with the LIFT initiative (LocalImprovement Finance Trust) LIFTs are public/privatepartnerships set up to allow NHS Primary Care Trustsand their local partner organizations to developprimary healthcare facilities Through LIFT, a numberof schemes are clustered and delivered by a singleprivate sector partner Company B is the privatesector partner in two major LIFTs in the UK, beingresponsible for designing, building, financing thefacilities and providing facilities management andsupport services over a 25-year period.

Company B was responsible for procuringdesigners and managing the design process in thedevelopment of LIFT schemes The design of suchschemes is challenging, as buildings are innovativeand complex Complexities lie within the need toprovide therapeutic environments supportive of thehealing process and the need for a patient-centred

service model (Gesler et al, 2004) The functional level

of the buildings and the operating conditions arecomplex, as different services need to be deliveredjointly, and the service mix and ways of operation arevaried and unknown at the outset.

Design management problems: the role of designmanagement

Company B considers effective design managementessential in controlling the front-end of the majority ofits projects Furthermore, design quality is consideredparamount to maintain and increase competitiveadvantage However, the company faces designmanagement difficulties Poor clarity with regard towho should capture and manage requirements, poorcontrol of design changes, difficulties in managingexchanges of information between clients, designersand contractors, and poor alignment between designsolutions and clients’ requirements were issuesidentified The occurrence of these issues isillustrated through the description of problems thathave occurred on a specific primary healthcareproject.

There was no appropriate ownership and controlover clients’ requirements at the project environment.These were partially managed by the clients, partiallyby company B’s design managers, and partially by thearchitects Requirements were not ranked neitherwas the ability to deliver analysed As a consequence,there were difficulties in trade-offs between users’wants and a prioritization of project needs Inaddition, the design managers/designers were notpresent at all requirements capture meetings;therefore, the expected support to the client was notprovided, and communications between clients anddesigners were inappropriate.

Furthermore, there was no audit trail for designchanges in place Requirements changes had beendealt with directly by the architects, and requestsfrom users were generally included in the designwithout considering affordability or the effects thatthe changes had in terms of time delays The numberof changes in the project is clear from the followinginterview transcript:

I do remember some late change requests, and Ikept saying, do you [client/user] realize what this isgoing to cost you? And when they did, then theymanaged to refine their requirements And therehad been design solutions that had cost a fortunethat had to be removed as inappropriate designsolutions So it was an unstructured, ill-disciplinedprocess.

As in company A, design managers in company Bcome from a variety of professional backgrounds i.e.engineers, architects, building services and planners.Most importantly, many design managers did nothave all the capabilities necessary to appropriatelyperform their role The design managers intervieweddid not have previous training or experience in design,as one had a degree in construction management andworked as a production coordinator, and the secondhad a building degree and had worked withconstruction planning It is believed that this mayhave influenced some of the problems that occurredat the project level.

Interview data also made clear that designmanagers in company B tend to approach their workfrom personal, and sometimes contrasting,perspectives For instance, one design managerbelieved that as he was representing the contractor,he should not be involved in requirements capture andmanagement However, it was on the remit of thecontractor’s work to provide support to the clients inmanaging requirements On the other hand, a seconddesign manager believed that he should managerequirements and provide an appropriate link betweenclients, contractors and designers Unfortunately, hefaced problems in performing such activities becauseof his skills level and his poor bargaining power withboth the client organization and the designers Suchdifferent managerial approaches make explicit thelack of clarity in design management roles andresponsibilities at the company level.

Skills required

Company B has stated the design management skillsit requires in terms of different issues Designmanagers are expected to have appropriateprofessional qualifications (e.g RIBA, MICE, MIOB,etc.) and to be able to demonstrate competence inthe role There is a belief that good design managersmust understand the project’s needs, budgets andaspirations, making decisions and communicatingthese appropriately Furthermore, s/he must becapable of understanding processes within both thedesign and construction environments Also, thedesign manager is considered to be key in creating aseamless link from design, through procurement intoconstruction, commissioning and handover.

In this sense, design managers are expected toplay an active part within the wider project team,liaising and coordinating the design team, the client,trade designers, statutory authorities and otherinterested parties e.g fire officers, police, disabilityadvisers, etc Therefore, it is believed that designmanagers need listening, communicating andasserting skills, in addition to a thorough practical andtechnical knowledge.

Finally, design managers must be able to controlthe costs of the emerging design solutions and becapable of ensuring that the delivered design meetscontractual and construction requirements.

In summary, it is possible to state that there is anemphasis on planning and controlling the designprocess in a project management ‘command andcontrol’ style (Tzortzopoulos, 2004) i.e defining thework that needs to be done and pushing it to thedesign team, and controlling design developmentsolely through the production of deliverables.However, such a ‘command and control’management style does not appear to be deliveringthe expected results.

Design managers need to have the appropriate skillsand capability to lead design development (Mozota,2003) Therefore, clarity of roles and responsibilities,the availability of appropriately skilled designmanagers and a clear vision of what the company istrying to achieve through design management aremain issues However, research results demonstratepoor clarity on all these issues at both case studycompanies.

There were divergent and sometimes conflictingperspectives on design management by the topmanagement, regional managers and design managersthroughout company A Furthermore, there was a lackof agreement on the potential benefits of managingdesign from the contractor’s perspective The lack of aclear and agreed company-wide design managementstrategy, coupled with the lack of clarity on the designmanager’s role created difficulties at the company.

Similarly, at company B, each design managerappeared to be taking a personal view on how designshould be managed This is evidenced by the factthat design managers took conflicting approaches to

the management of requirements Poor control ofdesign changes and difficulties in managingcommunications and delays were also identified.

Therefore, difficulties in managing design can bea consequence of the poor definition of thecompanies’ role (and that of their design managers)in the process Generally speaking, the designmanagers from both case study contractorsappeared to have inappropriate understanding, skillsand knowledge about design These issues raisequestions that need to be answered through furtherresearch.

First, should the management of the designprocess be the responsibility of developers, cont-ractors, designers or clients? Market trends indicatethat major contractors in the UK are involved withdesign management, so research needs to bedeveloped to clarify the most appropriate role forcontractors throughout design development Clarityregarding the design manager’s skills andcompetence needs, to allow them to effectively actduring design, should be sought in alignment with thecontractor’s role in the process.

Second, how should tensions be balancedbetween designers wanting to manage design, andthe contractor’s design managers? Finding means toappropriately empower design managers working forcontractors and also engage designers by demon-strating benefits would be essential to ease suchtensions

Third, can stakeholders from varied non-designbackgrounds achieve the necessary capabilities tomanage design without appropriate training? Andwould the establishment of a unified conceptualapproach to design management reduce the occur-rence of problems in practice?

Finally, the appropriate managerial strategies tobe adopted by contractors need to be established Isit appropriate for design to be managed solelythrough a system of personal beliefs? In effect, anappropriate level of process control should besought, allowing efficiency and reliability of stableprocess activities to be achieved throughout thedifferent company projects (Barrett and Stanley,1999) However, at the same time, design managersshould retain the capability to identify situations

that require change, ensuring effectiveness andresponsiveness throughout the process This wouldsupport improvement and innovation, allowing formanagerial autonomy in each project It also allowsthe ‘design’ of the best possible way of managing theprocess by considering good practices and also thestructure of physical, political and cultural settings ofdesign action in each project context.

The importance of appropriately managing thedesign process has been long acknowledged In thecurrent context of contractors taking managerialresponsibility over the design process, this issuebecomes even more important as a new designmanagement direction emerges

This paper emphasized a research gap in whichpoor attention has been given to the managementof design from a contractor’s perspective Casestudy data evidenced shortcomings in practicein terms of establishing the role of contractorsin managing design, as well as poor clarityregarding the skills and competences necessaryfor design managers working for contractors Basedon these issues, questions for further research wereproposed

The lack of a clear theoretical foundation fordesign management influences the problems facedin practice To date, research has failed to providean overarching framework that could supportimprovements in practice This is related to the factthat the main research focus has been on managingdesign from a designer’s perspective only Also, dueto the great diversity of design practice, poorconsideration has been given to the importance ofcontext, organizational and project issues in designmanagement Poor clarity with regard to any of thesewould lead to problems in design managementpractice.

Therefore, we put forward the need for a morecritical reflection on design management’s purposeand direction within the construction industry Morespecifically, clarity is needed as to how differentstakeholders should approach design managementso that the best value and most effective processescan be achieved.

AUTHOR CONTACT DETAILS

Dr Patricia Tzortzopoulos: Research Institute for the Built and

Human Environment, University of Salford, Maxwell Building,Salford, M5 4WT, UK.

Address for correspondence: School of the Built Environment,

University of Salford, Room 412, 4th Floor, Maxwell Building,Salford, M5 4WT, UK Tel: +44 (0) 161 295 4284, fax: +44 (0)161 295 4587, e-mail: p.tzortzopoulos@salford.ac.uk

Professor Rachel Cooper: Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary

Arts, Lancaster University E-mail: R.Cooper@lancaster.ac.uk

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■ Keywords – Architectural quality and value; design strategy;

industrialization; professional culture; role of the architectINTRODUCTION

THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARYDESIGN PRACTICE

Present challenges such as increasing globalcomplexity, the international marketplace and thecontinuing acceleration of industrialization, as well ascomputer-based communication and information

technology, seem to create a growing need forsimplicity, clarity, control and reliability at all levels ofsociety and human life Similarly, we are facing a newconsumer culture that calls for multiple and morecustomized goods, which leads to more specifiedquality demands (Baudrillard, 2003).1 Thesetendencies are also traceable in the production ofcontemporary architecture They can be found in thegeneral aspiration for exact definitions of values andqualities, which can be used as standardized

Complexity arising from increasing globalization of the marketplace and computer-based communication andinformation technology seems to create a growing need for simplicity, control and reliability At the same time,contemporary consumer culture calls for customized and personalized goods This evolution also leads to ademand for precise definitions of the values and qualities that can be used as managing tools in common buildingpractice and it puts the traditional architectural design process under pressure This paper outlines an approachto architectural quality as dealt with in the design process in an industrialized context It also presents a way toanalyse how and to what degree design processes are formed strategically according to specific architecturalintentions (values) Through detailed interviews with professional architects, the way in which they manage thedesign process and how the architectural potentials are realized when dealing with modern industrial processesare examined To analyse and structure the empirical data, a model was developed consisting of four approachesfor action The approaches are categorized along different dichotomies in order to point out different ways inwhich the offices can direct their design process (strategies) and reach particular end-results (goals) Twoexamples from the analysis are discussed according to the dichotomies and subsequently developed into ageneral classification focusing on strategy A description is given of how the model was tested in thearchitectural education at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – School of Architecture The overall researchproject has two aims – to help offices identify the characteristics and specific methods of working witharchitectural quality in an industrialized context, and to generate a common debate about quality in industrializedarchitecture It is hoped that by presenting a way to talk about strategy and architectural value, it will inspirefurther elaboration of the field of strategic design management.

Forming Core Elements for StrategicDesign Management: How to Defineand Direct Architectural Value in anIndustrialized Context

Anne Beim and Kasper Vibæk Jensen

governing tools in common building practice.2How todefine and manage architectural quality seems to bedetermined by a series of conditions (productdemands, value-chain definitions, technologies andrequirements of the end-users) that are detachedfrom the specific architectural context Consequently,architecture and the design process are ruled by amixture of quality standards and managing tools thatdo not relate to the architectural project as a holisticentity or, it could be argued, to architecture at all.

As a result of this evolution, the traditionalarchitectural design process is being put underpressure as it is an ‘open process’ comprising artisticand innovative activities Each step is difficult to fullyplan and predict and when it comes to the end-result,it is impossible to control At the same time, variousresearch has shown that during the early stages of aproject design (conception and programming), 90%of the final costs and qualities are defined (ATV, 1999).In our opinion, these two points highlight the need fora more conscious approach among practisingarchitects as to how and to what degree strategicdesign management should be a part of thearchitectural design process This is in order to bettertranslate visions into built (real) form and realize asmany of the embedded values as possible in abuilding project when confronted with the conditionsof an industrialized reality

The research project discussed in this article is anempirical investigation into how professionalarchitects define and manage architectural qualitiesand values in the design process It focusesespecially on the architectural potential (freedom andconstraints), which lies in the use of contemporaryindustrial manufacturing processes Questionstouched upon are: How is architectural qualitydefined in specific architectural solutions? Whichstrategies and methodologies are being used in orderto reach specific goals (architectural qualities) in theproduction of architecture today?

DEFINING ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY INAN INDUSTRIALIZED CONTEXT

In architecture, quality can be defined as a relativematter that relates to specific architectural questionsand solutions Architectural quality includes a number ofdimensions that are not easily recognizable within a

traditional industrial context The industrial concept ofquality primarily concerns functional and technicalmatters whereas architecture and its qualities reachmuch further as a culturally dependent product(Frampton, 1983) Besides functional and technicalissues, architectural quality also embraces aesthetic andethical aspects e.g forming answers to questions suchas ‘How shall one live to live in a right way?’ (Lundequist,1992) As such, the concept of architectural qualityconcerns human existence, our needs and aspirations,and its core values can be said to have existedunchanged as long as the history of mankind Insummary, the industrial concept of quality hasdeveloped into a narrow rational/technical concept,whereas the concept of architectural quality can becharacterized as an overall human premise (Beim, 2004)

Furthermore, architectural quality depends on how‘the creator’ (here, the architect), as well as ‘thespectator’ (the user), perceive and interpret the ideasbehind an architectural project as well as what sort ofmeaning (or lack of meaning) they transfer into thephysical solutions It then becomes a matter ofperception and association i.e I give meaning to what Isee (perception), based on my previous knowledge andexperience According to Pallasmaa, it is important tobe aware of the observed qualities and the generativeconcepts in relation to architectural perception as twodifferent, but intertwining, levels of perception They aredescribed as, ‘analogous to the tension between theempirical and the rational, where the logic of pre-existing concepts meets the contingency andparticularity of experience’ (Pallasmaa, 1994) In ouropinion, this means that architectural quality can neverbe expressed as a single formula and neither is itpossible to make direct comparisons between differentlevels of quality and different architectural solutions.This means that not only the architectural designprocess (as described above) but also the very conceptof architectural quality seems to be challenged by theprocesses linked to industrialized manufacturing andcomputer technology which both require strict planningand a predictable output.

A THEORETICAL MODEL DEFINING FOURAPPROACHES FOR ACTION

Through detailed interviews with practisingarchitects, the investigation tries to reveal how they

work in order to reach their final results These resultsare not necessarily single building constructions, butalso building concepts and building systems, as wellas (industrial) design principles which we define as‘industrialized architecture’ The architects thathave been interviewed all work in the field ofindustrialized architecture and present interestingattitudes.

As part of the project, we have formulated amodel consisting of four approaches for action (idealtypes)3 which helps to categorize and structure thedifferent ways in which the architectural offices try tomanage the design process and the end-results Theapproaches are not exact representations of anyempirical reality, but try to collect a series of relatedmotives for action, arranged as clear-cut strategies.The model was conceived through a brainstormexercise based on general (intuitive) experience andspecific impressions from the interviews, but hassubsequently and continually been corrected andrefined during the analysis of the interviews, whileused as a way to structure the analysis In this way,the model works more as a dynamic tool than as arigid theoretical framework Furthermore, it has beenthe intention to make the model useful outside thisspecific research project i.e to generateconsciousness and debate among practitioners andstudents about how they work This approach – partlyborrowed from the social sciences – seemsappropriate in the present setting, as it does not try to ‘classify or bring order into a chaotic reality but rather aims at caricaturing essentialcharacteristics in this reality’ (Andersen, 1990 –author’s translation) According to Andersen’sinterpretation, ideal types work as ‘entrance keys’ to adeeper understanding of the inner nature of empiricalphenomena.4

The four approaches contained in the model are:

● the pragmatic approach

● the academic approach

● the management approach

● the conceptual approach

Each represents different strategies along four sets ofdichotomies These are:

● project vs process orientation

● architecture as an autonomous vs conditionaldiscipline

● innovative vs evolutionary working method

● intuitive vs explicit accumulation of knowledge

The dichotomies – as well as the approaches – havebeen adjusted and refined throughout the work withthe empirical results.

THE PRAGMATIC APPROACH

This approach starts from the belief that ‘goodarchitecture’ is ordinary buildings that worksatisfactorily and are made for ordinary people Thebrief, the given conditions and the context sets up abasic framework as a starting point The role of thearchitect is not to revolutionize the world orarchitecture, but to present qualified proposals andimprove the general standards Knowledge isaccumulated through a kind of apprenticeship basedon routines and tradition and it is matured throughworking on specific projects Knowledge is primarilyproduced and held by the involved employees in eachproject and there is no systematic cross-projectevaluation and transmission Architects deal withwhat is possible within the given situation Objectivesconcerning architectural quality are defined by the

FIGURE 1The relation between reality and theory (Andersen, 1990)

programme and during the specific sketchingprocess A personification of this approach could bethe craftsman In summary, the pragmatic approachdefines architecture as a discipline depending onother disciplines The approach is primarily project-oriented, based on tradition (evolution) with anintuitive non-explicit use of knowledge

THE ACADEMIC APPROACH

Behind this approach, there is an understanding ofarchitecture stressing a holistic perspective Only thearchitect is capable of fully understanding thiscomplexity, which nevertheless is created throughinteraction between various individuals/firms, eachone contributing with specific knowledge The role ofthe architect is to interpret and synthesize the manydifferent inputs Knowledge is systematically gainedand critically held up against present knowledge Thismeans that knowledge is accumulated directly withinthe company The working methods are fixed andtransparent, and well-known solutions (typologies)are repeated while continually adjusted and refined.Every task is specified so that responsibility can bedistributed easily Objectives concerning architecturalquality transcend the project level, for examplesustainability, low-cost building or exploitation of thepotential of daylight Through a fixed method,architects try to reach some defined goals of quality.The personification would be the scientist Summingup – the academic approach claims architecture to bean autonomous discipline It is primarily process-oriented, based on tradition (evolution) and has a highlevel of explicit knowledge accumulation

THE MANAGEMENT APPROACH

This approach is based on the belief that architectureis created by the interaction between different agentsboth inside and outside the building industry, and thearchitect has no unique status in this context.Efficient coaching/management, rational thinking andgood business are musts to attain good results.Knowledge is based on theoretical models andexperience collected for internal use The businessadministration is in charge of the total amount ofknowledge as a platform for decision-making.Keywords are professional business administration,specialization and management of each employee’s

qualifications This assures an optimal use of all theknow-how and skills held within the company by itsemployees In this way, room is made for new ideasto emerge by possessing sufficient economicalresources in each project, as well as in the companyas a whole A personification could be the manager.Summing up – the management approach claimsarchitecture’s dependency on other disciplines It isprimarily process-oriented, innovative and has a highdegree of explicit knowledge accumulation.

THE CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

Architecture is conceived as an art in this approach.Every building must – regardless of technologicallimitations and restrictions – form a uniquestatement, which means being more than just a‘physical shelter’ for human activity To work as anarchitect is a vocation Every work (of art) has its ownsignificant premises, which means that you cannottransfer the same knowledge from one project toanother Reusing former ideas or solutions can even

restrain the work Every project must start as a tabularasa where a particular concept sets up the

framework for possible action

This concept may originate or be inspired by partof reality, but generates its own logic The quality isembedded in the value of the concept, the degree ofinnovation or the special characteristics and theclarity of the final result However, this qualitydefinition does not exclude technical and functionaldimensions, but they are not regarded as mainparameters The approach can be personified as theartist Summing up – the conceptual approach claimsarchitecture to be an autonomous discipline It isprimarily project-oriented and innovative and has anintuitive non-explicit use of knowledge.

The four approaches are to be understood asimpartial and we have tried to not favour one approachover another We have assumed that all approaches canresult in high levels of architectural quality and greatvalue for the end-users and society The approaches arean expression of a cultivation and grouping of relatedcharacteristics In reality, architectural practice willalways be more ambivalent and often point towardsdifferent approaches simultaneously As such, generalarchitectural practice most likely forms a complexcombination of different strategies.

AXES OF DICHOTOMIES

To further illustrate the model, Figure 2 sets up the fourdifferent concept axes or dichotomies used in thesummary of each approach The figure anddichotomies should help to distinguish the approachesfrom each other and facilitate their comparison

The first dichotomy is a process/project axis thatdescribes the focus of the architects when working inthe office A process focus starts from theassumption that structuring and managing theprocess is the best way to control the result The waywe do things has a great influence on the finaloutcome This means that the working methods oftenhave a general character directed towards ‘how to do’and this is not necessarily linked to any specialcharacteristics in the actual project The project focusstarts the other way around with the aim of ‘what todo’ This makes the process more arbitrary orimprovised in the way that ‘anything goes’ in order toreach the goals set up in a specific project A uniqueresult can be an outcome of many differentprocesses The working method is thus postponed inrelation to the product/project.

EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE ACCUMULATION/INTUITIVE NON-EXPLICIT USE OF

The second dichotomy deals with the nature of theknowledge used or could also be illustrated as the‘media and code’ used for information storage andexchange Explicit knowledge accumulation mainlyuses external media and universal codes5 e.g.paper/pen (media) and letters/English (code) Thistype of knowledge accumulation facilitatescommunication and exchange by making it moreindependent of the actors involved Intuitive non-explicit

use of knowledge is stored in the actors themselvesand codes are personal, or at least limited by personalaccess.6 This knowledge can be conscious but ismore likely to be part of the subconscious The actualknowledge accumulation will always be a combinationof the two extremes This has to do with theinterpretative act, which will always be involved in thetranslation of any form of information independent ofmedia and code into usable real-time knowledge.‘Who’ is reading the text or looking at the drawing isjust as important

The third dichotomy spanning from innovation toevolution is related to the ‘use’ of knowledge whengenerating new ideas and projects Innovation has todo with the ability or the intention to throw away whatyou already know and take in completely newinformation without prejudice This knowledge can beboth reliable knowledge generated in externalenvironments7 and more ad-hoc knowledgegenerated by a particular combination of conditionsthat are present in the specific case or situation.Evolution means that the main part of the knowledgeor information employed in a project is alreadypossessed by the actor (the architect) before thebeginning of the project Compared to nature itself,evolution is based on mutation where minorcorrections and refinements make an organism(object or process) more apt in a certain environment,context or situation Yet again, reality will always besomewhere in between It is not possible to startcompletely from scratch even if you wanted to Therewill always be reuse of some basic knowledge e.g.how to use a pen or the dimensions of the humanbody (in architecture) At the opposite end of thespectrum, total reuse will not generate new ideas andcannot even be defined as evolution.

FIGURE 2The different approaches placed within the four dichotomies

The fourth dichotomy describes architecture’sautonomy or dependency An autonomousarchitecture is an architecture that is exclusivelydefined within itself and the architect dominateswhen it comes to deciding what is relevant to includein this definition This has to do with a conception ofarchitecture as a true profession rather than anoccupation (demarcation/action) On the other hand,architecture as dependant discipline, places thearchitect as one actor among many others in theproduction of architecture This is not necessarilyconstraining for the development of architecture; thevague borders can be seen as possibilities andinspiration rather than limitations.

The dichotomies represent a simplified way toclassify the different theoretical approaches Thisshould help to make the model a useful tool foranalysis and discussion of specific empirical reality inarchitectural offices In this research project, it hasbeen tested on a collection of interviews withprofessionals from different Danish and foreignarchitectural offices An interesting analysis wouldnot try to make an exact match between reality andtheory, but rather discuss the clashes between therigid classifications and the ever-complex reality CASES FROM THE ANALYSIS

Using the model as a language or a matrix enables usto locate and discuss the specific statementsconcerning architectural quality (goals) and the way toattain it (strategies) The overall scope of the analysisand the research project is to ‘locate and discuss’ –rather than to interpret – the different strategies andspecific goals (in the process of architectural design)as reflected among a selection of practitioners(cases)

Design strategies seem to work on several levelsand some of them are only indirectly related to theactual design process A strategy can be directedstrictly towards the formal design – the process ofgiving physical shape to a project, but it can also havebroader technical scope introducing industrial buildingtechniques or deal with more legislative themes suchas building standards and codes The strategy canalso focus on external factors such as environmentalissues or politics, which may be considered to have

decisive impacts on the actual design As a generalguideline, one can look at the ‘level’ and the ‘nature’ ofthe strategy employed (Figure 3) ‘Level’ refers to thelevel of consciousness – high or low strategicconsciousness – and ‘nature’ points to a distinctionbetween the concrete (exact) and abstract nature ofthe specific goals implied in the strategy Here, we willbriefly present two examples from the analysis thatboth present high strategic consciousness butcomprise very different natures spanning from theconcrete (exact) to the abstract.

EXACT (CONCRETE) STRATEGY

One of the case studies is the work of thearchitectural office Lundgaard & Tranberg (LTA), amedium-sized Danish company with 35 employeesfounded in 1974 In the mid-1990s, the officedeveloped a building concept or system calledComfort House, which is based on a businessconsortium that joins contractor NCC and engineersCarl Bro with LTA as the architects The concept orsystem is partly an organizational framework andpartly a constructive system for housing complexesof varying size The managing director at the time wasinterviewed (The office is now owned by apartnership of leading employees.)

Most of the statements from the interviews placeLTA closest to the pragmatic approach, althoughmany features are also related to the conceptualapproach The management and academicapproaches share no significant resemblances withthe way LTA seems to work In very general terms, theapproach can be characterized as clearly project-oriented mainly using intuitive non-explicitknowledge Furthermore, LTA does not statearchitecture as an autonomous discipline while bothinnovative and evolutionary features can be found.

Comfort House is a standardized building system,although the starting point in LTA is the actual projectrather than a general strategy There is no fixed

procedure or a complete tabula rasa The organized

framework and the building system give somecommon directions for the different actors involved inthe process but leave a great deal of openness for thearchitect in some specific parts e.g designing thefacade and organizing the plan A common set ofrules make it possible for the involved actors to work

more simultaneously e.g the engineer does not haveto wait for the final solution from the architect beforecalculating the structure.

LTA’s design strategies run in two directions: onthe one hand, they accept the building system andfocus on the inherent possibilities and, on the otherhand, they always try to challenge the lure ofrepetition, which also characterizes the system

The project-oriented focus characterized by thepragmatic approach, and which also can be found inthe LTA interview, leads to quite specific strategicstatements8 e.g improvement of buildingcomponents and detailing, and how these are relatedto the whole Examples could be LTA’s work with agreater deal of flexibility where the foundation meetsthe ground, various placements of the plane of thefacade or the use of alternative materials Theanalysis points to a moderate to high level of strategicconsciousness directed towards exact (concrete)goals (Figure 3).

ABSTRACT STRATEGY

The second case is an interview with the managingdirector of Arkitema (AT) AT is the largestarchitectural office in Denmark and was founded in1970 The firm shows an explicit interest inindustrialized processes and, among other reasons,was selected because of its biannually published

Videnregnskab – a written and illustrated summary of

its business and where it wants to focus in the future.The interview places AT close to the managementapproach AT’s approach can, in general terms, becharacterized as mainly process oriented Explicitknowledge accumulation is the aim and to somedegree a fact AT does not state architecture as anautonomous discipline but claims extremedependency on related fields while many innovativefeatures are present with the aim to empower thearchitect

The process orientation is found in the focus onorganization within the company and the organization

FIGURE 3Strategic nature (x) and consciousness (y)

of the building process as a whole However, it mustbe stated that the interviewee works at theorganizational level, which is not necessarilyrepresentative of all employees One of the initiativesis a pronounced specialization of the staff, which aregrouped into expert departments with differentprofiles A particular task force is specialized inresearch and accumulation of knowledge This part ofthe company does not deal with external costumers,but rather generates value indirectly by supportingand inspiring the other departments The role of thearchitect is not to decide what is wrong or right interms of architecture, but instead to enable theinvolved actors to make the best decisions Thearchitect thus becomes a process manager morethan a decision maker By opening up and giving otheractors influence in traditional working fields of thearchitect, the possibility of gaining access to otherdecisive areas seems to be maximized This turns theway the architect works upside down and points todistinct innovative features.

Most of the strategic choices presented in theinterview point towards a more general level (non-project specific) with focus on the process instead ofon the final product Strategies are less directedagainst internal factors e.g specific formal design,and more against external factors e.g coordinationwith other parties involved and questions about theorganizational setup of the construction process Oneof the major problems in the building industry,according to the interviewee, is precisely theimprovised character of this organizational setup Theanalysis points to a high level of strategic consciousnessdirected towards abstract goals (Figure 3).

NO STRATEGY

Both examples analysed present a high degree ofstrategic consciousness, but of a very differentnature To complete the schema, the otherinterviewed offices reveal considerably lowerstrategic consciousness mainly of an exact nature,which in many ways corresponds to the pragmaticapproach A low strategic consciousness of a moreabstract nature would correspond to an extremeversion of the conceptual approach although Figure 3cannot be understood just by locating each of thefour approaches in a quadrant All the cases present

interesting attitudes towards industrializedarchitecture and are consequently located in the‘upper conscious end’ An allegation could be thatmany traditional offices would be located in the‘lower conscious end’ showing low or no strategicconsciousness at all The aim of this project is not toconfirm this, but instead to contribute to make thesecompanies more responsive to the way they work.IMPLEMENTATION AND FURTHER

The model of action has been presented in variouscontexts thus trying to initiate a more consciousstrategic approach among architects

Preliminary attempts to test the model were madein March and November 2005 with two differentgroups of architectural students In March, thestudents attended a half-day workshop on projectdesign and group processes They were presentedwith the model of action and a couple of examplesfrom the analysis, and were given time to think aboutand write down their personal approach using themodel and the four theoretical approaches as a pointof departure Each student was then asked to presenttheir approach The idea was to discuss how thepersonal approaches related to the theoretical onesand, on a more specific level, to see if the resultscould point towards different roles among thestudents in their current group project.

The presentations and the subsequent discussionshowed that the students placed themselves insimilar ways Most identified themselves mainly withthe conceptual approach with some resemblancesto the pragmatic approach This implied that eventhough they as students were in a process oflearning, they did not claim to use any systematic orexplicit form of knowledge accumulation, but ratherimprovised (intuition) or did ‘as they used to do’ whenthey had to start up a project However, many of thestudents also claimed that more systematicknowledge accumulation – as characterized by boththe management and the academic approach – wouldbe desirable, but that they had no tools to reach suchan end.

The second workshop was planned to run for aweek This time, groups of four or five studentsworked with the model, designing a building system

for a facade As an introduction to the whole schemethe students first had to define their own approach onthe basis of the model Each group was then given aspecific approach that they had to follow strictly Theassignment consisted of two parts – a planning phaseand an executing/building phase The students foundit difficult not to fall back on their traditional workingmethods, but after a while they began to find it easierwhen they dropped their individual need to influencethe project and instead worked as a group Whenexecuting their schemes, they fully carried out theirroles and the various project results of the groupsturned out very differently – very much in accordancewith the different approaches

In general, the students seemed enthusiasticabout trying these new working methods and someof them said they were surprised how effectively theyhad worked with the project The approaches hadprovided a neutral ground for their cooperation As forthe results, it was quite astonishing how much theydiffered and hence provided interesting material foracademic discussion The model appeared to work;however, as part of an architectural educationexercise it was more important in helping students tounderstand the core elements of the profession,rather than providing students with operational tools.Through publication in architectural magazines

(Arkitekten 06/05, Nordic Journal of ArchitecturalResearch, etc.), by means of workshops and future

courses arranged at the School of Architecture inCopenhagen and through presentations at relevantdesign conferences (CIB W096, Joining Forces,EAAE, etc.), we are trying to make the project morethan a final report to be placed on the bookshelves ofother researchers It is our hope that the model canand will be used by architectural offices indiscussions about strategy and that it can contributeto make architects more conscious about the waysthey manage the design process and try to reachgoals concerning architectural quality.

Two other projects have been formulated to followup this project One project delves further into theaction-perspective Through observation studiescarried out in studios selected among the presentcases we intend to study the actual ‘processes’ takingplace when architects work on a specific project Wehave learned that what people ‘talk’ about doing and

what they actually ‘do’ when they work, are twodifferent things The thesis is that the correspondencebetween these two levels can vary considerably and itthus becomes interesting to analyse both sides –especially with a focus on the strategic consciousnessdescribed in the previous section.

The second project focuses on the ‘product’ thatcomes out of the building process When dealingwith design, it is a fact that you can never claim thata specific process will lead to specific previouslydefined qualities It is therefore equally relevant toanalyse the actual ‘works’ or results The aim is todevelop the terminology and concept formation onarchitectural quality in an industrialized contextclaiming that this will, to some extent, differ from itsmore traditional equivalent We need new orsupplementary concepts to be able to talk about andhence better understand the (industrialized)architecture we find today The result from the twoprojects will be used to describe characteristics of therelationship between process and product Thedivision in two main concepts is thus meant as purelyanalytical; it helps to clarify certain aspects about areality that will always be a complex web of‘interaction’ between the two.

One could ask if industrialized architecture reallyneeds its own terminology and specific strategicdesign management in order to direct thearchitectural value There is no doubt that there is adifference between not being conscious and‘choosing’ not to be so Our argument is that giventhe new and industrialized context as describedabove there is definitely a need for this consciouschoice This is not only seen as a means to empowerthe architect as a professional person and theprofession, but rather to emphasize what is moreimportant – the ‘architectural quality’ The traditionaldesign process is under pressure and in this contextit is our opinion that new measures must be taken toensure that design is not reduced merely to costcontrol, industrial just-in-time production or buildingcodes These are important issues, but they shouldbe submitted and measured against a more generalapproach including all the other important aspects ofa ‘holistic’ architectural design process

We believe the proposed model, including thedichotomies, represents a way to form a language bywhich we can work more consciously with thecomplexity of architecture in an industrialized context.By using the model on our empirical data as well as inan educational context, we have been able to pointout and discuss different strategies and how they areused in order to aim at specific goals It is our hopethat it will inspire further use and elaboration of thefield of strategic design management.

AUTHOR CONTACT DETAILS

Anne Beim: Associate Professor, Centre of Industrialised

Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School ofArchitecture, Philip de Langes Alle 10, Dk-1435 Copenhagen K,Denmark Tel: +45 3268 6355, fax: +45 3268 6236, e-mail: anne.beim@karch.dk

Kasper Vibæk Jensen: Associate Researcher, Centre of

Industrialised Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts,School of Architecture, Philip de Langes Alle 10, Dk-1435Copenhagen K, Denmark Tel: +45 3268 6352 , fax: +45 32686236 , e-mail: kasper.jensen@karch.dk

sociologist Max Weber Ideal type does not refer to any moral ideals nordoes it ever correspond to concrete reality (e.g Coser, 1977:pp 223–224).

4 Ibid: p 94.

5 Universal codes do not exist In this context, universal should beunderstood as ‘shared by a large number of individuals’ Even sharedcodes (e.g letters and the English language) will contain aninterpretative element.

6 An extreme way of attempting to surpass this personal access could bethe use of torture

7 Knowledge collected from other related or non-related fields.8 It is important to emphasize that it is not possible to compare the

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