Architecture Commons^™

International Construction Cost Comparisons, Rick Best, Jim Meikle

Rick Best

Extract: Comparisons of the cost of construction across national boundaries have been routinely undertaken for many years for a variety of purposes. For clients, the reason may be as simple as wanting to know how much it will cost them in their own national currency to build a facility in another country; for governments and other agencies, it may be about how competitive their industry is in a global marketplace. For example, in 1949, a UK group, the Building Industry Productivity Team, visited the US (Anglo-American Council on Productivity 1950). A primary purpose of the visit was to compare the …

Mcda And Assessing Sustainability, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a contemporary alternative social cost-benefit analysis as a means of evaluating sustainable development. It avoids the problem of converting social and environmental performance into monetary terms simply so it can be combined with tangible costs and benefits and included in a discounted cash flow.

Critical Success Factors For Building Maintenance Business: A Hong Kong Case Study, Yongtao Tan, Li-Yen Shen, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the critical success factors (CSFs) for engaging in the building maintenance business in Hong Kong where maintenance is a major market sector. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, CSFs are identified for the business of building maintenance based on data collected from a questionnaire survey and interviews. Findings - A total of 12 CSFs are identified, such as client's satisfaction, certification of company, reliability of service, quality of service, and company reputation, and most are related to two principal factors, namely maintenance service and organization, and project management. Originality/value - This …

Designing For Future Adaptive Reuse, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: Existing buildings that are either obsolete or rapidly approaching disuse and potential demolition are a 'mine' of raw materials for new projects, a concept described by Chusid (1993) as 'urban ore'.

Experiments In Computer Controlled Architectural Prototyping, Chris Knapp

Chris Knapp

This proposal aims to utilize digitally-controlled fabrication equipment recently acquired by the new Soheil Abedian School of Architecture toward developing novel, prototypical building envelope systems applicable to new building construction and retrofitting scenarios. This research into three-dimensional self-supporting enclosures is directed toward the need to develop low-cost building systems using inexpensive materials manipulated with sophisticated fabrication systems. The practical aim of the research prototypes are sustainability-providing structures which may be designed to provide shade, support vegetation growth, induce cross ventilation, increase thermal comfort, and enhance aesthetic pleasure in the built environment.

A Fuzzy Approach For Adaptive Reuse Selection Of Industrial Buildings In Hong Kong, Yongtao Tan, Li-Yin Shen, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

With rapid economic development and restructuring, there are an increasing number of aged or obsolete buildings in large cities, such as Hong Kong. Adaptive reuse of these buildings provides an alternative for property stakeholders towards more sustainable practices instead of redevelopment or destruction. Adaptive reuse can also make great contributions to sustainable development by reducing construction waste and saving natural resources. As a result of industrial restructuring, manufacturing plants were migrated from Hong Kong to Mainland China during the 1980s and 1990s. Many industrial buildings then became vacant or under-utilised. Adaptive reuse of these industrial buildings is considered a viable …

Identifiying Adaptive Reuse Potential, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

How to adapt existing building stock is a problem being addressed by local and state governments worldwide. In most developed countries we now spend more on building adaptation than on new construction and there is an urgent need for greater knowledge and awareness of what happens to commercial buildings over time.

Sustainable Building Adaptation: innovations in decision-making is a significant contribution to understanding best practice in sustainable adaptations to existing commercial buildings by offering new knowledge-based theoretical and practical insights. Models used are grounded in results of case studies conducted within three collaborative construction project team settings in Australia and …