Architecture Commons^™

Profile Of Business In The Traditional Design Sectors, Con Kennedy

Reports

This research report illustrates the findings form the “Profile of Business in the Traditional Design Sectors”. This research was commissioned by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland as part of the Year of Irish Design (ID1025) which is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and was under taken on their behalf by Con Kennedy. The aim of this research is to develop an understanding of the size, location and demographic of design practices and business in the Republic of Ireland. For the purpose of this report, the agreed sectors and design sectors to research were: • …

My Manifesto For A Bold Housing Policy That We Can Build On, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Current housing policy is a ragbag of policies, each with their own timelines— some more specific than others, some more realistic, some embarrassingly awful and others potentially beneficial. With a general election in the offing, therefore, I’m curious to hear what the various parties and aspirant TDs have to say about housing. Pre-election housing policies are usually poorly thought-out, often populist and frequently have no evidence to justify them. Worse, they demonstrate little understanding of the likely intended and unintended outcomes of their proposals.

Don’T Try To Inflate House Prices For The Benefit Of The Banks, Lorcan Sirr

Media

When it comes to housing, the constant comparisons with the “peak prices” of 2007 make me wonder whether we’re about to lose the plot again. Perpetual benchmarking against an irrational peak suggests those destructive prices are a target we should aim to achieve, whereas nothing could be further from the truth.

Enhancing A Housing Technical Design Studio With A Collaborative On-Line Learning Space, Jim Roche

Conference papers

This paper presents the experience in participating in a collaborative learning environment involving different academic programs from various schools of architecture and urban planning within the framework of the OIKONET project. A collaborative project for new urban, environmental and architectural solutions for three social housing blocks built in Dublin in the 1950’s has been designed and implemented on-site and in a web-based learning environment following a blended-learning philosophy. Teachers from other schools have evaluated the student work presented in this environment. This blended-learning approach has contributed to enhancing the educational space of the on-site design studio. Students had to learn …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment For Utilising Laminated Veneer Bamboo As A Primary Structural Material In High-Rise Residential Buildings, Philip Kavanagh

Masters

In a time when construction is ranked as one of the world’s least sustainable industries consuming about half of the world’s non-renewable resources (Hinson, 2012), it is important to develop and advance the methods and means by which we select and use building materials and how we design, engineer and construct our architecture. This research aimed to evaluate a method for utilising laminated veneer bamboo (LVB) as a primary structural material in high-rise residential buildings and evaluate the environmental potential of LVB through a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA). The process of life cycle analysis was completed through the development …

Divisible Cities, Noel Brady

Other resources

No abstract provided.

The Space Between The Notes: Reflections On A Collaborative Student Project On The Work Of Irish Engineer Peter Rice, Jim Roche

Conference papers

Abstract

This paper is a reflection on a collaborative pedagogic process at the Dublin School of Architecture (DSA), Technological University Dublin, on aspects of the work of Irish engineer Peter Rice (1935–92) who, in his short life, combined contemporary tools of computer-analysis and mathematics with a careful sensibility for materials, natural light and structure. He collaborated with many famous architectural practices on what have now become iconic works of architecture such as the Sydney Opera House, the Centre Pompidou, Lloyds of London and Kansai Airport. The collaborative project on his work was undertaken at DSA in the fall semester of …

The Impact Of The Ambient Environment And Building Configuration On Occupant Productivity In Open-Plan Commercial Offices, Mark Mulville, Nicola Callaghan, David Isaac

Articles

Purpose

This paper sets out to understand the impact of the ambient environment on perceived comfort, health, wellbeing and by extension productivity in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The research combined an occupant survey considering satisfaction with the ambient environment, health and wellbeing and workplace behaviour with the monitoring of ambient environmental conditions.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that the ambient environment can have a significant impact on occupant comfort, health and wellbeing, which in turn has implications for built asset performance. Within the ambient environmental factors considered, a hierarchy may exist with noise being of particular importance. Occupant behaviour within the workplace …

Identification Of Key Performance Tasks To Demonstrate The Benefit Of Introducing The Facilities Manager At An Early Stage In The Building Information Modelling Process On Public Sector Projects In Ireland., Barry Mcauley

Doctoral

Modelling (BIM) governed process was investigated in this thesis. Governments are now seeking a more rewarding methodology in the management and procurement of public sector building assets. This has seen an integrated focus by International Governments on BIM as a partial solution in both managing and procuring public sector building assets. Despite BIM bringing the Facility Manager closer to project conceptualisation, there was still a reluctance and a lack of perceived benefits of having them involved earlier in the design phase. There remains a lack of clear evidence on what improved contribution the Facilities Manager can provide. This thesis provides …

Bs News January/February

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Using Architecture Design Studio Pedagogies To Enhance Engineering Education, Shannon Chance, John Marshall, Gavin Duffy

Articles

Problem-Based Learning pedagogies that require high levels of inquiry and hands-on engagement can enhance student learning in engineering. Such pedagogies lie at the core of studio-based design education, having been used to teach architects since the Renaissance. Today, design assignments and studio-based learning formats are finding their way into engineering programs, often as part of larger movements to implement Student-Centered, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) pedagogies. This spectrum of pedagogies is mutually supportive, as illustrated in the University of Michigan’s SmartSurfaces course where students majoring in engineering, art and design, and architecture collaborate on wickedly complex and ill-defined design problems. In SmartSurfaces …

Cooperative Housing Systems, Shane Madden, Andrew Mcallister, Kieran Brady, John Flynn, Emma Conway, Holly Carton, Yi Shi, Benjamin Cooney, Sean Conlon-Smith

Students Learning with Communities

No abstract provided.

Energy-Saving Occupant Behaviour In Offices: Change Strategies, Mark Mulville, Keith Jones, Gesche Huebner, Joanne Powell-Grieg

Articles

As regulated energy consumption in buildings is reduced, the proportional importance of unregulated energy consumption increases. Reducing unregulated energy use in the commercial office requires an understanding of the factors that influence workplace behaviour. To date these factors have been assumed to be similar to those that influence behaviour in the home. However, the social dynamics of the workplace are different to those in the home. This study examines the degree to which theories of behaviour change generated largely in a domestic building setting could be used as the basis for designing interventions to reduce unregulated energy consumption in the …

Politicians Turn A Deaf Ear To Planning And Housing Problems, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Just before Christmas I spent an hour with RTE recording a radio programme reflecting on some of the year’s most significant building and development issues. We discussed building defects, houses being flooded, ghost estates, and so on. After each clip played I gave my analysis of the situation, and it wasn’t long before I found myself repeating the same line, which was effectively: “I bet you there’s a planning report somewhere that says, ‘We don’t recommend you do this’.” But it was done anyway because the politicians—local and national—for their own reasons said “do it”, when the professionals said “don’t”. …

Indicators Of Agglomeration: Using Population Density Grids To Assess Growth Momentum In Identifying The Emerging City Of Drogheda With Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington (Lbm)., Brian Hughes

Other Resources

In earlier research literature this author deployed both population size and daytime working population data as measures of potential settlements, for selection as comparable growth centres for the National Spatial Framework, vide Hughes (2013). An identified problem, encountered in defining urban settlements and that of their spatial extent, is the dilemma of opposites; of being able to distinguish between the physical ‘separation’ and the agglomerating ‘contiguity’ of discrete settlements. Focusing on linear distance as its principal ‘separation’ measure, the United Nations provides a limiting description, for separation, in the task of quantifying singular urban fields of agglomeration and thus in …

Iron In The Soul, Noel Brady

Articles

This paper re-examines the iconic use of cruciform columns in the famous Barcelona Pavilion and the other ‘German’ projects of the architect Mies Van der Rohe. It extrapolates for the material itself to construct a theory about the meaning behind their design and iconography linking it to Shinkel and a coded national identify.

Self Made City, Noel Brady

Other resources

A review of cohousing policy and projects in Berlin as published in "Self Made City” – Self Initiated Urban Living and Architectural Interventions

Dispute Resolution Under The Principal Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The construction industry is known to be litigious (Latham, 1994). This is hardly surprising given the industry’s fragmented nature in which project teams comprising an extensive network of employers, designers and constructors are brought together to deliver once-off projects, following which, the organisation is almost always disbanded. The short term objectives of the various groupings are often competing and occasionally incompatible. For example, many employers will wish to minimise costs in developing a project, designers may resist pressures on budgets in order to safeguard their ‘brand’, and the commercial imperative of maximising profit will drive contractors towards charging what the …

Risk Allocation Under The Principal ‘Traditional’ Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Construction projects are risky ventures. Risks are inevitable and cannot be entirely eliminated but they can be transferred through appropriate wording in the clauses of a contract. Construction contracts allocate particular risks between the parties in order to identify who bears the cost if a particular risk comes to pass.

This study examines how contractual risks are allocated to the contracting parties under the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland Form, 2012 version, where quantities form part of the contract, commonly known as ‘the Yellow Form’, and the Public Works Contract PW CF1 Form v 1.10, 2014 where the design …

Cost Control During The Pre-Contract Stage Of A Building Project – An Introduction, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Cost overruns are commonplace on construction projects.

One of the most important tasks carried out by quantity surveyors (QS) involves providing advice to clients and design team colleagues to enable the design to be finalised within the approved budget. This financial management process is referred to as cost control. Cost control seeks to deliver a high degree of cost certainty during the various stages of the building project in order that the project can be completed within budget. Successful projects are those which are delivered to the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. Effective cost management therefore is …

Putting Ideas Into Practice- The New Greenway Hub., Irish Times Newspaper

Media

No abstract provided.

We Can’T Expect ‘The Market’ To Provide A Housing Policy, Lorcan Sirr

Media

As the government grapples with establishing a worthwhile housing policy, it would do well to remember that affordability is key. As companies increasingly choose to locate in or near cities, and people followjobs, most of Ireland’s housing needs will be in the greater Dublin area. In 2015, about half the population lives on just 20% of Ireland’s surface area, but by 2030 nearly half the nation will be living on just 10% of the land. Figures vary but the Dublin area will need 8,000-10,000 housing units per year.

Harnessing The Power Of Data Can Help Solve Our Housing Needs, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Ireland has traditionally been poor at collecting data, collating statistics and disseminating information. It’s not that we are an innumerate country; I think it is more that facts often inconveniently jar with opinion on a range of topics, from rural Ireland to road safety, to housing.

Can’T Buy, Don’T Want To Rent? The Catalans Have A Third Option, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Creativity is generally lacking in Irish policymaking, and this is as evident in housing, as it is in other areas. There is a reversion to the mean in times of crisis, where the usual methods, which have often failed, otherwise we wouldn’t have a crisis, are returned to. Einstein had something to say about this, and it wasn’t complimentary. We’re seeing it once again in efforts to get the building industry off its behind by using taxpayers’ money as an incentive, as if it’s 1996 all over again. Before you know it, we’ll all be buying apartments in Bulgaria.

Tender Documentation For Construction Projects - An Overview, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The tender documents form the basis of the contractor’s offer to construct the works. The tender documents are the means by which the employer’s design and/or works requirements are communicated to the tendering contractors. These inform the contractor of the scope and detail of the project, the conditions under which the work will be executed, and they identify the rights and obligations of the various participants under the proposed contract. The tender documents enable contractors to price the works requirements and submit an offer (bid) which, if accepted by the employer becomes a binding contract. Some of the tender documents …

Cultural Change Through Bim: Driving Lean Transformation In Education, Avril Behan, Malachy Mathews, Kevin Furlong, Ciara Ahern, Una Beagon, Peter Brennan, Colin Conway, Lee Corcoran, Pierce Fahy, Alan Hore, Barry Mcauley, Trevor Woods

Conference papers

This paper presents a case study of how the adoption of BIM-based practices in the AECO industry is being reflected by cultural change in higher education in Ireland. The silo-mentality that has dominated the AECO sector for more than a century has, despite numerous reorganisations, been replicated in the structures of educational institutions, including in Dublin Institute of Technology since the inception of its founding colleges in the late 1800s. Most AECO programmes must include content that is external to the programme’s specific discipline. Through the School structures of the Institute, delivery of such content is known as "service teaching" …

"Defining Job Titles And Career Paths In Bim", Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

Ireland is undergoing a digital transformation. Some industries particularly in the areas of travel and retail have been radically transformed. However many industries are facing their biggest challenge in their existence already weakened by the economic crisis and constrained by their legacy business, it will be difficult for them to adapt and embrace the new rules dictated by digital change. Irelands design and construction industry is on the cusp of a digital transformation with early adopters now deriving some benefits from a move to a building information modeling (BIM) process. Digital transformation cannot happen unless there are personnel with the …

Appointing Main Contractors For Construction Work In The Republic Of Ireland. – An Overview., Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

This study examines the various options available for a client to appoint a contractor. The study investigates open tendering, selective tendering, prequalification, two stage selective tendering, competitive dialogue, negotiation and serial tendering. In most building contracts the contractor is selected on the basis of competitive tendering. The price which the contractor quotes for the job is heavily influenced by both the amount and intensity of the competition. Even in the case of negotiated tenders there is implicit competition, as the employer can break off negotiations. If there is no competition the contractor can, in effect, ‘name his price’. This study …

Discover Joyce's Dublin By Reading And Running, Barry Sheehan

Academic Articles

James Joyce told his friend Frank Budgen. “‘I want’ said Joyce, as we were walking down the Universitätstrasse, ‘to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book.’” (Budgen, 1960, p.67, 68).

This research looks at the relevance of Dublin to Joyce’s writings and to the relevance of Joyce’s writings to Dublin. It is concerned with the virtual Dublin of Joyce’s writings, the physical manifestation of Dublin over time, and the relationships between them.

Numerous scholars read and analyse the writings of Joyce …

Designing Work: A Study Of Collaboration And Concentration In Open-Plan Offices, John Walsh

Academic Articles

This article looks at the design of open-plan offices, particularly in relation to the impact of spatial design on different work-modes. It examines the history of the open-plan office, looking at how the open-plan workplace has evolved. It reports the findings of a survey on office design of 150 office workers across multiple industry sectors, job types and age categories. Finally, assuming there will not be a return en masse to the traditional, space hungry, cellular office for most knowledge workers this article considers what have we learned so far, and how spaces can be designed to support different work-modes, …