Design Buy Build Issue 47 2020 | Page 85

Gismos , Gadgets & Good Design

IT & business innovations from beyond the housing sector
In the early ‘ noughties ’ I ran a seminar for ‘ Constructing Excellence ’ on ‘ Safety by Design ’, followed a few years later by one on ‘ Designing Out Waste ’. The purpose in mentioning them is to emphasise the fact that , despite new products and new and updated regulations , like those dealing with high speed electronic communications networks ( Approved document ‘ R ’), the house-building industry has made little progress so far this century .
Back then I argued for buildings to be designed via ‘ partnerships ’ that embraced site constraints , programmed out risk , and ensured good immediate and ongoing communications with present and future stakeholders . I pointed out that to do so required ‘ design teams ’ who not only knew their legal duties & responsibilities , but who understood how the job would be done . In turn this meant grasping the logistics , getting to grips with handling and ‘ Temporary ’ works , as well as embracing snagging and maintenance along with the lifetime risks of the building both in construction , in use and decommissioning . Stressing that ‘ good design ’ is SAFE I also urged participants to accept their responsibility for making others aware of all of these risks .
While today it ’ s pretty easy to specify IT related products for any building , like visual or fingerprint recognition access , remote video surveillance , cell-phone heat and light control , and so on , doing so efficiently remains a major challenge . Indeed , arguably this is more important than these ‘ nice to have ’ gismos and gadgets themselves . Home buyers and renters alike remain more concerned about the cost and speed efficiency of new home construction , their comfort , running , and maintenance costs .
In several respects ‘ Designing Out Waste ’ was an extension of the earlier attempt to introduce business innovations from outside the construction industry . Techniques and disciplines like ‘ Six Sigma ’ and ‘ Kaizen ’ were applied across the whole design and build process to cut out waste in design time , scheduling delays , and prototyping errors , as well as material waste , etc .
Once again an important element of this was the acceptance that building design needed to become a collaborative exercise , rather than the God given domain of any one person . As in the motor , aircraft and ship building industries , for example , recognition of the increasingly complex nature of the building enterprise was seen as increasingly important .
Designing with partnering in mind emphasises communications , the importance of avoiding delays , and the need to programme out errors . It also recognises the need to really know what stocks & other ‘ industry standard ’ materials are readily available , how jobs will be done in practice , and the need for a better and fuller understanding of the building and manufacturing tasks involved .
Grasping the totality of the logistics involved was seen then , and remains today , of major importance . Getting to grips with transport , ‘ Right First Time ’ and ‘ Continuous Improvement ’ processes were and are obvious candidates for expanding the horizons of the design team . Equating the notion of ‘ Lifetime Costs ’ with the avoidance of delays and the need to programme out errors , along with a sound knowledge of materials , processes and procedures remains vital . Although accepting that good design avoids waste , then and now many ‘ professionals ’ - used to a more relaxed regime - found and find this an unpopular constraint . Few , it seems are ready even now to accept responsibility for , and bear the cost of , any waste caused by them .
As we move further toward ‘ factory built ’ Homes , clients and their professional advisors and consultants must understand that , to produce a building in the factory , requires all elements to be determined in detail before work commences , rather than muddling through trying to resolve complicated design issues as a project progresses . While this is possible using sloppy ‘ wet ’ trade building techniques , where adjustments can be made in-situ , complex off-site manufactured elements are much more difficult to alter . Failure to understand this is both prejudicing MMC and costing clients and builders ’ small fortunes to correct . Partnering for the whole design ,
Professor Dr Michael Benfield
supply and construction chain is a vital process that must be developed to correct this .
Consequently , whilst moving with the times to incorporate all that is best and wonderful and time saving and comfortable , and desirable , in any building design we undertake , manufacture , or build , I still find myself ‘ shouting at the wind ’ for fundamental shifts in professional attitudes . However , the ‘ winds of change ’ are blowing and I do detect small shifts . As construction moves ‘ off-site ’ into the factory these will greatly improve efficiency , quality , and affordable delivery of all levels of social and private housing .
Michael Benfield 2017
Prof . Dr . Michael Benfield is a Chartered Environmentalist . He predicts that current pressures for more housing will increase demand for Off- Site Production and MMC ( Modern Methods of Construction ) leading to new standards of professional capability , project design and the development of new management tools for the housebuilding and construction sector . Listing Chartered Builder , Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Manager amongst his credentials , he is an Affiliate of the RIBA and chairs leading UK timber engineers Benfield ATT . Based in Caldicot , Monmouthshire , they are a ‘ full service ’ timber Design and Build group using 3D design as a key efficiency tool .
01291 437050 www . BenfieldATTgroup . co . uk info @ BenfieldATT . uk 5-6 Castle Way , Caldicot , Mon . NP26 5PR