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BEM207 DESIGN
MSC Commercial Building Surveying
DESIGN
Coursework One
“Good building design must necessarily strike a compromise
between artistry and functionality”
“Good building design must necessarily strike a compromise
between artistry and functionality”
The above statement may seem an obvious thing to say, but why? What are the factors that skew the design of the building towards one design or another, and how is the judgement made?
The factors that determine a building design are complex and wide ranging, but can be summarised by the following;
§ What practical use is the building to be used for?
§ Where is the building to be built?
§ What is the building trying to say?
§ What are the practical constraints around design (cost, materials, technology, legal, social) ?
1) What practical use is the building to be used for?
The building must be focussed to meet the use requirements it is intended for, which will probably include meeting changing uses through the building’s life. From a functional perspective, an office building would generally require open space to allow flexibility of layout and an open plan feel, suitable for accommodating a lot of people in IT related activities plus their access and egress. An industrial building has different requirements, it must accommodate the machinery etc to facilitate the business and allow access and egress for product, which could be very large size and / or volume. In addition there is the requirement for building services e. ... that the building must accommodate. These two cases show the wide differences in demands a building can face depending upon how it is used.
2) Where is the building to be built?
The building will work better if the design is selected to take account of the surroundings it is to go in, both built and natural - this fit can be in terms of scale, appearance and structure. Sometimes, this can lead to stagnation in design when new build projects miss opportunities to develop and push the envelope of design, the key being to know what will work in a location yet still move the townscape forward. Where vernacular architecture has been common, there is little drive to push this envelope and try new ideas, this inertia can swept away when the building is to specifically stand out or be different, maybe to gain a strong identity. ...
3) What is the building trying to say? ... Designers are skewed to designing a building that stands out and says ‘look at me! ... Fine examples of this are the Lloyds Register of Shipping Building in London (fig. ... 2)
4) What are the practical constraints around design
There will always be practical constraints, the most significant of which is securing the finance for the building. Depending upon the function of the building this could come from public funds, from a private institution or company, or sometimes from a wealthy individual. The larger, more complicated and more cutting edge the design proposed, generally the more expensive.
Within a given geographical area, there may be a shortage of certain types of building materials, it may be very expensive to transport them in (e. ... This has constant moving goalposts however, with often the technology available at the end of a building project being significantly advanced from that available at the start, and the financial landscape may have changed. The design may therefore develop during the project, where either the designer wants it to or where circumstances force it (e. ...
There is a whole raft of legal and social restrictions on building design. Apart from the ubiquitous planning permission and building regulations, there are restrictions relating to green belt, conservation areas, impact on natural environment (e. ...
The lead for any design project has to come from the owner or commissioner of the project. They outline what they require from the building in terms of function & impact, and they are paying the bill. ...
A quotation from Richard Rogers, architect of the Lloyds Building sums this up; "Buildings are not idiosyncratic private institutions: they give public performances both to the user and the passer-by.
Approximate Word count = 3313
Approximate Pages = 13.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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