Improving the Design Quality of Federal Buildings (1989) / Chapter Skim
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2 Issues of Quality of Design in Federal Buildings
2 Issues of Quality of Design in Federal Buildings
Pages 3-8
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From page 3... ...
Roughly $13.4 billion of this amount was spent for construction or major reconstruction of facilities owned by the federal government.7 The value of new federal buildings put in place was approximately $4.5 billion. Federal construction is very big business, accounting for about one-eighth of all construction spending in the United States.
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A building's designer seeks to reflect purposes and values in the physical elements of the building. In the end it is the service these physical elements provide -- service in support of the building's users and neighbors -- that will become the basis for judging whether a building's design is "good." That judgment will inevitably depend on the outcome of many stages in the building process: how well the designer comprehended the building's purposes, how this comprehension was reflected in drawings and written specifications that presented the design to builders, how these builders responded to the designer's guidance and the uncertainties of construction procedure, how the owners and users of the finished building operate and maintain the building.
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From page 5... ...
The committee found it impossible to devise a concise and complete definition of design quality that would be likely to find general acceptance within the building professions. In broad terms, "design quality'' encourages buildings whose characteristics create an environment where the occupant or user can accomplish his purpose effectively, efficiently, and comfortably.
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~ User/Occupant Achievement of Purpose Owner* Designer Builder User *
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From page 7... ...
The judged quality of design, with regard to the building in use, may thereby change as well. CHALLENGES IN ACHIEVING QUALITY OF DESIGN IN FEDERAL BUILDINGS While quality of design is achieved progressively at all stages throughout the design development process, the committee focused its attention on the characteristics of owner and designer that are important early in the process: · The owner's understanding of his or her purposes for building and ability to communicate those purposes to the designer ~ The designer's recognition of the purposes of the owner and the user, and his foresight and ability to make effective tradeoffs among conflicting purposes and constraints in conceiving a design that can be realized · The designer's skill in communicating the design to the builder through drawings and specifications and assuring that the design is effectively realized Even though the building's purpose or use may change, the owner and user of a federal building generally remain the same throughout the life of the building.
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The committee concluded therefore that federal agencies can achieve improved quality of design by selecting designers who are skilled at translating program requirements and design objectives into buildable designs that meet realistic budgets.9 A WORKSHOP ON QUALITY OF DESIGN To explore these conclusions further, the committee organized a workshop to involve a larger number of participants in the discussion of how federal agencies can improve the quality of design of their buildings. The workshop's agenda and participants are presented in Appendix B
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