Academic literature on the topic 'Building (Architectural firm)'

The purpose of this research was to study the selection of architectural firms for 1997 and 1998 Indiana school construction projects of two million dollars or more. The study reported rankings for architectural selection criteria. Additionally, the study analyzed architectural selection procedures, architectural fees, the degree of respondent satisfaction with architectural services and the finished product, and the amount of inclusiveness in the selection.State records were used to identify the projects approved during the two-year period. Additional data were collected for 81% of the projects via surveys completed by superintendents or their designees.Major findings reported in the study include the following:1. Fees paid to architects ranged from 3.2% to 12.9% of construction costs, with the mean fee being 5.7%.2. In approximately 60% of the projects studied, respondents reported using an inclusive selection procedure for employing an architect.3. Slightly less than one-third of the projects (29%) used a direct selection procedure that precluded the use of a selection committee or the consideration of more than one firm.4. The two most frequently named selection criteria were experience in designing schools and reputation for completing projects within budget.5. The only variable found to have a significant association with the amount of fee paid was satisfaction with architectural services. Respondents in the low-fee category identified the highly satisfied response more than was expected.Outcomes suggest that a considerable number of school officials in the state did not adhere to the accepted best practices concerning competitive selection and the use of inclusive selection committees. The considerable variance in fees paid to architects was not explained by district size, district wealth, the nature of the construction project, or by the selection procedure used.Additional research was recommended in the following areas: (a) replication of the study in other states, (b) qualitative studies of superintendent attitudes about selection criteria and selection committee membership, (c) criteria for setting architectural fees, and (d) factors contributing to superintendent satisfaction. In addition, Indiana policymakers were encouraged to require local school districts to use competitive selection procedures.<br>Department of Educational Leadership

<p> An exploration of the relationship between man and the elements, fire and water, this project futher develops these ideas by way of the imagination. Man's attempt to form further connections with these elements is often seen as an act of humanization. It is, however, these investigations that allow for such intimate relationships between humans and elements. <p> This project is a fire station that demonstrates the impact fire and water has on man as well as the impact man has on fire and water. Whether the gentle flame of a candle or the ferocious explosions of a volcano, the clear flowing stream or the passionate throes of the ocean, man finds both companionship and challenge in the elements. Man's manipulation of both fire and water enable materials to extend the limit of their properties. It is this control over elements that enables architecture.<br>Master of Architecture

Master of Science<br>Department of Architecture<br>R. Todd Gabbard<br>Almost forty percent of the global energy use and one-third of the global greenhouse gas emission comes from the building industry. Thus, this sector has the largest potential for delivering long term substantial greenhouse gas reduction. (UNEP, 2009)This dissertation starts with the energy auditing of an architectural firm to calculate the amount of energy used. It then expands into addressing the issue on a greater perspective. The whole agenda of the thesis was to develop a strategy to include the building industry in global carbon market. This thesis was performed in collaboration with nationally recognized, medium-sized mid-western architecture firm. A yearlong internship was completed under this firm, and collaborative research was carried out. To reduce the carbon dioxide emission, it is crucial to be able to measure it. This thesis aims at creating basic guidelines for architecture firms to mitigate its carbon footprint. It also examines the possibilities of carbon footprint mitigation on a bigger scale by proposing a system that would encourage architectural and engineering firms to design and produce more energy efficient buildings. The proposed system deals with calculation and incorporation of creative handprint of an architectural firm and uses the system to rebate its carbon footprint and convert the surplus handprint to a credit in the carbon market. The argument made here is that this scheme is driven by incentives and encourages more architecture and engineering firms to design sustainable buildings. The final proposal links the entire building industry to the carbon market. The proposal made is that a positive handprint of architecture and engineering firms can be converted to carbon credits and traded in the carbon markets.

This report examines the diffusion of innovation to North American home building firms. Innovation is defined as new technologies in the form of new products and techniques.<br>The organizational structure of the home building firm and the unique mindset of builders/developers running these firms are examined in order to understand the firm and its leader. Technology diffusion theories are then explored to comprehend how innovation reaches the marketplace. Through research, evaluation criteria are established which builders/developers use when adopting innovation. These criteria are tested by interviewing twelve selected builders/developers in the Montreal-Ottawa region and by recording their responses to thirty innovative products.<br>The study demonstrates that all factors comprising the evaluation criteria are important to different builders/developers at different times. Furthermore, builders/developers cannot be treated as a homogeneous group since their backgrounds are not similar. Accordingly, no model depicting a builder's/developer's decision-making process can guarantee the successful diffusion of an innovation. The author therefore suggests certain guidelines to help innovators diffuse innovation to home building firms.

La sicurezza degli spazi architettonici in emergenza implica una corretta gestione del processo di evacuazione. L’attuale approccio alla progettazione è influenzato da determinismo e schematicità: si suppone che conformazione di spazi e facilities (sistemi di wayfinding) sia di per sè in grado di plasmare il comportamento umano. Il progettista spesso adotta metodi semplificati (da manuali e norme) che considerano l’evacuazione un evento fluidodinamico con scelte umane rigidamente codificate. La letteratura dimostra però come i rapporti uomo-ambiente rendano vane le soluzioni comunemente adottate. Inoltre, stessi problemi sono riscontrati a grande (spazi urbani) e piccola scale (singoli edifici). Lo studio propone un nuovo approccio: il behavioural design (BD) intende progettare spazio e facilities basandosi sul reale comportamento umano. Le fasi principali sono perciò comprensione del comportamento umano con prove sperimentali, sviluppo e validazione di simulatori di evacuazione; analisi del processo per individuarne le criticità; proposta di soluzioni e valutazione dell’impatto tramite simulatore o prove reali. La metodologia BD è applicata a 2 casi riguardanti scenari esistenti complessi. Cardine è minimizzare gli interventi grazie alla localizzazione dei punti critici del processo e alla progettazione di nuovi componenti edilizi. Il primo caso ha visto lo sviluppo di un modello per la simulazione dell’evacuazione post-sisma su scala urbana. Il modello può essere usato per stimare il rischio includendo il fattore umano, valutare l’efficacia di interventi su edifici ed asseto urbano, e di procedure di emergenza. Il secondo caso sviluppa nuovi sistemi di wayfinding in edifici storici (teatri). Essi sono progettati per interagire efficacemente con le persone, guidandole attraverso le corrette vie di fuga, e senza apportare sostanziali modifiche al layout architettonico. Il lavoro è stato svolto anche in coordinazione con il cluster TAV-progetto SHELL O.R.4.4.<br>Occupants' safety in architectural spaces during an emergency is essentially connected to the evacuation process. Current strategies are influenced by a schematic and deterministic approach: it is supposed that building layout and wayfinding systems can directly induce individuals’ behaviors. Interventions on buildings could be enough for reducing people risk, because occupants would surely behave in “the correct way” (e.g.: using right paths). This approach seems to exclude behavioral aspects: experiments demonstrate enormous differences between theoretical and real behaviors in evacuation. Same problems are noticed at both small (building) and wide (urban) scale. Hence, this study focuses on a behavioral point of view and defines a “behavioral design” (BD) approach for increasing people’s safety in architectural spaces. BD is aimed at adapting architectural spaces depending on human behaviors! Hence, method phases include: understanding behaviors in emergency through experiments/real world events; defining and validating evacuation simulation model; analyzing emergency processes through simulator; proposing design solutions based on retrieved critical behaviors and verifying their impact by simulator or drills. The BD method effectiveness is shown by 2 cases. Firstly, an earthquake pedestrians’ evacuation simulator is developed. The model is able to represent man-environment interferences in damaged scenarios and can be used for evaluating vulnerability-reduction interventions on buildings, urban planning and rescuers’ management strategies. The second case concerns wayfinding systems definition in building heritage (theater). Systems are defined so as to address correct evacuation path choices, by reducing overall risks with no architectural modifications. This issue is considerably significant in these buildings because of preservation principles and minimum intervention criterion. This work was developed in accordance with “TAV-progetto SHELL-O.R.4.4” activities.

The thesis aims to examine how the formation of fa&ccedil<br>ades, that is, the interface with a dual response both to interior functioning and exterior urban fabric, is separated from the totality of architectural design by new technological developments and design intentions. This aim is accomplished in three sections, respectively: analysis of the fa&ccedil<br>ade, the properties and formation process in time<br>examining the fa&ccedil<br>ade formation of the high-rise office buildings in Levent-Maslak area in respect to the analysis and examining the working principles and marketing attitudes of fa&ccedil<br>ade manufacturing firms in terms of their role in fa&ccedil<br>ade formation. The focus is on the description of a fa&ccedil<br>ade and the process that generated the autonomy in time is examined. In this sense, the thesis analyzes that the &amp<br>#8216<br>free-fa&ccedil<br>ade&amp<br>#8217<br>application, by which physical autonomy is totally gained, transforms the fa&ccedil<br>ade to a production element by using the technological developments and specifications of curtain-wall system in the Turkish context, in particular in Levent-Maslak area. Besides the technical availability, the representational qualities of the new materials transform this production based character of the free-fa&ccedil<br>ade to a more representational character as an object-fa&ccedil<br>ade. Finally, the study investigates how the technical knowledge inherent in the new fa&ccedil<br>ade systems gives the authority,in formation process of fa&ccedil<br>ades, to the manufacturing firms instead of the architect. It is therefore stressed that the changing role of the architect in the formation process of fa&ccedil<br>ades is often based on the working principles and marketing attitudes of fa&ccedil<br>ade manufacturing firms at present.

Syfte: VR förbättrar kommunikationen mellan aktörer men merarbete krävs för att skapa VR-modeller. Övriga begräsningar generella för BIM är juridisk osäkerhet, bristande kompetens bland personal samt ändrat arbetsflöde. Särskilt små företag behöver mer forskning för att använda BIM applikationer som VR. Målet är att visa ett förslag, på ett attraktivt sätt, hur mindre arkitektföretag kan använda VR-modeller och presentationer i tidiga skeden under slutkundsmöten. Detta baserat på arkitektföretagets önskemål och resurser. Metod: Kvalitativa metoder fallstudie och intervjuer har använts för att nå målet. Först utfördes intervjuer med BIM-ansvarig och projektörer. Fallstudien bygger på att en befintlig 3D-modell bearbetades till VR-modell och testades i en workshop. Deltagarna i workshopen var projektörer och slutkunder. För att sammanfatta workshopen intervjuades deltagarna. Resultat: Att skapa en VR-modell och hålla möte med slutkund var uppskattat av projektörer och slutkunder. Den resurs som främst behövdes var tid för att skapa modellen samt inlärning av nytt arbetssätt. HMD i kombination med datorskärm anses vara en god presentationsteknik. Främst material var svår att presentera genom VR och begränsat till ett mindre arkitektföretags resurser. Slutkunderna uppfattade att VR-modellen endast var en guide. Konsekvenser: Mindre arkitektföretag kan använda VR vid slutkundsmöte. Det behövs avsättas tid för att modellera VR samt inlärning av nytt arbetssätt. HMD i kombination med datorskärm bör användas för VR-presentation. För att förtydliga att VR endast användas som guide kan leveransmedelande användas. Begränsningar: Studien inriktar sig på ett företags synvinkel. Ett företag ingår i studien.<br>Purpose: VR improves communication between stakeholders but extra work is a demand to create a VR-model. Additional limitations general for BIM is legal uncertainty, lack of competence among employees and changed workflow. Especially smaller companies need more research if they are going to use BIM application as VR. The goal is to show a suggestion, in an attractive way, how smaller architectural firms can use VR-models and presentation in early stage of the project during end customer meetings. This based on the firms desire and resources. Method: Qualitative method case studies and interviews is used to achieve the goal. First interviews are conducted with BIM-manger and designers. The case studies are based on an existing 3D-model processed to a VR-model and tested in a workshop. The participants in the workshop are designers and end customers. The participants in the workshop are interviewed to sum up the workshop. Findings: To create a VR-model and to hold end clients meeting with help of VR was appreciate by planers and end clients. Time for creating and learn new working strategy was the recurs that the company was in lack of. HMD in combination with computer screen was considered a good presentation. Material was hardest to present through VR restricted to a smaller architect firm. The end clients’ perceived that VR only was a guide. Implications: A smaller architect firm can use VR when holding an end client meeting. Time need to be assigned to create VR-models and learn new working strategy is. HMD in combination with computer screen is to prefer to when presenting VR. To clarify that VR is a guide a delivering message can be used. Limitations: The study focuses on a firm’s point of view. One firm is included in the study.

Le Building Information Modeling (BIM) est une technologie innovante qui regroupe un ensemble de méthodes, procédés et outils de travail permettant d’alimenter et d’exploiter une base de données contenant des informations d’un ouvrage tout au long de son cycle de vie. Sa diffusion est encouragée en France et à travers le monde, car il porte un fort potentiel à la fois pour le secteur de la construction dans son ensemble et pour le gestionnaire de patrimoine qu’est l’État. Le BIM nécessite cependant la mise en place d’un cadre technique, règlementaire et humain conséquent. Sa diffusion est lente et il suscite des réactions assez contrastées chez les professionnels, en particulier les architectes. Ces derniers, par la place importante qu’ils tiennent dans l’équipe de maîtrise d’œuvre, constituent un acteur incontournable de la transition de l’ensemble du secteur vers des pratiques BIM. Bien qu’il s’agisse d’une innovation collaborative, l’adoption de pratiques BIM impacte chacune des entreprises qui le mettent en place à titre individuel. Cet impact est très peu connu et étudié pour l’instant, tant au niveau organisationnel qu’à l’échelle du secteur. Dans ce travail de recherche, nous proposons des modèles permettant d’appréhender la diffusion et l’adoption du BIM au sein des organisations. Nous avons également référencé les facteurs qui impactent la décision d’adopter des pratiques BIM dans les organisations ainsi que ceux qui impactent le succès ou l’échec de sa mise en œuvre. Ces modèles nous ont permis de réaliser une enquête auprès des agences pour cartographier l’état du secteur de l’architecture, de la diffusion du BIM chez les architectes, et la manière dont ils l’implémentent. L’enquête a mis en évidence certaines contradictions entre la culture professionnelle des architectes et la nature du BIM. Le fait que les agences aient commencé à déployer des pratiques BIM malgré ces nombreuses contradictions peut être le marqueur d’un changement culturel important pour la profession d’architecte. Notre immersion au sein de plusieurs agences nous a permis d’étudier les mécanismes à l’œuvre au cours de l’implémentation d’outils et de pratiques BIM. Cette phase de changement souvent radical pour une agence est difficile à mener. Nous nous sommes donc appuyés sur l’ensemble de nos résultats pour proposer des recommandations et une feuille de route à destination des agences qui souhaitent implémenter des pratiques BIM<br>Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a set of methods, processes and tools that provide continuity and use of building information throughout its lifecycle. It improves the way buildings are designed, built and managed. BIM diffusion is encouraged in France and throughout the world because it holds great potential both for the Architecture Engineering Construction and Operation (AECO) sector and for the State as an asset manager. However, its diffusion requires the development of an extensive regulatory, technical and social framework. Its diffusion is slow and raises a broad range of reactions from practitioners, especially architects. As a central member of the project management team and intervening at the beginning of a building lifecycle, architects are a key player of BIM diffusion among the AECO sector. Although BIM is a collaborative innovation, the adoption of BIM practices impacts each firm individually. This impact is very little known and studied, both at the organizational level and at the sector level. In this research work, we propose several models for understanding the diffusion and adoption of BIM in organizations, as well as the factors that influence it. These models have allowed us to survey architectural firms using mixed methods in order to map the state of the architectural sector, the progress of BIM adoption within firms, and the strategies that they develop to implement BIM practices. The survey highlighted some contradictions between the professional culture of architects and characteristics of the BIM technology. The interest of many design firms in BIM practices despite these contradictions could be a sign of a cultural change. Our immersion in four architecture firms within the scope of action research has allowed us to study the mechanisms that take place during the implementation of BIM tools and practices. Implementation is often a radical change for a design firm and is difficult to carry out. We exploited all the observations made during the survey and research action to provide recommendations and a roadmap for design firms wishing to implement BIM practices