Managing the Building Design Process

Gavin Tunstall

Preference :

There can be little doubt that towards the latter part of the twentieth century, the creation of
many new buildings in the UK had become an excessively confrontational process, encouraging
clients, designers and builders to seek to gain advantages from one another rather than to
work constructively together. Strict adherence to ‘professional’ roles and an unwillingness to
step over historically defined boundaries discouraged co-operation and collaboration.
Blinkered by contracts, time scales and costs, the process often appeared to be cramped in an
over-demanding, claims-conscious environment, fixated by narrow aims and responsibilities,
seemingly unable or unwilling to reflect a genuine concern with quality or customer care. The
Latham and Egan Reports, published in the 1990s described this situation as wasteful and very
significantly, that it was contributing to a diminution in the quality of both design and construction.
The reports laid the foundations for substantial on-going changes in practice and guidance
developed during the past 10 years.

The process of designing and constructing new buildings is a complex activity reflecting the
skills, perceptions and expectations of many individuals, who must attempt to respond to technical
and philosophical challenges, resolve debates and deal with the inevitable conflicts associated
with working together. The associated personnel difficulties and contractual obligations
cannot be dismissed lightly, but in an ideal scenario, everyone should be capable of appreciating
how and why decisions are taken so that there is a better chance of achieving the best possible
results under the prevailing circumstances. Understanding the process of building design
in terms of what should be done rather than who should do it helps to minimise the negative
restraints of professional boundaries. This book is based on my experience as an architect, but
I use the term building designer to describe the process of design and construction of an imaginary
new building offering a broad stage-by-stage explanation of the way in which ideas can
become reality. Although reference to some technical issues is inevitably based on current UK
practice, for the most part my intension is to discuss general principles, which I believe to be
universally applicable.