adaptable futures - a 21st century challenge

This paper presents the current thinking of Adaptable Futures research group based at Loughborough University through a series of diagrams. The aim of the Adaptable Futures project is to facilitate the development of adaptable buildings through research and real-life application. The investigation looks to make clear Adaptability as a defin-able design characteristic with a principle consciousness towards time and layers.

Adaptability - the capacity to change the buildings built-environment in order to respond and fit to the evolving demands of its users/ environment maximizing value throughout its lifecycle.

Time - the design consideration that buildings are dynamic systems that interact with a set of evolving endogenous and exogenous demands that require a capacity to accommodate change (space, function, and componentry) over time.

Layers the design consideration regarding the organization and interfaces between components of varying life spans and functions.

The diagrams encapsulate a web of inter-related dimensions which tell a story of our exploration into understanding adaptability. They construct a framework and mark a beginning into generating a toolset for thinking about adapt-ability. Appendix 1 is an index for the complete set of diagrams used by the project.

FUNCTIONSPACE

COMPONENTRYTIME

Policy and Brief (e.g. legislation, client

needs)

Rules, Strategies, and Products

(e.g. guidance, good practice)

What ifs (scenarios)Technical solutions

(new or pre-existing)

Design Intelligence (e.g. knowledge,

experience)

Builtsolutions

(buildings, products)

The process of extending the life of our built

environment

DfAD

Unbuiltsolutions

(abandoned schemes, unbuilt projects,

budget cuts)

Distributed at Changing Roles Conference, Rotterdam 10/09

A sustainable building is not one that must last forever, but one that can easily adapt to change. - Peter Graham, Environment Design Guide, 2006, Royal Institute of Australian Architects

Figure 1: Perspectives

Figure 2: Process

Perspectives (figure 1) regards the inclusion of time into the design consciousness. Moving beyond form-based to a time-based design. There are two distinct camps when considering time in design. The typical one focuses on the durability and aging of materials with the intent that the building will age well. The second and not often addressed acknolwedges time pertaining to building performance and the evovling demands a building has to be able to accommodate.

The current push to develop more sustainable places to live and work must consider buildings not as finished works of perfection removed from time, but as imperfect objects whose forms evolve to fit shifts in society through time. This reality forces the designer to engage more actively into the web of demands (political, economical, social, techno-logical, legal, and environmental) placed on buildings.

Process (figure 2) diagrams the cycle which the sources (figure 3)operate over time within the design process. Ultimately, some solutions will materialize while others will be abandoned and stored as design intelli-gence for future use.

Sources (figure 3) outlines the origins for which adapt-ability can manifest itself through strategies, rules, policy, products, or design intelligence. The categories are not realized in isolation, but help provide clarity for communication. Their organization relates to the degree in which they are bound in time.

The Adapting Ables table (Table 1) links the strategies to stakeholders, scale, time and layers. For clarity, each

Robert Schmidt III, Toru Eguchi, Simon Austin, and Alistair GibbAdaptable Futures Research Group, Loughborough University

Adaptable Futures: A 21st Century Challenge

Distributed as a Keynote Paper at Changing Roles - New Roles, New Challenges Noordwijk AAN ZEE, The Netherlands, 5-9 October 2009

adaptablefuturesextending the life of our built environment

Strategies for how the building endures change over time.

Convertable RefittableVersatile Scalable Movable(space) (function)

Adjustable(task) (performance)(size) (location)

StrategiesTechnical or system solutions for how the building endures

change over time.

iso standardspre-designed products

standard details

ProductsCritical physical parameters which

allow the building the capacity for a range of appropriate uses beyond the specificity of its original use.

SpatialStructurephysical

relationship either through constraint,

boundry, or adjacency

transfering of physical load either

vertically or horizontally/ directly

or indirectly

Servicetransfering of a

material element which services the

habitability/ function of the building

Rulesthe reuse of knowledge - proven and

plausible concepts, components, methods, and processes benefiting design cost and time , existing processes, and inventories.

SolutionsProtocolsrules,

procedures

Experienceseducation, past

work

Philosophiesideologies, ethos prototypes, mock

ups, design models

Toolssoftware,

construction techniques

Design Intelligence

Tax on demolitionTax on use of new resources

Guidelines for designersIndustry guidance

planning regulationsGovernment-led incentives

building regulations

PolicyLegal framework for industry through

taxes, regulations and incentives which either enable or impede the

process of building adaptability.

Timeless Timebound


Figure 3: Sources

Table 1: Adapting ables


MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE

FREQUENCYOF CHANGE

HIGH

HIGHLOW

LOW

LOCATION

TASK

strategy is defined by a type of change which allows for a decision maker and built environment scale to be associated with each strategy. In general, the strategies operate on different cycles and affect different layers of the building. The magnitude and frequency of the types of changes tend to act inversely (Figure 4).

Specifity (figure 5) shows varying levels of specificity driving a building to be a specific response each time. The levels move from Level 1 (all enclosed spaces) to Level 5 (a very individual response). The industry operates with a tendency to build for a specific use, client, and site each contributing and moving further away from a set of general principles. The more specific a building becomes to a particular set of demands at a fixed point in time the more limited its capacity to respond to changes.

Figure 4: Changemeter

level 01

level 02

level 03

level 04

level 05

A F

A

A

A

A

B C D F

G

Building(all buildings;

enclosed space)

Use Range(a similar range of

building demands)

Specific Use(use type)

Specific Client(client specific needs)

Specific Site(adapted to site

conditions)

K L O

E

1 2

1a

Unique

Common

Specific

General

Tens

ion

betw

een

two

cont

iniu

ms

Buildingcycle

BusinesscycleBusinesscycle

Businesscycle

Businesscycle

Buildingcycle

Buildingcapacity

Buildingcapacity

(FIT AT LEVEL 05)(FIT AT LEVEL 02)

Figure 5: Specficity

Figure 6: Landscape

Figure 7: Scales

Figure 8: Influencers

Scales (figure 7) lays out the varying levels of our built and organizational environments as a reference for understanding at what level and to what extent the dimensions operate at.

Influencers (figure 8) is a diagram we are using to attempt to capture who/ what influences the decision making process for a building. For example, how much influence does the designer have with his own set of beliefs and experiences. How much impact/ push does the client or society have on the finished product?

Many uses have a similar range of physical requirements which can classify them into use ranges (level 2 in Figure 5) which could allow convertability within that range. We also tend to associate a sense of uniqueness with specificity, where a more generic design tends to have less value and get labeled common. The evolution of a new built form is inevitable, but the capacity of that form to accommodate change dictates the forms performance ability and ultimately the length of its life - Land-scape (figure 6). The two lines represent varia-tions on the cycles of the built stock or land-scape. One indicates a building fit at level 2 and the other level 5 displaying a shorter cycle because of a limited capacity to respond to a single business cycle. On the other hand, the level 02 fit building can respond to three business cycles.

Designer Practice Industry Society

ORGANIZATIONAL SCALEMICRO MACRO

Component Neighborhood RegionPart Building CityAssemblySystem

BUILT-ENVIRONMENT SCALEMICRO MACRO

Industry Client

Society(government, global

communities, future generations)

(owner, funder, occupier, developer, local community)

(designers, manufactuers, consrructors)

ada

ptabledesign strategies

Qui

cker

spee

d to

occ

upat

ion

Sim

plier

de

sign p

rocess

Faster

design

Quicker speed

of construction Done Before Easier to sell/ lease Less Risk / Greater return Easier to adjust for chaning functions/ tasks Prolonged lifecycle Easier to resell/ lease Suits future change in size of use Better building performance Ea

sier to as

semble

Easie

r to up

grad

e Ea

sier t

o re

loca

te R

eusa

ble

Ren

ewab

le R

ecog

nitio

n ADAPTABLEcapable of altering its space, function,

or components in order to respond to evolving demands

kit of parts

standard components

prefabricated

open span

large spaces

ceiling space movable partitions

furniture type

modules

easy interfaces

bus systems

modular units

inflatable

easy connections

oversized structure

demountable

collapsable

/ mobilemotile

foldable

deattachable

regional materials

renewable materials

reusable parts

trussed rafters

product family

parallel processes

renewable services

recycled materials

system building

insulated building

biodegradable

stackable units

coordinated connections

up-to-date services

new technologies

changable panels

portable

extendable

types of changes over tim

e

ADJUSTABLEchange of task

SCALABLEchange of size

VERSATILEchange of space

REFITABLEchange of components

MOVABLEchange of location

CONVERTIBLEchange of function

Presenter and ProfessorAlistair [email protected]+44 (0) 1509 223097

ResearcherRobert Schmidt [email protected]+44 (0) 1509 222897

The framework presented in this paper is an ongoing development of the AF project. We are currently validating the framework through its application with a number of casestudy and partner projects. Thoughts, criticsms, etc. are all welcome.

Brief

Design

Procurement

Construction

Sell / Rent / Lease

Operate Operate

Maintenance

Upgrade / Major repairs

Functional Adaptation

Building Reuse

Scrap & Build

Financial Gapoption A

Continual (sub-optimal) Use

option B

option D

Sell

option C

Buy existing building

Build new

How much to invest initially?(what capacity will be built in)

CDP 01

How to handle an aged building?(sub-optimal for use)

CDP 03

How much to invest in upkeep?(what capacity will be kept)

CDP 02(new site)

(existing site)

(early years first 5-10 years) (later years after 10 years)

Lifecycle (figure 9) looks at the building througout its life and identifies critical decision points for investment (CDP 01 How much to invest initially?) and scenarios for action at the point in which funtional adaptation (potential convertibility) takes place.

Framecycle (figure 10) places the strategies in a clock-like position indicating their potential to be used. Filtered inbetween the strategies are various solutions associated with the strate-gies, and around the outside list some of the benefits.


This paper and its contents are copyright and property of Loughborough University 2009

Figure 10: Framecycle

Figure 9: Lifecycle

www.adaptablefutures.comContacts

PROJECT DIAGRAMS WPs AF DIMENSIONS

extending the life of our built environment

PROCESS

LAYERS

DEPENDENCIESPERSPECTIVES

The process of extending the life of our built

environment

DfAD

SOURCES

FRAMECYCLE

ABLES

LANDSCAPE

PERMUTATIONS

SPECIFICITY

SPECTRUMS

PARADIGMTIME, LAYERS

TIME, COMPONENTRY, FUNCTIONS, SPACE

COMPONENTRY, STAKEHOLDERS, TIME

COMPONENTRY, SPACE

PERSPECTIVES (all), BENEFITS, COST

PERSPECTIVES (all), BENEFITS, COST

TIME, ECONOMICS, SCENARIOS

STAKEHOLDERS, STRATEGIES

STAKEHOLDERS

DIMENSIONS

SOURCES (all), TIME

DESIGN INTELLIGENCE, STRATEGIES, RULES, POLICIES, PRODUCTS

STRATEGIES, SCALE, TIME, LAYERS, STAKEHOLDERS

STRATEGIES, PRODUCTS, BENEFITS, TIME

FUNCTION

TIME, SPECIFICITY

STRATEGIES

WP1AF FRAMEWORK WP2 AF PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE

____________

A B

FUNCTIONALTYPE RULES

PARAMETER(PHYSICAL & SPATIAL)

ADAPTABLESTRATEGY

STRATEGYDEMANDS ANDRELATIONSHIPS

PARAMETER(PHYSICAL & SPATIAL)

RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN PHYSICAL AND

SPATIAL PARAMETERS

PARAMETER(SPATIAL)

PARAMETER(PHYSICAL)

INFLUENCERS

BENEFITS

LIFECYCLE

ECONOMICS

WLA

CAPs

STRATAMETERs

CHANGEMETER

RULEs

WP4 AF LIFE CYCLE COSTING

FREQUENCYOF

CHANGE

STRATEGYDEMANDS ANDRELATIONSHIPS

MAGNITUDEOF CHANGE

WPs AF TABLES

WP5 AF BUSINESS CASE

WP6 AF DESIGN PROCESS

TIME

SCALESSTAKEHOLDERS, COMPONENTRY

FUNCTION, COMPONENTRY, SPACE

COMPONENTRY, SPACE

STRATEGIES, COMPONENTRY, SPACE

MAGNITUDE, FREQUENCY

VERIFICATIONCASESTUDIES DIMENSIONVERIFICATION ANDCATEGORIZATION

SOURCES

CASE STUDIES, SOURCES (all)

Designer Practice Industry Society

MICRO MACRO

Component Neighborhood RegionPart Building CityAssemblySystem

MICRO MACRO

APPENDIX 1


Rotterdam_pg01b.pdfRotterdam_pg02b.pdfRotterdam_pg03.pdfRotterdam_pg05b.pdfRotterdam_pg06.pdf

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