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Home Improvements: Housing Research in Practice Contents Home Improvements: Housing Research in Practice Contents Foreword, Stephen Hodder P1 Executive Summary P2 Introduction P3 1.0 The Current State of Housing Research in Practice P5 2.0 Research Practices P10 2.1 Architype: A Business Model for Research P11 2.2 PRP: Exemplary Knowledge Management P13 2.3 Urban Splash: Innovation through Competition P15 3.0 Housing Research: Example Projects P18 3.1 Proctor Matthews: Economies of Detail P19 3.2 Levitt Bernstein: Space Planning Calculator P21 3.3 Pitman Tozer: Iterative Design P24 3.4 FAT: The Culture of Home Making P26 3.5 Wright & Wright: Housing for Older People P28 Conclusion P30 References P32 Extended Bibliography P34 Appendix A Glossary P36 B Acknowledgements P37 C List of illustrations and credits P37 hi homeimprovements Foreword As demand for housing is increasing, tensions between profitability and demand in house building highlight the difficulties in providing good quality, sustainable homes on a large scale. Architect’s skills are critical to delivering solutions to the diverse challenges that this presents, and our work within the project team puts us in a unique position to manifest change. Stephen R Hodder, MBE RIBA President Issues of design and delivery in housing are © Morley von Sternberg interlinked. Understanding these issues and the relationship between them is key to improving housing. However, much of what is known about housing is locked in practice. For some time there has been a growing recognition in our profession that practice needs to be better integrated with research. Having an evidence base for our services would not only reinforce the value of our work, but also help us improve at a much faster pace. We need further research into what makes good housing and indeed what makes good architecture in general, to facilitate the wellbeing of those who use our buildings and to advance the impact of our profession. This report sets out the current state of research in our profession and provides case studies of practices that are undertaking research in a systematic way. It is our hope that these examples will act as an inspiration to other practices to develop the necessary research skills to articulate the value of their work, and to prove the benefits of architecture to an increasingly evidence driven audience. Taking a lead from the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 – where research and development is now embedded – this document has been developed to promote successful research techniques. I hope that architects will benefit from these documents by further developing their research methods into commercially exploitable and intellectually satisfying skills. Stephen R Hodder MBE RIBA President 1 Executive Summary Knowledge in Housing Recommendation 1: further research Practitioners are acutely aware of the issues in There are many diverse areas of housing that housing that need to be addressed. In fact, as require immediate research. We identify two part of a project team, architectural housing broad areas that require significant research: practices have a prime view of both the design a) Long-term Building Performance and delivery of housing. From this position, Evaluations (BPE) that will help to develop a it is clear that many practices develop a body of knowledge concerning how buildings strong evidence-base for design and, although perform socially, economically and this is often not recognised as ‘research in environmentally. This would provide architects practice’, it certainly provides a substantial with a strong evidence base of successful knowledge resource. outcomes. Recognised Benefits b) A better understanding of housing delivery mechanisms, including procurement, Practices that do research and acknowledge will provide pathways to enabling greater it as such receive significant recognition for innovation in housing. their expertise from clients and developers. Many capitalise on this by publishing their Recommendation 2: mechanisms findings developed through specific research to facilitate research projects or through the accumulation of new knowledge through design. We identify the following approaches to facilitate practice-based research: Opportunities and Challenges a) Develop an approach to documenting expertise and knowledge which will alleviate Whilst practitioners have reservoirs of concerns that wider dissemination of specialist knowledge built on experience, they commercially beneficial knowledge may weaken do not always have the time or capital to a practice’s position in a competitive market. accommodate a programme of research work, or more specifically to document the findings b) Improve networks between practice and and new insights from their research. academia by providing a clear synopsis of Furthermore, existing knowledge is difficult to active research areas in schools of navigate as some findings are kept from the architecture. public domain as a result of their commercial c) Further improve the capacity to undertake value to practice. collaborative research involving academia and Beyond teaching, few practitioners engage practice by creating funding sources that are with universities for the purposes of research, open to practitioners and respond to the way leaving academic resources and knowledge in which the industry works. largely untapped by practitioners. Fuelling this d) Encourage more funding aimed at practice- separation is a lack of shared language and based research, with greater support from a shared difficulty with conveying findings in other industry organisations and professional a simple, yet meaningful, way. bodies. In particular, funding mechanisms need to be developed for BPE. Recommendations e) Improve the way in which UK architectural Research is key to addressing prevailing practices can secure government projects by issues in housing, and more generally demonstrating their excellence in research and improving the provision of innovative and innovation, rather than the size of their office quality housing that meets contemporary staff or previous construction projects. lifestyles and requirements. This leads to the need for further research and mechanisms to facilitate research. 2 Introduction Demand for housing, coupled with the need to provide high quality, sustainable housing, presents a significant challenge for Volume House Builders. The outcome of this challenge is highly likely to impact on the design quality, which recent reports have already identified as poor (CABE, 2009; RIBA, 2011). This highlights a pressing need to develop housing design knowledge in order to facilitate innovative outcomes that respond to current and future constraints and requirements. The principle aim of this report is to develop It is not an easy task to define the link a picture of the current state of housing between research and practice. Where other research within architectural practices in the professions, such as medicine, can illustrate UK. It will act as a benchmark for research the link between research and practice, the practice in housing; a point against which products of architectural practice (buildings) future housing research can be measured and their contexts, are subjective and not and assessed, meaning that less time will go so easily explained (Fisher, 2009). Jeremy into investigating research that has already Till (2001: 8) articulates; “Research-by-design been done. It will help identify where often breaks the grip of instrumental innovation is happening and where it needs rationality inasmuch as it involves creative to happen, in this way facilitating knowledge synthesis.” This can be seen in the way that exchange between the profession and certain design approaches involve “analysing academia. Although very little has been the issues at stake, acting with intent, and written on the current state of housing moving to the production of new forms of research, a recent report from Scotland social inhabitation and engagement” (ibid). (RIAS, 2005), a draft report from University These are new forms of knowledge disguised College Dublin for the Irish Government and as buildings. Design, then, can be research a forthcoming report from the RIBA highlight when it has followed a rigorous and the urgent need for a more co-ordinated critical path that leads to new insights for approach to research within architecture. design practice. Context Architectural practice is prevented from doing research by cultural barriers within the profession’s organisation (Imrie & Allen, 2010). This stems from a weak conception of the nature of research, its role in practice, and its relationship with design (RIAS, 2005). There are a number of factors that contribute to this: – A reduction in support of the value of architectural design from organisations such as the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (see for example; CABE, 2006a; CABE, 2006c; CABE, 2006d; CABE, 2003). – A misconception of what research is. – An inability to express the value of design research and a lack of benchmarks for current research, which make it difficult to evidence originality or innovation. 3 Introduction In 2011 the RIBA Building Futures report, knowledge exchange between architectural The Future for Architects?, concluded that, practice, industry partners and academia. The despite economic turmoil, “the opportunities project, known as Home Improvements, is for architects have never been greater” funded by the Arts and Humanities Research (Building Futures, 2011, p.39). It is our belief Council (AHRC) and led by the University
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