Delivering Sustainable Design Excellence: the Potential Role of Architectural Precedent
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PLEA 2018 HONG KONG Smart and Healthy within the 2-degree Limit Delivering Sustainable Design Excellence: The potential role of architectural precedent Double-blind review process Do not include authors in the body text at this time ABSTRACT: This paper aims to explore the role that critical engagement with precedent might play in the delivery of architectural Sustainable Design Excellence. It is argued here that there are currently two divergent core paradigms in the field of architectural design: one based upon a conceptually underpinned process of Conjecture and Analysis, termed here Architectural Design Excellence; while the second, termed Sustainable Performance Excellence, seeks its delivery through a process termed by Bamford, Analysis and Synthesis, of constituent problem fragments. The central role of precedent in architectural design processes is acknowledged in both contexts, and as such it is argued that critical engagement from a sustainable performance perspective with case studies that demonstrate architectural design excellence may provide an effective route for achieving their synthesis. Online coverage of the 21 Stirling Prize winners, 1996 – 2016 (as a proxy for Architectural Design Excellence) were evaluated using a framework for holistic sustainability and the results presented in summary here. It was found that sustainable performance was largely ignored in the available critiQue, despite some performing well within the narrow measure of energy performance as evidenced through DEC’s, thus limiting precedents’’ potential role within the delivery of a future synthesised sustainable design excellence paradigm. KEYWORDS: Architecture, Design, Sustainability, Precedent, 1. INTRODUCTION 2.1 Design Process: Architectural Excellence Lens Sustainability is now well established as a global It can be argued that at the heart of design driver for action across industry and politics [1]. processes associated with architectural excellence, However, there are concerns associated with the lies the generation of a concept: “Nowadays, a increasingly narrow focus on low carbon presenting a building is appreciated because of its concept, its barrier to the pursuit of holistically sustainable meaning, its underlying and integrating idea…” [5]. architecture, responding to environmental, economic Where such design concept(s) work to provide the and social sustainability. Although, Environmental constraining variables that inform the functions and Assessment methods have had some impact in aesthetics of the design, “structural integrity, clarity encouraging engagement with these wider themes of circulation, appropriateness of proportions, and so [2]. Additionally, holistic sustainability is rarely found on.” [6]. The generative process for such concepts is to coincide with architectural design excellence; as relatively individual, and typically stems from the indicated both by sustainability’s relative deficiency in client, the site and its context, the design team, architectural awards such as the Stirling Prize and in experience, knowledge and architectural precedent the ongoing professional debate regarding the poor [7]: the latter defined as “…a culturally approved quality of sustainable building design [3]. building that lends authority to new designs based on This paper explores the hypothesis that the it.” [8]. Bamford [9] argued that this is largely a sustainable building design process - and in particular descriptive integrative and holistic process,that the role that precedent plays in this - lies at the heart ultimately relies on a process of Conjecture and of this otherness; seeking to consider precedent’s Analysis (C/A). Whereby the design generating ideas role, as a generative tool, in a future synthesis of are”…Quickly tested against constraints and there is architectural and sustainable design processes; in enormous value in making mistakes.” [10]. order to enable the delivery of smart, healthy and 2.2 Design Process: Sustainable Performance Lens sustainable architectural design excellence. While, for the sustainable design process, it is 2. ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCESSES argued that the pursuit of sustainable performance, The Architectural design process has been the rather than a project derived concept, lies at the subject of much research, leading to a breadth of heart of the design process; indeed that the typically iterative and cyclical models. Although not a theoretical concept or driver is itself sustainability. wholly rational practice, the processes described each One of the most pertinent problems is therefore the have structure, components and procedures [4]. focus on building performance and energy use, whereby sustainability begins to be perceived as a linear end point and not a process [11]. There is thus, transformative role that precedent could play in perhaps, a contradiction between architects working delivering sustainable architectural design excellence. with dynamic knowledge as in the (C/A) process Lawson [13] suggests the development of design above, relating to imagination, intuition and expertise moves through 3 phases: “…acQuisition of experience and the need for sustainable buildings to the design domain schemata…”; “…development of a achieve static benchmarks and legal standards. This growing pool of precedent…” and; “…the might best be identified as Bamford’s Analysis and identification of … guiding principles which develop Synthesis (A/S) [9], whereby, “design starts by over time and further structure and filter the dismantling problems into fragments, synthesising continued acquisition of precedent…”. Therefore, and evaluating possible solutions…” [10]. where sustainable thinking has been integral to the process of achieving design maturity, one might 2.3 Working Towards a Synthesis argue that sustainable precedents will have informed What is clear is that both design paradigms, this development and where not, a more individual architectural (C/A) and sustainable (A/S) are striving architectural design sense might have developed. for excellence, but are applying different lenses to its meaning; inhabiting mutually exclusive camps with distinct processes, languages and design tools, including precedents. It is argued here that a synthesis of thinking should enable their integration, and thus effective delivery of healthy and design- excellent buildings. Two approaches towards this synthesised future, can be proffered: one, which requires a wholesale change in the judging of architectural excellence, perhaps “a new measure of beauty” [3]; a second, that effectively enables a synthesis of the two design approaches and ensures Figure 1: Position of tools according to A/S and C/A paradigms [10]. that the qualities of each might be brought together. A synthesised future design paradigm, will require The latter scenario is considered here to be optimal in access to precedents that are critically evaluated in achieving a paradigm shift towards built environment terms of both architectural design excellence and sustainable design excellence. Of course, such sustainable performance: that meet both the changes might be achieved through a range of Architectural professions’ current criteria for actions, not least, in the long term, through excellence (as represented by Architectural media interventions in the education of Architects and and winners of prestigious prizes); as well as those associated professionals [9]. However, the larger and that meet sustainable design, construction and more pressing challenge is to influence the actions of performance criteria. Rather than mutually exclusive those already educated and practicing, indeed, who pools of precedent, architectural precedent analysis set current architectural culture. could also present critical evaluation of building First, it is argued that the re-sequencing of the performance, and where buildings do not perform, design process, as inferred by the Integrated design critique might proffer informed debate over process (IDP) [9] is paramount. Sustainability must be alternative solutions to stimulate professional integrated into the very essence of the design; debate, and feed-forward learning. becoming integral to the overarching design concept itself, from the earliest inception phases; thus 3. ARCHITECTURAL PRECEDENT: THE STIRLING PRIZE overcoming problems associated with current In order to begin to inform this debate and to widespread late adherence to assessment tools, evaluate the current relationship between whereby sustainability is diminished to "an endless Architectural design excellence and sustainable series of checklists, spreadsheets and credits” [12]; performance, the Stirling prize winners (1996 – 2016) and placing a strong, project specific, conceptual were selected as a coherent set of building generator, beyond sustainable performance, at the precedents, where the Prize was deemed a proxy heart of this new design process. This requires a measure for Architectural Design Excellence. valuing and retention of the C/A based design process This work therefore seeks to explore the potential and the derivation of a design concept that is itself for typical Architectural Design Precedent to inform informed both qualitatively and quantitatively, but sustainable architectural design excellence. It should not dominated by, sustainability. Second, timely be noted that future work is required whereby access to appropriate information, tools, simulations buildings hailed for their sustainable design and advice that can