What is building design?
Building design is both a product and a process. As a product, building design ranges from the public to the private realms - from hotels and office headquarters through to hospitals and housing. As a process, or service, it is the means by which designers manipulate a building, or space, to meet a client’s needs
The mistrust in building design that marked the late 20th century has recently been replaced by a desire for increased quality in the built environment as a whole. It is recognised as vital to our social and cultural well-being. Consequently, we are demanding better-designed buildings across the board.
Media coverage of architecture has also grown. There are more books and newspaper articles dedicated to the subject than ever before, highlighting the theory that public services are better served by well-designed buildings and that new housing should be delivered in the context of high-quality environments.
This need for quality, as well as for energy efficiency, has led to a greater demand for design skills that will deliver greener and better-quality buildings. The desire for a more ambitious architecture is felt right across the country, for cities as well as rural areas which bodes well for the massive building programme that is currently underway.
Building design is the largest non-service based wealth generator and employer in the UK and one of Britain's biggest exports making up 0.5% of service sector exports and 0.2% of total exports. With so much invested, getting the design right matters more than ever. Subsequently, any investment in building design needs to take into account the impact on the larger context, social and environmental, and costs need to be considered over the lifetime of a building. This approach is central to the ideal of sustainable design, which is at the forefront of current innovative design thinking.
In addition to environmental merit, investment in design can represent enormous economic value. According to architect Sir Norman Foster, if one considers the average cost of a building over 25 years, the cost of the building shell amounts to only 5.5% of the total cost, whereas the cost of occupying a building accounts for 86%. If design fees average around 10% of construction costs, and thereby represent 0.5% of total building costs, then the exponential gain to be derived from a small investment in the design process can be huge, particularly as good design should help to lower occupancy and maintenance costs over the lifetime of the building.
From Beaubourg to Bilbao, the positive impact of design on local economies is now being recognised. Thomas Krens, the Director of the Guggenheim, has found that building design can capture the public imagination and the much coveted 'Bilbao-effect' supports his view that one-off iconic architecture masterpieces pay. However, there is a growing reaction against iconic or ‘wow-factor’ architecture.