From eco-friendly architecture to high-density housing, Miriam Fitzpatrick looks at the key trends in building design
A key driver of change in the built environment over the next three to five years will be the battle between urban sprawl and compact city living for the location of jobs, homes and places for leisure.
The cumulative weight of policy over the last decade to aid regeneration is taking effect and city centres are making a comeback as places where people choose to live and spend time. The prospect of vibrant 24-hour urban communities is more real than ever.
The competing forces of compaction and sprawl will continue to influence planning controls as well as built form over the next few years. Brownfield, in-fill, re-use, mixed-use, affordable housing - all the urban renaissance mantras - will remain topical with the restoration of dilapidated buildings and repair of the public realm gaining more significance in shaping how people feel about cities.
The creation of new housing to meet growth, migration or demographic shifts (it is predicted that there will be an extra 3.8million households in the UK by 2021) will place some areas under great pressure for development, leaving others for demolition. How this need for new dwellings is managed has been the focus of much debate already, with all government policy pushing for higher density development.
The design of all buildings will come under increased pressure to facilitate incremental change and flexible layouts, but not at the expense of the quality of the space. This is in response to demographic change as well as environmental concerns. This trend towards flexibility will manifest itself in several types of development:
- Mixed-use – a development comprising buildings of different uses from commercial through to residential
- Serviced housing – housing with support facilities such as a crèche, restaurant or gym facilities
- Flexible floor-plates – allowing for the sub-division or expansion of a space to allow for changes in family size or facilitate a building’s live/work potential.
All of the above accommodate the return of families to city centres - a central plank in the regeneration agenda. But it will also incorporate the needs of the elderly and provide the seamless integration of access for the disabled.
The combined pressures of faster construction and better-quality finishes, and the falling numbers of recruits for on-site labouring work have refocused attention in building design towards the benefits of off-site manufacture. This involves everything from prefabrication of building elements, such as bathroom pods or hotel bedroom modules, to total assembly of housing units. It offers the advantage of efficiency of factory conditions, a year-round work cycle, increased safety and a significant reduction of construction waste. Despite initial teething problems, such as a limited number of suppliers, uncompetitive costs and the complications of on-site assembly, this is an aspect of building design which is likely to increase because it helps to meet the demand for housing numbers and is backed by government policy. Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott championed a Design for Manufacture Competition which achieved new homes for less than £60,000 – a plan that is being developed and improved through Partnerships.
Future trends within prefabrication will include 'mass customisation' not unlike the motor industry, to allow for a high degree of individualisation and take advantage of efficiencies without necessarily producing the same thing everywhere.
Holistic thinking will become more and more critical to the efficient performance of design. Therefore designers, at every scale, will need to think about what else can be achieved by the system or product they are asked to design. Such thinking is how designers add value, and the significance of design, economically to ecologically, will rely on such intelligence. So when an architect is commissioned to design a one-off building, they will need to consider all the means of delivering their client's service more effectively and challenge the traditional brief to consider more efficient options.
As well as representing a trend, holistic thinking is also a challenge. The challenge for designers within construction will be to resist known protocols to achieve the best solution - often not yet considered by the conventional client. The usual role of designers within building design facilitate a production process which may need to be revised and to do so, designers will need to engage in the process itself so as to add real and lasting value.