flexible housing paper
TRANSCRIPT
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1.INTRODUCTION
Flexibility is defined as the ability to change and adapt a building to altered
activities through its physical and administrative environment
The degree of flexibility is determined in two ways. First the in-built opportunity for
adaptability, defined as capable of different social uses, and second the
opportunity for flexibility, defined as capable of different physical
arrangements. This principle of enabling social and physical change in housing
might appear self evidently sensible.
A number of buildings are renewed, and adapted, to new activities . In the
former case, it is of financial consequence that buildings can be adapted to
new requirements without extensive, technically complex and expensive
measures. The question of flexibility has been highlighted because, for example,
an increasing number of schools are rebuilt to meet changing needs. Another
example is the shift from pre-school to group accommodation for geriatrics.
Costs can be reduced if buildings are amenable to adaptation without recourse
to extensive works. From a socio-economic perspective, there are advantages
in more flexible buildings, where building life span can be extended significantly.
The tendency to design buildings that only correspond to a specific type of
household at a specific point in time reflects a way of thinking that is predicated
on short term economics. Flexibility in buildings is controlled by various decisions.
In every investment, an active or passive decision is made to control flexibility.
The conditions that enable decision-support and the individuals responsible for
those decisions are critical aspects.
This paper deals with aspects that help build greater understanding of the
processes that control changes in buildings towards future flexible buildings. We
discuss factors influencing flexibility in buildings. These are both tangible and
intangible in nature, but we learn that a balance has to be achieved betweenthem to make the building a successful venture.
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Developments in the building sector show a number of trends all of which point
to the growing importance of flexibility in buildings and the installations
concerned. Such as:
The long life cycle of buildings compared to the short life cycle of itsfunctions
The vacancy of buildings because they dont longer meet the presentrequirements.
The same problem occurs with churches, old schools and ware houses. Another trend is the rapid change of user demands compared to the slow
changing possibilities of buildings
Flexibility in regard to change in markets, whether in product, demand or
distribution, allows an organization to make the adjustments necessary to remain
relevant and efficient. Flexibility requires a commitment to creating an
organizational structure that permits a quick response to change. It also
demands a commitment to quick decision-making and the reallocation of
resources. Not every organization is able to do this.
Adaptable, recyclable and sustainable buildings will be major criteria in
assessing future buildings.Adaptable housing units are designed in such a way as they are, or can be
easily modified in the future to become, accessible to both occupants and
visitors with disabilities or progressive disabilities.
Among the factors that play a role here are saving of base materials, minimizing
waste production, ease of dismantling and adaptability. Clearly, flexible
buildings that are really adaptable to changing conditions respond to this trend.
Inflexibility means that once the users needs change, as inevitably they do, the
occupants have no choice but to move. This keeps the housing market in astate of permanent demand. If flexibility were built in, occupants would be able
to adapt their houses and so stay longer in them; this would depress the housing
market and limit the continuing sales on which developers depend
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2. FLEXIBILITY KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Partitionabilityis judged by the parameters for Distribution (supply andremoval), Conversion (central unit or supply system), Transfer (of
installation functions), Measurement (consumption) and Control (use).
Adaptabilityis judged by the Disconnectibility of the various installationcomponents (plug-in connections), the Accessibility of components
(distribution networks, zoning) and the Adjustability of measurement and
control facilities.
Extendibilityis judged by the Capacity and Dimensions of facilities fordistribution, conversion (central unit), measurement and control, and the
Location and structure of distribution networks.
Multifunctionalityis judged by the number of Integrated functions indistribution facilities and in facilities for supply, use, measurement and
control, and the extent to which the various components are universal
(projectindependent).
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3.Identifying flexibility factors
Material standardsMaterials with a life suitable for both existing and future activities create flexibility
in buildings. Choice of material affects the life of the whole building and
adapting the material to suit both current and future activities gives added
value
3.1. Production
Today prefabrication plays an important role in construction industry.
Prefabrication means that all or parts of a building are made in factories and
brought to the building site ready to be assembled (Ballard and Arbulu, 2004).
Compared with the earlier construction methods, these modern building
techniques have become more flexible regarding the techniques of
manufacturing.
3.2. Planning for future changes and service life
A plan for the lifetime of the building drawn up during initial design should
provide increased flexibility (Moravek, 1996). Future planning determines the
possible future functions to which a building can be adapted. Current buildingsare regulated by a number of laws and guidelines, but over the course of time
these will change or be amended. A building often has a long service life. Over
time the laws that applied when it was built may have changed. It may then be
that future rebuilding will experience problems with new laws and guidelines.
3.3. Installations
Modern installations generally take up more space than was required a few
decades ago. With regard to flexibility and installations the problem arises
because of difficulty in changing installations (Apleberger et al., 2005).
3.4. Financial aspects
Increased flexibility creates increased value during rebuilding, but also
increased initial cost (Greden, 2005). However, a study shows that flexible
solutions increase the initial production cost by an average of less than 2 per
cent, which can be saved directly during the first renovation. The financial factor
has the second strongest affect on flexibility.
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Ref:FACTORS INFLUENCING FLEXIBILITY IN
BUILDINGS
3.5. Awareness aspects
The term awareness is taken to mean that users, property-owners and builders
are aware that the building is subject to change. In the event that any one ofthem is unaware of the opportunity of adapting and changing the building is
static. The aim of flexible thinking assumes that the interested parties take
account of the planned or implemented adaptation potential of the building.
This factor is rated as having the strongest affect on flexibility.
The aspects of awareness, finance,
and installations affect flexibility
the most, while future planning,
production and material standards
have lesser affect on the flexibility.
But the fact is that all aspects are
significantly affecting flexibility.
Figure 1 shows a separation between the six factors,
three soft ones (awareness aspects, finance and
future planning) and three hard ones (material standards, production and
installations). The hard aspects are named hard because they are all directly.
connected to the building. The soft aspects are called soft because they are
not
directly connected to the building.
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4. SOFT & HARD TECHNOLOGYSoft refers to tactics which allow a certain indeterminacy, whereas hard refers
to elements that more specifically determine the way that the design may be
used. In terms of use it may appear a contradiction that flexibility can be
achieved through being either very indeterminate in plan form or else very
determinate, but historically both approaches have developed in parallel
throughout the twentieth century.
4.1.SOFT USE
Soft use generally demands more space, even some redundancy, and is based
on a relaxed approach to both planning and technology, whereas hard use is
generally employed where space is at a premium and a room has to be
multifunctional.
If one approach to soft use depends on the designer providing a physically
fixed, but socially flexible, layout, a more common solution is to provide raw
space that can then be divided according to the needs of the occupants.
Soft technology is the stuff that enables flexible housing to unfold in a mannernot completely controlled by the foreground of construction techniques. The
notion of soft space lends itself in particular to a participative approach to
design, allowing a degree of tenant control at both design stages and over the
life of the building. manner.
4.2. Hard use
The hard use is use that is largely determined by the architect. To this extent
hard use is consistent with the typical desire of the architect to keep control,
and it is therefore maybe not surprising that hard use is associated with some ofthe twentieth centurys iconic architects.
Hard technology
By hard technologies we mean those technologies that are developed
specifically to achieve flexibility, and which are the determining feature of the
scheme.
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Ref:FACTORS INFLUENCING FLEXIBILITY IN
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5. IDENTIFYING DECISION-MAKERS FOR FLEXIBILITY.
Property owners
Property owners are the ones who have the most to gain from a flexible building,
but only where they do not intend to dispose of the property before a changetakes place. In that case, they have a marketing advantage over those with
inflexible buildings. The behaviour of property owners affects decisions
regarding the degree of flexibility. In most cases, property owners make the
assessment as to whether or not the building will be changed. Assessment of
building changes is done on the basis of conditions such as supply, demand,
and opportunities for change, financial attitude and opportunity for increased
efficiency.
ArchitectsArchitects have a great opportunity to affect flexibility in a building. An architect
is to perform the design of buildings, and will then visually illustrate how a
building will be used. This means that in cases where the architect feels that the
building will probably change use in the future to something other than that
initially envisaged, he or she are to ensure that the function of a building is also
suitable for future activities through their designs. Architects can therefore act as
decision-makers to affect flexibility in buildings.
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Contractors
There may be decision-makers by the contractors whom via various decisionscan affect the level of flexibility in the buildings they produce. These parties
could for example be the CEO who has the roles of a company-wide strategic
decision maker. The overhead decisions can affect further decisions on the
adaptability of the buildings. It is not unusual that decision-makers in the
contractor companies participate in the development of industry wide
standards that affect the production of buildings. The result shows that building
company has little influence over flexibility in a building in comparisons with the
other factors.
Authorities
Authorities also affect flexibility. National and municipal decision-makers affect
flexibility through overall legal and strategic decisions. In new production and
major rebuilding, the design of the building is always examined in various ways
to ensure safety and accessibility, and the public has the opportunity to affect
the decision. In these decisions, flexibility in buildings is affected.
As an example, it is a legal duty to provide handicapped access in all newly
constructed and renovated buildings, this rather new aspect was hard to
foresee only 15 years ago. This means that in major reconstruction there is a
requirement for increased accessibility. This decision can make a building that
previously was capable of being changed no longer flexible but static.
Rebuilding becomes more expensive than previously because of a legal impact
or regulations enforced by authorities.
Project manager
The decisions of individual project managers can also affect flexibility in
buildings, in that theirchoices and attitudes produce different outcomes in termsof the opportunity for change in the building. The individual project managers
make decisions, or affect them, and in this way they also affect flexibility.
Users
Users can affect flexibility in buildings when their activities change and develop,
which means that buildings also have to develop and change accordingly.
Users affecting property owners via decisions on individual activities can thus
cause property owners to make decisions concerning flexibility.
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Ref:FACTORS INFLUENCING FLEXIBILITY IN
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Clients
Clients can beproperty owners,
building companies,
or other organisations
that have a financial
or other involvement
in producing a
building. Through
their financial
involvement with a building, their ability to affect the decisions to ensure futureefficiency of the buildings is increased. Clients are often the ones who initiate
the production of buildings and thus have the opportunity to affect flexibility in
the buildings they produce.
A flexible building
would be simpler
for the purchaser
to sell on than abuilding adapted
for a single
activity. Also, any
future rebuilding
should be simple
for the purchaser
through
awareness
planning.Relations
between customer and purchaser are different, based
on short or long-term relations, where all involved have
various roles.
Relations and roles mean that the opportunities for the customer or purchaser to
affect the decisionregarding flexibility vary from one project to another. Flexible
buildings are created through awareness on the part of everyone involved. A
ADAPTED BUILDING PRODUCTS ACCORDING TO THE CLIENTS
Flexibility Key Performance
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Ref:FACTORS INFLUENCING FLEXIBILITY IN
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problem from an awareness angle is therefore the customers short-term
understanding of the positive aspects of a flexible building. Long-term relations
more readily reflect the awareness aspects where the relations betweenpurchaser and executor are based on understanding and more well defined
roles. Awareness aspects have different effects depending on the design of the
project and who is involved, but overall it is flexibility in buildings that seems to
have the most influence, which shows in the statistics.
The hard aspects are all
directly connected to the
building and therefore easy tosee as a part of the flexibility
but the soft aspects are often
disregarded in the context of
flexibility. The soft aspects are
aspects that are not directly
connected to the building and
if not included the maximum
flexibility can only reach 44 per
cent.
There is a lack of knowledge and a lack of awareness in the area of flexibility.
They need to be aware of, who the decision-makers are, what the nature of the
decisions are, and which governing factors that affect the flexibility are.
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6. CASE STUDY
URBA PROJECT: DEVELOPING NEW URBAN HOUSINGCONCEPTS
IN THE HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA
The housing market in the Helsinki area is narrow and one-sided in more ways
than one. The market is lacking in flexibility, which has a negative effect on the
competitiveness of the region. There is a constant shortage of reasonably priced
dwellings for a number of target groups. The ideal of home-ownership
predominates, and the supply of rental dwellings is insufficient. In times offluctuating economic conditions, the acquisition of a dwelling for a short period
of time, if only for a couple of years, is a risky proposition. For example,
an expert moving temporarily to the area with his/her family from abroad
is in trouble. The housing market operates almost exclusively in the Finnish
language. There is a marked shortage of dwellings for rent and of services for
moving and adapting to new conditions.
Urban living and the production of new dwellings are both in need of
greater flexibility, because the population in the capital region is more
heterogeneous than average. Differences in income and social status are
greater than elsewhere.
The percentage of foreign nationals in the population is considerably higher
than elsewhere. The structure of professions is also different than in Finland
on average. There are proportionally more people than average in
supervisory or leading positions, specialists, IT professionals and
professionals in the natural sciences and in artistic professions, as well as
office and customer service.
Housing production in Finland remains predominantly in the hands of Finnish
developers, and over the decades practices have become entrenched. One
factor that explains the nature of housing policy and urban planning in Finland
is that it was first after World War II that urbanisation got under way here and
prosperity increased, and residential suburban areas were developed by
public-private partnerships. Another important factor was Finnish welfare policy
which put an emphasis on equitable housing, yet at the same time led to a lack
of diversity in industrial housing production.
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This lack of diversity in current housing production is one of the main problems in
the housing market today. The majority of new housing consists of mass
produced multi-storey residential buildings, and from the consumer's viewpointalternatives are hard to find in the market. In practice, the choice of dwelling is
dictated by location and price, which in turn largely depends on the location. In
terms of theirfloor plan, fittings and materials, new dwellings are very uniform.
Even in expensive and trendy properties that are carefully branded in view of a
particular customer group, the dwellings themselves are ordinary. In mass
customized housing areas, the buyer's possibilities to have a say in the dwelling
are generally limited to the choice of finishing materials, cabinet doors
and domestic appliances that alternatives for which have all been
decided beforehand. In the rental market, the occupant's options are even
slimmer, even though some experiments in participatory planning have been
carried out. The design of residential buildings is typically conservative. There is a
general belief that occupants want things that are safe and familiar. There is
fear that unusual solutions might scare away the customers and obstruct
the resale market later on. It is safer for the occupant to be flexible than
for an expensive dwelling. (Rask & Timonen & Vliniemi 2008.)
The Finnish housing sector, which in this context covers urban planning,
housing policy, housing production and housing market, has many actors. Theproblem is that no single actor is responsible for the overall workings of
the system, nor have any general targets been set for it anywhere.
Cooperation between different actors is infrequent and incidental. The
operating conditions of the sector are determined by the State through
legislation and norms.
Municipalities are responsible for land use policy, land use planning and
building control. Banks and investors provide funding, developers and building
companies construct, market and sell their products. The system is a
complex network of codes and nodes of intersecting interests and actors. The
key factors are economic trends, interest rates and the prevalent interests in
housing policy.
This situation may be changing, however. The global economy also affects the
Finnish housing market. The economic downturn that began in 2008 was
reflected quite rapidly in housing production in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
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There are currently thousands of expensive, privately funded dwellings (free
from price regulation) unsold in the area. Non-subsidised housing
production has come to an almost complete standstill. The constructionsector is facing a deep recession and mass unemployment. The Finnish
housing industry has already turned to the State and the municipal sector,
asking for measures to alleviate the situation. Cities in the Helsinki
Metropolitan Area are in fact increasing the production of subsidised rental
dwellings. It will be interesting to see whether the housing industry will change
its operating approach by, for example, increasing R&D or trying out new
housing concepts.
In the URBA-project, sustainability is understood in its broad meaning referring to
environmental, social and economical dimensions.
Environmental sustainability includes dense urban structure and
infrastructure based on developed,
high standard public transport durable housing stock sustainable building materials and building performance energy-efficient buildings with low carbon release sustainable and ageless design.
Social sustainability means
possibilities to citizen participation in planning and design processes user-initiated flexibility of apartments possibility of inhabitants' self-determination high quality of life in a safe, healthy and aesthetic urban environment freedom of choice and versatility in the housing market.
Economical dimension includes
housing stock and urban structure which enable sustainableeconomic growth in the Helsinki Metropolitan area.
new actors in the fields of sustainable construction, design andassessment.
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These dimensions are emphasized in varying degrees in each of the new urban
housing concepts (introduced below in section 4.2.), which serve as a platform
for examining and testing out possible directions for developing more
sustainable housing in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
There is a need for assessment methods that take into account various
dimensions of sustainability and concrete accepted criteria so that it
becomes possible for decision makers to evaluate proposals.
The URBA research group selected five concepts for further development.
Settle-down flat (Modest or moderately priced and equipped, easy- to- get
rental apartments for transitory life situations. Target groups: newcomers,
immigrants, students, low-wage employees, temporary workers, divorcees etc.)
James serviced apartments (Centrally situated, mostly rental
apartments combined with services, such as cleaning, laundry, shopping,
walk the dog, etc. to ease everyday life. Target groups: modern city
people, 'yuppies', singles, ITC workers, people who travel a lot, etc.)
Group building and/or self-help housing (Building a house or a group ofhouses by a voluntary, non-profit group of future occupants, assisted by
professionals. The aim is a building that serves individual and/or group
needs better than an ordinary building. Target group: active inhabitants
who want to participate more than average in decisions affecting their
living environment, and are committed to participate in a demanding
planning/building process.)
Town house (An old concept that is common in many countries except for
Finland. Mostly private houses with a front door facing the street and a small(backyard) garden. Target groups: families and those who want a private
garden, but prefer urban living.)
Flexible housing user-initiated flexibility (The concept focuses on
the flexible organisation of space properly scaled for the site. The dwelling
can accommodate changes over time concerning styles of habitation and use
of space. This represents a change from function-based design thinking
towards organisation-based thinking.)
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7. FLEX HOUSING
FlexHousing is a practical approach to designing and building housing thatallows residents to convert space to meet their changing needs. Based on the
principles of adaptability, accessibility, affordability and healthy housing,
FlexHousing brings together the best of everything we know about building
houses.
Adaptability Accessibility Affordability
Adaptabilitymeans the space is designed to evolve easily as the needs of the
occupants change, and with minimal expense. For example, the Regina
demonstration house is designed to provide an extra bedroom if a caregiver is
required.
Accessibility means the home is barrier-free. Everyone benefits from an
accessible home, not just older people or people with special mobility needs.
For example, wider hallways in the Regina Healthy House make it easy to move
furniture or to use a wheelchair to get from room to room.
Affordability means that the house is relatively inexpensive to change.
Although some features may be slightly more expensive to install during
construction, their initial expense is recovered in lower renovation costs over the
long-term. Wider doorways and lower, more accessible light switches cost very
little to incorporate at the time of construction but would be much more costly
to install later.
The key to flexible housing design is considering your long-term requirements
before you build or renovate, and design with those needs in mind. Some
features are installed at the time of construction; others are built into the design
and can be inexpensively added later. The best FLEX HOUSING design also
includes the principles of Healthy Housing.
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8. CONCLUSION
Flexible buildings are created through awareness on the part of everyoneinvolved and it is therefore important to involve all actors to achieve a good
result regarding the level of flexibility. In the urge to achieve flexibility the
architects have often dwelt in the notion of gaining control over the future,
unforeseen occupation of the building, and thus hampered the present
function. The innovation in materials and structure has already started and will
play an important role in rendering flexibility.
By improving the quality of the decision-making process the most appropriate
level of adaptability will be provided but an assessment has to be against what
customers want and how much the owner of the property can accommodate
changes of the building, into another more efficient one.
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9. REFERENCES
Design for ChangeFlexibility Key Performance Indicators
1st I3CON Conference Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent Construction
URBA PROJECT: DEVELOPING NEW URBAN HOUSING CONCEPTSIN THE HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA
S. Puustinen, J.Kangasoja
COHESION AND FLEXIBILITY IN URBAN DESIGN PROCESS IN AMSTERDAM ANALYSIS BY THE FRAME OF TIME AND SCALE
M. Ryu
Delft University of Technology, P.O.Box 5043, 2600GA Delft, The Netherlands,
Email:[email protected]
FACTORS INFLUENCING FLEXIBILITY IN BUILDINGSNiklas Israelsson and Bengt Hansson Lund University, Malmo , Sweden
Housing markets and economic growth: lessons from the US refinancingboom