Design philosophy and practice in speculative housebuilding: Part 1

Abstract

The assumption of like with like - essential to any comparison - often obscures more profound differences between things to be compared. This was the outcome of this study. It set out to investigate two hypotheses: ( a ) that designs for private sector housing are significantly more buildable than are those in the public sector and (b), that the possibility exists for the effective transfer of design practice from one sector to the other. The study concluded that the differences between the sectors involved the whole processes of production rather than simply the skills and attitudes of the respective design teams. The paper, therefore, examines the factors that enter into each of the two sectors of housbuilding; the goals, the financial, operational and managerial criteria, the influence of user satisfaction, the role of the design team, of architects especially, the built form, and the extent to which either sector reaps the benefits of continuing product development. To a large extent design practice i...