Design must form the entry point, with that particular element of P-DfMA serving as the foundation and pervading principle for everything which follows.
We’ll be able to make decisions about how we want to intervene, and it could end up shaping the policy environment.That’s when we’ll really see the true power and value of data.. A Kit-of-Parts Approach and the Creation of a Digital Marketplace for Construction.
In the utopian future state we seek, buildings will increasingly be configured using Platform construction methodologies and a kit-of-parts approach.The parts will be interoperable and there will be common interface standards and rules.If a new, highly energy-efficient product creates local jobs, then we’ll need a clear route to market for that product, as well as a value-based decision about how it’s deployed.
At the moment, however, this isn’t really possible, because we don’t have a clear set of rules.We have too many non-interoperable systems and ecosystems.
Our current decisions are based on cost, rather than value and outcomes.
Initial capital costs and whole-life costs will always be important, but all of the various value metrics and value drivers need to be considered alongside them..This combined approach can be applied to any building type, but we have seen huge benefits when the buildings we design are particularly complex, or house particularly complex systems and processes..
The benefits of a Platform approach to design and construction: time, cost, quality.A Platforms approach to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA) delivers significant benefits to a project, including: reduced costs, reduced programme time, reduced carbon, reduced numbers of workers required to build, increased health and safety, increased quality, increased flexibility and adaptability.. And we can deliver all of this with no compromise on the aesthetic quality of the building.
The beauty of Circle Birmingham hospital – including the spectacular cantilever we achieved over the main entrance – bears witness to that last point.And this is not simply architectural posturing.
(Editor: Affordable Streaming Gear)