An evaluation tool as a means of improving architectural design quality: the results

Development of the Architectural Design Quality Evaluation Tool was based on a live research project with a Metropolitan Council in the North of England. The aim was to improve the quality of design in residential sheltered housing, procured through the Private Finance Initiative; and has been applied to a programme that will see the replacement of the Council’s entire sheltered housing stock. The Private Finance initiative has been subjected to particular criticism for its lack of design quality. The Research Team worked alongside the Local Authority Project Team, and together they developed and refined the Tool through the competitive dialogue phase of the PFI programme. At the CIB World Congress 2010, the authors reported on the development of the Tool (Paper ID: 535). This paper will briefly review the nature of evaluation tools and this tool in particular, before analysing its use in practice and the results. The Tool has two functions. It is a substantial part of the assessment process, which selected the preferred bidding consortium from the original six bidders, through a series of stages. However, it was also directed at improving the quality of all the submitted designs through an iterative process. There are several mechanisms available for evaluating the performance attributes of buildings and these are important, but few also tackle the less tangible amenity attributes, which are vital to the feeling of home. This Tool emphasises the amenity attributes without neglecting performance. The complete Tool and User Guide can be found on the Homes and Communities Agency website under Design and Sustainability at http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/architecture-designquality-evaluation-tool