User Driven Innovative Building Design

During recent years there has been an ever-increasing focus on the possibilities to change the building process to raise quality on the final building products as well as on the activities of actors involved in the building process. One reason for this interest is the new opportunities evolving due to the broad introduction of advanced information and communication technology (ICT). VICMET is a general method for user involvement in every phase of the construction process and with a unique setup for each type of user. VICMET can use already created information in the building process and emphasis that the users are the key to next level of successful building projects. VICMET defines four spaces to support the activities in a innovative/creative design process; The Contextual Inquiry Space, the Conceptual Modeling and Game Space, the Functional Building Systems (FBS) Consolidation Space, and the Solution Space. In addition to these spaces there are supporting artifacts like Idea Bank and Good Story/Best Practice bank as well as Ontology containers and access to Communities of Practice and Interest. The project has so far validated the need for enhanced methods to involve end-users of buildings in a collaborative/participative creative and innovative building design process. The AEC professionals also appreciate development, enhancement and to some extent formalization of existing methods for user involvement in the building process.