A critical review of the developments in building adaptability

Abstract

This paper provides a critical review of developments in the adaptability of buildings. Its purpose is to determine the current ‘state-of-the-art’, describe current thinking and trends in research and practice, and identify issues and gaps that further research can address. It provides a basis for a scientific and practical understanding of the interdependencies across different design criterion. The paper increases the awareness of architects, engineers, clients and users on the importance of adaptability and its role in lowering impacts over the lifecycle of buildings as part of the infrastructure system.\ud This paper draws mainly from the literature as its source of evidence. These were identified from established databases and search engines (e.g. Scopus, ISI Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar) using key words such as adaptability, adaptable, adaptation, and flexibility. Over 80 sources including books, journal papers, conference proceedings, research reports and doctoral theses covering the period 1990 to 2017 were reviewed and categorised. An inductive approach was used to critically review and categorise these publications and develop a framework for analysis.\ud The concept of adaptability includes many dimensions which can broadly fall into two categories: changes to buildings and user adaptations to buildings. However, previous research has mostly focused on the former, with many attempts to identify building attributes that facilitate adaptability, and some considerations for its assessment. Key areas that have not been adequately addressed and which require further research include: user/occupant adaptations, cost, benefits and implications of various adaptability measures, and the development of a standardised assessment methodology that could aid in decision making in the design stage of buildings.\ud The adaptability strategies considered in this review focused mainly on building components and systems, and did not include the contribution of intelligent and smart/biological systems. The coverage is further limited in scope due to the period considered (1990-2017) and the exclusion of terms such as “retrofit” and “refurbishment” from the review. However, the findings provide a solid basis for further research in the areas identified above. It identifies research issues and gaps in knowledge between the defined needs and current state-of-the-art on adaptive building for both research and practice.\ud This paper is a review of research into a highly topical subject, given the acknowledged need to adapt buildings over their lifecycle to environmental, economic or social changes. It provides further insights on the dimensions of adaptability and identifies areas for further research that will contribute to the development of robust tools for the assessment of building adaptability, which will enhance the decision-making process of building design and the development of a more sustainable built environment

How Lack of Knowledge and Tools Hinders the Eco-Design of Buildings—A Systematic Review

“…There are now two possibilities, modifying the building so it becomes relevant again, or tearing it down. Design for Adaptability focuses on making this modification easier by incorporating the capacity to change the building layout, encouraging the choice of modification instead of tearing down the building, and thereby aiming at longer life [89,96,[100][101][102][103][104] with the additional aim of reducing material consumption and waste from building renovation and refurbishment. An adaptable building should be designed so there is room for the function and context (economic, social, legal and political) of the building to change and adjustments can be made with ease [96,102].…”

“…Design for Adaptability focuses on making this modification easier by incorporating the capacity to change the building layout, encouraging the choice of modification instead of tearing down the building, and thereby aiming at longer life [89,96,[100][101][102][103][104] with the additional aim of reducing material consumption and waste from building renovation and refurbishment. An adaptable building should be designed so there is room for the function and context (economic, social, legal and political) of the building to change and adjustments can be made with ease [96,102]. A building can be made adaptable through initiatives such as dividing building elements into layers so these can be adapted with minimal damage to the other layers, through designing a building without a specific use in mind, through using interchangeable components, and though designing for disassembly (see Section 5.2.6) [103].…”

Quantifying the Generality and Adaptability of Building Layouts Using Weighted Graphs: The SAGA Method

“…This argument was illustrated by Schmidt III and Austin [11] (p. 57): their analysis of the interconnectivity of Brand's shearing layers of change [9] (i.e. Site, Structure, Skin, Services, Space Plan, and Stuff, extended to include Social, Space, and Surroundings) demonstrated that the Space Plan layer has both the highest number of links to other layers and the highest link strengths-see also: [5] (p. 289).…”

“…However, although designing buildings for adaptability (or flexibility) has been 'a legitimate goal of architecture and planning' since the 1960s [4] (p. 51), it has arguably remained a niche field of study in architecture and building research. In a review paper discussing developments in building adaptability between 1990 and 2017, Heidrich et al [5] (p. 296) discussed the lack of methods to score and evaluate adaptability, and emphasised the need to develop approaches and tools to inform design for adaptability. Geraedts et al [6] (p. 1054) argued that existing adaptability assessment methods often only evaluate specific aspects of adaptability, such as technical or functional aspects, or focus on particular building types.…”

“…pace-layering [9]). Generality and adaptability represent the two dimensions of adaptability described by Heidrich et al [5] (p. 288).…”