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The Development of a Policy on Architecture for Scotland: Report on the Public Consultation

22.0 RESEARCH

22.1 The majority of respondents were agreed that good research was important to the effective practice of architecture. However, respondents were of the view that the situation with regard to construction research in general, and design research in particular, was unsatisfactory at the moment. It was noted that relatively little research was carried out by architectural practices themselves. It was suggested that competitive fee tendering has meant that few practices have the necessary resources available to support research activity. Respondents noted that practices were also generally unaware of the existing sources of research funding.

22.2 Respondents noted that current construction research in the UK was broad and diverse in scope. However, respondents felt that there appeared to be a lack of co-ordination between funding agencies with regard to research programmes and a consequent fragmentation of effort. It was also felt that the dissemination to practice of the results of research was not as effective as it might be. Some respondents questioned the impartiality of current construction research given the move to privatisation of research bodies. Respondents suggested that much research seemed biased towards the established technologies and the status quo rather than alternative technologies such as those necessary to support ecological design. It was suggested that a national architectural innovation fund should be established to co-ordinate and promote research in the architectural field.

22.3 Respondents from the academic community expressed considerable concern that design was not recognised as a legitimate research activity either by the UK University Research Assessment Exercise or by the Research Councils. It was suggested that this had led to a bias in the staffing of schools of architecture towards those with a specialised knowledge of a specific technical subject. Academic staff wishing to carry out design research were presented with few opportunities and were in a minority. It was noted that, in the past, open competitions had provided a context for research by academic architects but that the move to competitive interview had meant that fewer opportunities for this were now available. Respondents suggested that there was a need for greater co-operation and co-ordination between the schools of architecture with regard to teaching and research, particularly at Masters level. It was also suggested that a national post-graduate school of architecture and planning should be established along the lines of the Berlage Institute in the Netherlands.

22.4 Several respondents commended the use of demonstration projects as a way of exploring new ideas and providing exemplars of innovative architecture. Demonstration projects were seen as having value in enabling projects to be built that would be regarded as high risk in a conventional commercial context and in creating opportunities for younger practices. The projects at the Homes for the Future were cited as examples. There were also calls to develop additional Scottish Homes’ HAG competition schemes. However, some respondents suggested that if demonstration projects were to be effective in the longer term, then they should be subject to post completion monitoring and evaluation to test whether their objectives had been met. In the same vein, some respondents counselled against emphasising innovation in research and demonstration projects. It was suggested that more could be achieved by monitoring and evaluating past successes and failures and learning incrementally rather than constantly seeking innovation.

22.5 Respondents suggested a number of specific topics that merited research attention. These included:

• accessibility for the disabled and the design of lifetime homes;

• the impact on house design of demographic and physiological changes in the population;

• forms of construction appropriate for a "new vernacular" in house design;

• the design of affordable housing in rural areas;

• good practice in brownfield development;

• design quality in the development control process;

• comparative studies of approaches to energy efficiency and sustainability;

• the effect of community and user participation in design;

• identity in Scottish architecture and its relationship with international modernism;

• the impact of PPP/PFI on design and construction processes and contracts;

• economic and commercial benefits of quality in design;

• methodologies for post-occupancy evaluation;

• the use of indigenous Scottish materials;

• changing work patterns and workplace design;

• public sector commissioning and design quality; and

• design standards for schools.

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