The lack of design quality focus in construction: a case for examining suitable design processes

A large number of projects in UK construction now involve contractor-led design and are thus very different from the traditional approach which formed the basis of the original Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Outline Plan of Work. Such integrated and contractor-led approaches support the reform agenda of the late 1990s that was introduced to tackle process inefficiency. However, within the design professions there has been concern that this resulted in buildings that were designed-down to a cost rather than designed-up to a value. An attempt to address this resulted in the formation of the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE) in 1999 and the launch, in 2003, of the Design Quality Indicator (DQI) which measures how well a building satisfies stakeholders. This paper presents the early phases of doctoral research which will examine the impact of integrated design management approaches upon Design Quality.