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What makes a building last year in, year out, and what makes tenants feel happy to stay in the property? In his licentiate thesis Architectural qualities in housing, the architect Ulf Nordwall examines the importance of architectural qualities when the properties are occupied.
What makes a building last year in, year out, and what makes tenants feel happy in the property and choose to stay. In his licentiate thesis Architectural qualities in housing, the architect Ulf Nordwall examines the importance of architectural qualities when the properties are occupied.
The study show there is a significant need for knowledge within the building construction business about what the tenants’ request - to study architectural qualities when the properties are occupied and to investigate and develop methods to evaluate these architectural qualities.
It is unusual to measure architectural qualities in an occupied building –materials that age beautifully, room forms and room connections, versatility and aesthetics and the characteristics of the surroundings.
The issue of architectural qualities is significant when the property is ready for occupation, and it is interesting to find out how the tenants value them. In many situations in the construction and reconstruction process, the value of how to utilise the conditions of the property is questioned; the planning or the choice of material that the architect asserts will produce an increased architectural quality. The replacement of quality products with equivalent cheaper materials or changing the plans to simplify the production process are often decisions that can be motivated by an exact cost. The values of more beautiful and more sustainable material or a beautiful view throughout the rooms have seldom been treated in monetary terms in architectural theory. Architectural qualities are more difficult to define and price, since the grounds for evaluation change.
When prospective building companies understand the value of successful management, architects must also understand the value of this and ask how the characteristics of the surroundings, the usage flexibility within the apartment and the patina and mellowness of building components and properties are implied in the architecture. Through early discussions during the projection process, the results from this study could contribute to elucidating architectural qualities, in a management perspective, as a part of creating increased value for tenants and house owners.
The study includes six different housing areas located in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Umeå. The selection of housing in the study is blocks of rented and cooperative flats.
Ålidhem housing area in Umeå
The focus of this study is on these three qualities. The first architectural quality in the study is called “properties and characteristics of the surroundings”. This term refers to the character of the area and how its potential has been utilised. The next quality is called “usage flexibility within the apartment”. This term refers to the level of versatility of the housing. The third and final quality is called “the patina and mellowness of building components”. This term refers to the change in the building materials, after they have been used for a long period of time, and how this change could be perceived.
The licentiate seminar will take place on Thursday January 12 at 13:00 pm in the Auditorium at the School of Architecture.
