Executive Summary

Management

Executive Summary

ELITEX Company is a company that is based in UK that is based in software development and the testing company. Established in 2015, the company has been delivering good quality service and products to the customer base. The employees use strong expertise in QC, QA, UI Development and Web Development. Mobile and automated testing and on demand testing is taken up by the company. The QA team is dedicated to complete the tasks in an independent manner. The delivery of the good quality product to the market is done as soon as possible. The company is ISTQB certified and follows the guidelines for examination and accreditation. The mission statement of ELITEX Company is to serve as true communication consultants, adding value to clients by providing the appropriate instruments for engagement and payment in order to accomplish their individual goals. Providing customers with quality assurance is part of the company's objective. The organization aspires to become an integrated part of its partners' business operations, minimizing costs, maximizing resources, and boosting profits. The vision of the ELITEX organization is to always deliver solutions that go above and beyond customers' expectations while actively listening to their requirements and concerns. The company supports the solutions with committed staff members, who are aware that the business will thrive and the best solution will be offered if it offers the consumers true value. The main objective of ELITEX is to provide its customers with the best user experience possible through cutting-edge hardware, software, and services. Additionally, creating fantastic goods and services that improve people's lives and offering top-notch services are the objectives of ELITEX. The goal of ELITEX is to establish a long-lasting relationship with regular customers that are based on solid knowledge, close attention to detail, effective communication, and mutual respect. The operational problem in the company includes overhead management, monitoring of the performance, feedback, cyber risk and cash flow. The bridging of the gap in the problems can be done by the company by taking up a range of solutions that will enable ELITEX in coming u with the problem.

Table of Contents

TOC o "1-3" h z u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc119572057 h 1Modern theories and comparison PAGEREF _Toc119572058 h 3Range of core activities in FM PAGEREF _Toc119572059 h 4Risk associated with facility management PAGEREF _Toc119572060 h 5Tools and techniques in facilities management PAGEREF _Toc119572061 h 6Bridging the gap PAGEREF _Toc119572062 h 8References PAGEREF _Toc119572063 h 10

Modern theories and comparisonProfessional competency is the first principle of facility management. A component of professional competency is leadership and strategy. One of the key pillars of business services is leadership. In the capacity of a company owner who hires FM, a marketer, or a property investor. In order for real estate to succeed, the facility manager is crucial. Communication is another element of facility management. One of the professional facility management modules that deal heavily with managing stakeholders is this one. The Mendelow matrix is used to draw conclusions about how to deal with and handle each stakeholder in the facility management value chain. Quality is another factor. The key is quality, which is determined by the various facility managers' criteria of what is appropriate throughout the breadth of their practices (Chen, 2015). Len management is also the principle of FM. Any step or action that is not necessary to finish a process is considered lean management. Within lean, waste can take eight various shapes and forms: defects in the waste include the presence of goods or services that don't meet specifications and need resources to be fixed, leading to overproduction. Lean management refers to waste as excess production of a good that aids in facility management, waiting as having to postpone action until the previous stage in the process is finished and unutilized talent (Das Adhikari et al., 2019). This happens when workers are not fully involved in the process. Examples include when workers lack the skills or equipment needed to execute the duties that have been allocated to them. Other examples include transportation, inventory, motion, and extra-processing.

Lean management also enhances the maintenance quality in facility management in comparison to other principles. Barrett noted that Cotts' models and experience showed that FM departments varied greatly from one organization to the next due to specific needs; location was likely the main factor influencing how an FM department was organized; a generic model for facilities management systems was discussed as the ideal framework, which was based on case studies and shall require the emphasis to specific activities in reality and the viable system model by Beer the author of the study. The Dependability-driven quality service is another principle of FM (Greenkey, 2021). Utilizing technology, various processes, and upkeep, dependability is made more successful the ELITEX. In real life, technology is in the spotlight. Because of this, the Facility Manager's job demands early integration of quality management standards into process design and the function of delivery. The creation of an operationally-specific QMS offers the structure necessary for ongoing management and continual service delivery improvement of ELITEX. Operations and maintenance are the heart of facility management (NG & NOVERA, 2022). A professional facility manager must be able to manage the building's systems condition, evaluate the structure of the facility, including its inside and outside, and supervise operations and maintenance tasks. Sustainability-oriented resource efficiency is considered the principle of facility management. This updates assets to boost energy efficiency among the employees. This also helps with the use of eco-friendly cleaning within the organization ELITEX.

Range of core activities in FM

Facility management mainly includes such as lease management, maintaining and performing various operations and this is done to different buildings and real estate. It also involves other core activities such as energy management, employee experience, and managing real estate properties. This facility management also deals with financial management, human resource management, and safety and contract management. Facility management is basically of two type mainly hard facility management and soft facility management. Soft facility management deals with the assets related to wiring plumbing, cooling, and heating. The core activity of facility management is to create a place to work for the employees. They help by serving a different variety of goals such as improving efficiency and productivity and thereby helping in creating a positive work culture. Facility managers are mainly responsible for planning data and thereby help in workplace optimization (Dukes, 2022) . The main work of facility management is that they help in the process of improvement of the physical building. They are the ones who help in the process of maintenance of building and repair of the building and thereby help in cultivating partnerships. Facility management involves the facility managers who help in managing space but sometimes it can be a daunting task as these office buildings are made based on budget.

Whenever a company first moves to an office space or workspace it needs a plan which will deal with the subject regarding where the employees will sit and where there will be a desk area (Limble, 2022). The companies use this facility management to utilize each and every space properly. Therefore this helps the company to spend fewer amounts of money and time on shifting offices and thus the companies are able to focus their resources on achieving more goals. Facility management also closely works by helping in the proper maintenance of the building as well as other assets of a company. The company Elitex uses facility management in order to manage assets and buildings. The company needs an office or a building this facility management uses helps the company to provide the exact suitable environment which helps the company to focus on its goals rather than on any other offices or buildings, thus this help the company to save a large amount of money and the company can make a huge amount of profits in the long run (Lindsay, 2022). The company has assets that need to be utilized properly the company uses this facility management who help in managing the assets of the company and thus the company can avail those profits at a cheaper rate. Facility management has a vital role in order to make sure that the building is safe and efficient and that it provides a suitable environment so that the employees can work properly.

Risk associated with facility management

The first risk that can be seen in facility management is the lack of Facility Information Availability. Inefficient or nonexistent access to reliable facility information is frequently brought on by antiquated or paper-based processes, which result in more work and slower operations in ELITEX (Potkany et al., 2015). The lack of information prevents field ELITEX teams from accessing the required facility data and prevents leadership teams from having a comprehensive understanding of operations and any other crucial information required to support decisions. The facilities management at ELITEX should be able to make information accessible online from anywhere to address the issue of lack of access to vital information. Only the authorized individual should have access, though. There can be several levels of access to control what each management level can access. The risk has been seen in Inefficiency facility compliance. The mutual compliance processes that ELITEX must carry out take an unreasonable amount of time to complete (Svensson et al., 2022). Manual reporting and compliance procedures can limit a company's capacity to succeed in other areas. Such businesses also lack defined policies and procedures for locating and fixing errors. This may lead to a workforce that is less effective and raise the possibility of mistakes and omissions. The solution to this problem is that ELITEX has to rely on almost complete paperless processes rather than relying on outdated procedures because paperless offices are more manageable and also provide more efficient work. The challenge of creating a sustainable workplace is another issue with facility management.

Supply chain operations frequently have a negative influence on the environment, and there is currently much discussion about how they may contribute to climate change. Operating according to environmental principles while ignoring the current ones, however, can result in significant losses for the business. For the solution to this problem, ELITEX has to implement cost-effective strategies to ensure its processes, including its supply chain activity and which will not adversely affect the environment. Constant damage control cannot be done by facility management within the organization, the facility managers always need to be efficient in their job of good damage prevention and control (Svensson et al., 2022). Professional facility managers are required by ELITEX in order for the company to run smoothly, reduce costs associated with damage, and concentrate on its core business operations. Facility managers can expertly keep an eye on the facility's condition while keeping an eye on and tracking the organization's resources to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Because of inadequate facility management, the organization also has out-of-pocket expenses, which are related to facility decline. Huge quantities of money will be required to repair the facilities, which have fallen into disrepair so that they are once again usable and up to habitation standards. The majority of the time, these enormous sums is beyond budget, forcing the owners of these facilities to incur irrational expenses. Most of the time, businesses are taken advantage of by dishonest and inept professionals who demand high fees for little or no work (Wilcock, 2022). To fix this problem the organization has to optimum its best and focus on core business activities. The organization also needs to track the resources in order to save the cost of expenses.

Tools and techniques in facilities management

In todays world different facility management tools are used in order to optimize office space some of them are workplace analytics platforms and these platforms basically help the business to leverage data and thereby integrate into cloud base technology such as meeting room platforms. Based on the needs of the workplace these analytics help in the process to identify the patterns which help in improving productivity. Therefore this tool helps the facility manager in optimizing their facilities. Task management software mainly consists of various tools that help the end users to organize and thereby manage their internal responsibilities (Ops, 2022). Therefore this kind of software helps the managers to track the exact process of the project and thereby helps the business leaders to set deadlines. The facility managers utilize these tools in order to plan workplace transition projects. These facility managers also perform duties that involve the process of monitoring and assessing of building. Another tool is the inventory management system which involves the process used by leaders and managers in order to track and control the stock with the help of the supply chain. With the help of the supply chain and the inventory management systems, the users are thereby able to understand how a budget is being allocated and thereby help in improving their efficiency. As the workplace starts to grow gradually the employees perform their function which helps them to grow. Some top inventory management helps the user to track and identify inventory needs which helps the business that it does not become overstocked (Sheynkman, 2022).

The asset management system is another tool utilized by the facility management in order to perform their day-to-day function. This company Elitex utilizes the use of asset management software in order to perform its operation. Therefore this asset management helps by providing insights into the workplace and thereby helps the workplace to improve its inefficiencies. This asset management system also serves as the main location in order to store information regarding specific buildings. There are many top asset management software and this software help the company such as ELITEX to support their virtual as well as physical assets thus it also helps in maintaining a proper relationship between the IT, facility management, and other leadership teams. Last but not least the tool used by the facility management is by building an automation system. As the business gradually involves more and more leaders are utilizing these automation systems in their workplace and thus they can achieve their goals. There is various automation system and this system helps any company to operate its business smoothly thus this helps the company to achieve its goals rather than focusing on any other resources (VergeSense, 2022). The facility manager's main role is to manage the assets and this can be done with the help of that software and thus the company can expand its business. The facility management utilizes the tools that help the strategists as well as the business leaders and managers to tailor their workspace into a better working place rather than focusing the employees to suit a particular new environment (Zwick, 2022). To evolve this workplace into a positive work environment the facility management utilizes these tools and this support the employees in doing their work.

Bridging the gapThe first risk that has been considered is the overhead management in the facilities management. The facility management cost can be seen as the overhead cost. This is because the business expenses that is ongoing and is not directly attributing to the creation of service or product in the organization. The solution is that predictive maintenance planning will help in the substantial savings that are connected to the assets within ELITEX. The reactive maintenance can be used in savings of the overhead costs (Freshbooks, 2020). I feel that the optimization of the space and the management of the space can help in the facilities management. The remainder of the space that is used in the organization contributes to nothing but costing more money on the part of the company. The jumping off of the costs from balance sheet in terms of procurement cots as well as wastage can be seen but the addition of these expenses results increased cost on the part of the company. The automation of the tasks that are time consuming can be removed. Use of spreadsheet to store data, checking and rechecking inventories and completion of the sales invoice can help in the reduction of the overhead cost. For the management of the performance the monitoring of the tools like automatically discovers servers, devices and the application within the organization (BDC, 2022). Tracking of the specific metrics like memory usage can help in the measurement of the KPIs within the organization. Datadog log analytics, Gibraltar software and various other tools can be sued for the assessment of performance by the company.

With the help of feedback the company can have a clear understanding of the workings of the employees. By beginning of the asking of the questions and understanding of the expectations can be understood. Asking about the opinion of the business initiatives of the employees will help n making the process of feedback and the incorporation of the engagement tools of the employees can be taken up (Schooley, 2020). Connection of the important points and discussion of the perspective of the employees can help in the solving of the problems. Asking the employees about the ways the feedback can be improved can help in the engagement of the workers in the process. Creation of the strategy that will take up cyber security measures and policies can be taken up by ELITEX. Implementation of training in terms of security management of the data can be taken up by the company. The risk assessment of the security that has been taken up allow the company to install spam filters and anti malware software where required. The cash flow within the company can be solved by payment of the bill strategically within the company operations. Cashing on the assets and the reduction of the costs can be taken up by the company.

References

BDC (2022) 5 tips to manage your cash flow, BDC.ca. Available at: https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/money-finance/manage-finances/5-tips-manage-cash-flow (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Chen, Z. (2015) Principles of Facilities Management, Journal of Facilities Management, 13(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm-12-2014-0039.

Das Adhikari , S., Hoffman , S. and Lietk, B. (2019) Six emerging trends in facilities management sourcing, McKinsey and Company.

Dukes, E. (2022) What can facilities managers use to improve their space management?, iOFFICE. Available at: https://www.iofficecorp.com/blog/what-can-facilities-managers-use-to-improve-their-space-management (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Freshbooks (2020) How to reduce overhead costs: The Small Business' Guide, FreshBooks. Available at: https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/startup/how-to-reduce-overhead-costs-the-small-business-guide (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Greenkey (2021) Six Common Facility Management Problems (and how to fix it), GreenKey FM. Available at: https://greenkeyfm.com/facility-management-problems/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Limble (2022) What are the roles and responsibilities of a Facilities manager, Limble CMMS. Available at: https://limblecmms.com/blog/facilities-manager-roles-and-responsibilities/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Lindsay (2022) What is facilities management?, MRI Software | UK. Available at: https://www.mrisoftware.com/uk/blog/what-is-facilities-management-meaning-role-more/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

NG , C.H.R.I.S.T.I.N.A. and NOVERA, D.E.Y.L.A. (2022) Facilities management 101: Basic principles, Colliers. Available at: https://www.colliers.com/en-id/news/e22-facilities-management-101-basic-principles (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Ops, A. (2022) Important facility management tools and techniques: The receptionist, The Original Visitor Management System. Available at: https://thereceptionist.com/blog/5-essential-tools-for-facilities-managers/?nab=0 (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Potkany, M., Vetrakova, M. and Babiakova, M. (2015) Facility Management and its importance in the analysis of building life cycle, Procedia Economics and Finance, 26(2), pp. 202208. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(15)00814-x.

Schooley, S. (2020) Cash flow strategies for survival, Business News Daily. Available at: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15017-cash-flow-strategies.html (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Sheynkman, A. (2022) Four main functions of FM, SpaceIQ. Available at: https://spaceiq.com/blog/functions-of-facilities-management/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Svensson, I., Brorstrm, S. and Gluch, P. (2022) Introducing strategic measures in Public Facilities Management Organizations: External and internal institutional work, Public Management Review, 2(1), pp. 122. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2022.2097301.

VergeSense (2022) The 5 Facility Management Tools You Need Today, VergeSense. Available at: https://www.vergesense.com/blog/the-five-facility-management-tools-you-need (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Wilcock, T. (2022) The Top 7 Facilities Management Compliance Risks and how to control them, Expansive FM. Available at: https://www.expansivefm.com/latest/top-7-facilities-management-compliance-risks (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Zwick, K. (2022) Facilities management best practices: 7 ways to improve efficiency, FMX. FMX. Available at: https://www.gofmx.com/blog/facilities-management-best-practices/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

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Individual Report

by

BNV7149: Innovation in Construction

5th January 2022

Coursework for

MSc (Hons) Construction Project Management

School of Engineering and the Built Environment

Birmingham City University

Executive Summary

Problem Statement: Educational campuses are high-stress, complex built environments (Wiener, Bchner and Hlscher, 2009), making it imperative that these spaces should be easy to navigate for newcomers. Therefore, this report identifies poor architectural legibility as a hinderance to wayfinding in Millennium Point (MP). This issue is comprised of asymmetry in floor configuration between levels, poorly designed staircases, a small number of ineffective wayfinding tools and poor signage; all of which, create a recipe for disaster for users who are attempting to navigate this university building.

Purpose of the Report: There is a strong opportunity for architects and designers to adopt Mixed Reality (MR) technologies [Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)] in the early stages of construction projects to enhance the legibility of their designs. The use of these innovations provide clear three-dimensional (3D) visualisations, virtual walking tours and real-time design feedback on-site, resulting in designers having the opportunity to put themselves in the stakeholders shoes and make appropriate design choices to improve the users experience of the building.

Structure of the Report: This report will firstly discuss the case study, which is MP. The problem identification will be supported by an extensive literature review surrounding the issue. Thirdly, the role of MR technologies will be defined and detailed, supported by more literature; then the use of MR will be applied to the problem, where the benefits of the technology will help to resolve the issue of architectural legibility. Lastly, MR will be critically evaluated alongside an implementation strategy, showing how MR could be used in the future to combat poor legibility in construction. Overall, this report aims to help the stakeholders affected by this issue with MP.

The Case Study

-62230284906800The case study identified for this report is Millennium Point (MP). MP is an award-winning landmark mixed-use building; designed by Grimshaw Architects, with Galliford Try acting as the main contractor. The 40,000m2 (Taylor, 1998) unique venue destination located on Curzon Street has acted as a catalyst for regeneration in Eastside Birmingham over the last fifteen years; facilitating the development of the Knowledge Quarter (Visit Birmingham, 2021). Officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in July 2002, MP is owned by the charity Millennium Point Trust and is managed by its operational division Millennium Point Property Limited (Visit Birmingham, 2021). However, the development was spearheaded by a partnership of a number of public and private firms including; Birmingham City Council (BCC), Birmingham City University (BCU) and Birmingham Chamber of Commerce at a cost of 114m, with a further 7.6m provided by a number of corporate sponsors including; HSBC, Jaguar, and Severn Trent (Millennium Point, 2021). Figure 1 shows the completed MP project.

Figure 1- Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG (Visit Birmingham, n.d.)

Currently MP receives over one million visitors a year, being home to; multiple event and conference spaces (including a 354-seat auditorium which was formerly used as an IMAX Giant Screen Cinema), ThinkTank Birmingham Science Museum, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire's School of Acting and Birmingham City University's Faculty of Computing, Engineering and The Built Environment (CEBE), part of Birmingham Metropolitan College, Mulinos (an award-winning local independent Italian food specialist), STEAMhouse co-working space and Unitemps professional recruitment agency (Millennium Point, 2021). MP is now 99% occupied and is responsible for the reinvestment of 5m each year into helping local communities access Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education (Millennium Point, 2021). The second and third floors of MP also connect with BCUs Parkside Building.

MP (red pin) boasts such significant footfall due to being located in close proximity to a number of vital transport links as shown below. MP also benefits from a large replacement associated multi-storey car park, which was built to the rear of the development and now fronts onto Jennens Road. The former front car park is now Eastside City Park, providing pleasant green space for visitors and students alike. Moreover, in years to come, MP will also benefit from the High Speed 2 (HS2) Curzon Street Station, which will be located opposite MP.

Moor Street Train Station (blue pin)- circa 10-minute walk (approximately 722m away)

Snow Hill Train Station (orange pin)- circa 15-minute walk (approx. 920m away)

New Street Train Station (green pin)- circa 15-minute walk (approx. 1.15km away

Digbeth Coach Station (yellow pin)- circa 15-minute walk (approx. 912m away)

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Figure 2- Map showing location of transport links (Accessed via Digimap)

Problem Identification

The problem identified with MP is its permeability and legibility. The verb permeate is often used in the context of a liquid or gas spreading to every part of an object or place (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021); however, in this context, we are discussing people navigating and moving about the building. From my own personal experience of using the building for studying over the last three years and witnessing those navigating MP for the first time; it is a clear issue for that the layout of the building is not sufficiently legible and hinder wayfinding. Hlscher et al. (2006) states that, for individuals to experience architectural spaces to their fullest, it is necessary to perambulate and stride the building. In an environment not previously experienced, the ease with which someone can interpret the spatial configuration of that space is critical in creating a strong experience for visitors (Baskaya et al, 2004).

Wayfinding has a number of different definitions throughout academic literature; the process of individuals orienting themselves in a space and planning and following a route (Wiener et al., 2009), the information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience of the space (Roux, 2014), or an umbrella term which subsumes a number of different navigation tasks that share certain similarities like search, exploration, and route planning (Montello, 2001).

Wayfinding is particularly important in complex built environments (for example, educational campuses like MP) because as building become more complicated, people need a greater number of visual cues to guide them to their destination (Roux, 2014). Navigators rely on a variety of different tools to get to their destination. These tools are comprised mainly of graphic signage, textual signage and other information systems like symbols or colours (Roux, 2014). The results of ONeill (1991a) found that graphic signage produced the greatest rate of travel in all settings, but textual signage was the most effective in reducing wayfinding errors. ONeill (1991a) also found that as floor plan complexity increases, wayfinding performance decreases. This is supported by Weisman (1979, 1981) which both found that plan configuration was the most influential factor is determining wayfinding performance. Other factors included; spatial landmarks, spatial differentiation, signage and room numbers. Plan configuration exerts such a significant influence on the wayfinding performance that; even the wayfinding performance of individuals with access to signage in complex settings remained equal to and poorer than, those in the simplest settings with no signage (ONeill, 1991a).

From my own experience, MP does not feature much strong signage. There is a small number of maps dotted about on each level; however, these maps are the same as Appendices C to E. This is ineffective because it only gives users a very vague image of where everything is. Furthermore, there is no signage along the long corridors to further direct wayfinders; this causes more problems for newcomers because if the user has no previous route knowledge the correct path to the destination has to be extracted from signs and information systems (Wiener et al, 2009).

Moreover, spaces need to legible. Architectural legibility has been defined as the degree to which the features of the built environment aid individuals in creating an effective mental image of the space (ONeill, 1991b). The research and subsequent findings of ONeill (1991b) show that floor plan complexity significantly influences cognitive mapping and observed wayfinding. Therefore, it could be argued that increasingly complex buildings are less legible to newcomers. Furthermore, vertical circulation is an important element of good building design (Hlscher et al., 2006); therefore, well-designed staircases can facilitate legibility in complex structures as they allow users to gain different perspectives of the interior of the building. This in turn aids cognitive mapping and improves wayfinding performance. However, this is an issue with MP, specifically in BCUs Faculty of CEBE, because there is only small, narrow, dark staircase which connects the second, third and fourth floors. This does not allow for strong architectural legibility. Furthermore, BCUs Faculty of CEBE does not have much visual access when you enter the space, which hinders a users ability to facilitate spatial orientation (Baskaya et al, 2004).

As a result of the many different entities occupying and using the facilities of MP, there are a variety of different stakeholders which are affected by the complexity of MPs configuration; students, university staff (lecturers, facilities management etc), young professionals, visitors (mainly parents and children enjoying the ThinkTank) and patrons using MP for conferences/events.

The complexity of MP is typified by a number of long narrow corridors which generally move using sharp 45-degree angles. Furthermore, the virtual floor plan does not clearly show where individual classrooms are, with many of the rooms being grouped together. For example, Appendix B shows there are number of classrooms grouped together such as; MP130-138, MP141-147, MP171-178 and MP191-196. This reflects how confusing and complex the layout of the BCU Faculty of CEBE is because, even on the floor plan PDFs provided by the university itself, the classrooms are not clearly distinguished.

This reinforces the importance of the problem identified with MP. As educational campuses are often high-stress environments for those who use them (Wiener, Bchner and Hlscher, 2009); for example, first-year students navigating new environments in a new city with new friends, lecturers with chaotic schedules, and final-year students completing their studies. It is therefore necessary to create a building layout which reduces stress by either; making the floor plan simpler or improving the wayfinding systems in the building. Both of these would help create a sense of calmness and security, which would allow all of the stakeholders involved to focus on their experience of MP and their activities within it.

Hlscher et al., 2006 states that wayfinders (those navigating the building) assume that the topology of the floorplans of different levels is identical, leading to wayfinding difficulties because in multi-level buildings as it means that people lose their orientation when travelling vertically. This is the case for MP because, as shown in Appendices A to E, the floorplan for each level is far from identical; making it extremely hard for wayfinders to navigate the building.

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Figure 3 Diagram showing summary of problem identification for MP

Role of Technology

Review of Value

-396240360934000The technology identified as a solution to the problem is Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies. As reflected in Figure 3, AR is closer to physical reality on the left-hand side, where the users interacts with a reality-based display environment through the use of computer-generated displays to enhance the real-world experience (Ahmed, 2019). In AR, the user enjoys virtual information being superimposed over their view of the real world (Bray, 2020). On the right-hand side, VR immerses the user in a three-dimensional (3D), computer-generated environment, which can be explored and interacted with through the use of a special digital system, like helmets with a display screen inside or gloves outfitted with sensors (Ahmed, 2019). However, in the middle, is MR, which is a relatively new hybrid of the two aforementioned technologies, despite being introduced by Milgram and Kishino in 1994. MR uses similar strategies to AR to impose information into a real environment, to do so equipment like computer vision is needed to understand the world around the user and build on it with new images and objects (Milgram and Kishino, 1994). All three of these technologies are then placed under the umbrella term of the Reality-Virtuality Continuum; a term first coined by Milgram and Kishino (1994).

Figure 3 Reality-Virtuality Continuum (Carrasco and Chen, 2021).

-38100122555000To help visualise what these technologies may look like in industry, Figure 4 shows what AR in construction generally looks like, where two workers are present on site using a tablet to visualise different stages in the construction process and Figure 5 shows a worker using a VR headset and controllers to navigate a 3D virtual environment, with the virtual environment being presented on a screen for others to see.

5842042420800Figure 4 AR being on-site in construction (Alder, 2019)

Figure 5 A worker using VR in the office (iSeekplant, 2020)

Some of the other additional benefits of AR, VR and MR are (UK Connect, 2020):

Improved collaboration on projects; teams can work together on a project regardless of their physical location, this is great for international project teams and making workplaces COVID-secure.

Real-time design feedback; by giving 3D visualisations of projects and the surrounding environmental site context, AR/VR technologies can facilitate fast and precise simulations of architectural or structural changes. This means that measurements can be taken automatically, and design improvements can be made.

By reinforcing risk assessments with hazard simulations and clash detections, AR/VR increases the efficiency of completing this task.

AR/VR technologies also have massive potential for improving health and safety on site and training.

Impact on Problem

Ahmed (2019) states that one of the greatest benefits of AR/VR technologies is that the virtual tours and walk throughs of what the finished physical project would look like can be experienced almost first-hand, meaning that managers, supervisors, inspections, or tenants do not even need to be physically present to take a site walkthrough. More importantly though, this would benefit the problem identified with MP because those using these technologies can experience how the layout of the design and the project would flow.

The findings of the study conducted by Carrasco and Chen (2021) showed that both VR/AR and typical 2D drawings are good for identifying spaces and general layout, identifying where activities can be performed, and identifying heights. However, the results also showed that VR/AR was far superior for: understanding how elements in the space interact with each other, identifying the specific materials and textures of the design, visually understanding size in terms of width, and understanding the innate properties of materials (for example, roughness or smoothness etc.). This positively impacts the issue of legibility of and wayfinding in built environments because it gives those involved with the project the opportunity to put themselves in the stakeholders shoes and make appropriate design choices to improve the users experience of the building.

Proposed Solution

Implementation Strategy

61595346710000The proposed use of VR is that it should be used in the design stage of the project, by using equipment like head-mounted displays (HMD), as shown in Figure 5, the design team can fully immerse themselves in a virtual rendering of the completed project. By doing this before construction has begun, significant costs can be saved but also, real-time design feedback is given. This is the most significant benefit because it allows for problem identification to take place much earlier in the construction process. However, the use of AR in industry to solve the issue of legibility would very different due to the nature of the technology; the most common methodology for using AR is computer displays like tablets. By using these on-site while the building is unfinished, construction teams can superimpose future elements onto the project. This means that this technology would be best suited to dealing with the location of wayfinding tools rather than architectural legibility. This is because, as shown in Figure 4, AR can be used while walking round the partially finished project; allowing for construction teams to identify the locations in the built environment where it would be optimal be place wayfinding tools for users to navigate. However, this strategy needs to be adopted by designers and architects as they are the ones in control of design.

Figure 6 Implementation strategy for VR & AR

The main stakeholders who would benefit from using these innovations to improve the architectural legibility of MP would be BCU students and staff. These two groups make up the majority of the individuals who would be navigating this complex built environment; therefore, they would be positively influenced by and benefit from improving the floor plan configuration and introducing more effective wayfinding tools.

Limitations

The most notable limitations of MR are (Xu & Zhang, 2022):

Cost; The typical medium of enjoying VR is the head-mounted display (HMD), which, cost circa 785 for top-quality, high-performance models (Simpkins, 2019). Moreover, it can get extremely costly to develop and maintain an AR based device or an application. Furthermore, the hardware only functions as well as the associated software, which also needs to be considered. However, since the latter part of the 2010s, the cost of MR technology has significantly decreased, making this option more viable.

Immaturity; Both AR and VR are new up and coming innovations, which are currently moving from the gaming industry to the construction industry. This results in many of the new innovations being sub-standard for the time being, while the technology is being refined and improved. For AR, there have been instances where AR applications have recorded low performance, which also reduces the overall appeal of the package. Furthermore, this links with cost; as the technology is young, there are not many players in the construction industry who are investing in MR. This means that the aforementioned benefits cannot be fully realised.

Training; To use the equipment needed to operate VR, like HMDs, and AR based applications or devices, the appropriate training for all staff is required thus increase costs and time involved

Conclusion

Summary of findings: This report has found that MR has massive potential, not only in the construction industry as a whole, but to solve a multitude of different issues within design. More specifically, this report has found that the issue of architectural legibility is complex and nuanced, yet VR is perfectly suited to dealing with this through immersive technology, allowing people to appreciate design from the users perspective. Moreover, the implementation of effective wayfinding tools using AR makes this a routine task. However, these innovations are not without their limitations; currently, MR is immature, despite the predictions of it improving massively over the course of the next decade. MR in construction provides a myriad of possibilities, most notably the exploration of a site before even one brick has been put down and getting comprehensive feedback of a finished project when the projects is in its infancy. This will improve architectural legibility and wayfinding in built environments, while save time and money.

Future implications: Previously, it was said that one of the drawbacks of MR is that is still in its infancy. However, this means that the technology is set to only get better from here. Therefore, if firms start adopting this technology now, they can get a head start and become an expert after using it. This is advantageous because as MR becomes more accessible then, firms can set themselves apart from the competition.

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Appendices

Appendix A - Ground floor atrium of MP building (BCU, 2021)

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-53138360903100Appendix B - First floor layout plan of MP building (BCU, 2021)

-1468120217360500Appendix C - Second floor layout plan of MP building including Parkside (BCU, 2021)

-1555750224663000Appendix D - Third floor layout plan of MP building including Parkside (BCU, 2021)

-41176569368300Appendix E - Fourth (top) floor layout plan of MP building (BCU, 2021)