« Building Morphology and Design Economics»

Ahmad Faiz b. Abd. Rashid

Department of Quantity Surveying
Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying
UiTM Sarawak
•Taxi?
•Friend?
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This is you
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 Science of study of relationship between
human & how they use their limited sources
(Robin 1935 cited in Hillebrant 1993 in ‘Economic Theory and the Construction Industry’)
 Selection of approaches to use or distributed
sources (Khairani 2005)
 How to manage things effectively with
reasonable cost
 Being referred as construction
economist
 To be able to provide better judgment
for cost effectiveness
 To identify and eliminate/reduce
unnecessary items which could help to
reduce overall project cost
 Building cost is affected by various factors from
building design to type of finishing.
 The main objective of design team is not to create
the cheapest building but the most cost-effective
building (Khairani, 2005).
 The best building should be able to:
 fulfill the functions as it was proposed by the clients
 have acceptable designs which suits its function
 provide value for money (Seeley, 2005)
 Design Factor
 Building Plan Shape
 Collective Construction of Buildings
 Building Size
 Storey Height
 Total Height of Building
 Circulation Space
 Site Factor
 Site Factor to Building Size
 Site Factor to Building Shape
 Site Factor to Plot Ratio
 Ground Condition to Building Design
 Site Location to Building Design
Building Shape
Collective Construction of
Building
Building Size
Storey-height
Building Total Height
Circulation Space
 The shape of a building determines how
much it will cost
 In general, the simpler the shape, the less it
will cost

A B C
 By using Wall to Floor ratio where wall area
(m2) divide by gross floor area (m2)

A B C
11m2 11m2
11m2

Radius – 1.87m Width – 3.31m Width – 2m

Wall Height – 3m Length – 3.31m Length – 5.5m
Wall Height – 3m Wall Height - 3
 A B C

Floor Area = 11m2 Floor Area = 11m2 Floor Area = 11m2

Wall Area = 35m2 Wall Area = 40m2 Wall Area = 45m2
W/F ratio = 3.18 W/F ratio = 3.64 W/F ratio = 4.09
 The most economical shape is round shape
building (Seeley 1989), but is it practical?
 Theoretically, a big square building is the
most practical (Seeley 1989), however it is ugly and
not suitable for most buildings.
 Hospital, Schools, Factory, Academic Buildings are
mostly rectangular in shape? Why is that?
 Rectangular shaped building:
 maximise its natural daylighting to most part of the
building.
 Cheaper than other irregular shape building
 Easier to plan out internal layout of the building
 A large square building will have a poor lighting in
the centre area.
Petronas Twin Towers
 For aesthetic value
 Attract people/customers
 For prestigious purposes
 If you want to buy shoes, what are the
characteristics that you look into?
 Price?
 Quality?
 Durability?
 Design?
"135 Degree Angle" - Japan "Crooked House" – Poland "Robot Building" – Bank of Asia,
Bangkok

“Upside Downer" - Woodworks, Florida "Dancing House" – Czech Republic

 More measurement, more foundation works,
external wall, wall finishes etc
 More complicated in construction procedure,
need costly labourers
 More electrical wiring, piping and air-
conditioning system
 Increase in maintenance cost
 If a group of buildings is being erected
together (terrace/link houses), there will be a
cost saving because the party wall is share
between adjacent buildings.
 A party wall shall be shared by 2 units of
buildings.
 A B C

PARTY WALL
 See example in page 219, Ekonomi Binaan,
(Khairani 2005).
 Not all people fancy link buildings. Why?
 Discuss for 10 minutes in group of 5 and
present your answers.
 Some people willing to pay more for privacy
rather than to share their wall with somebody
else.
 It’s all about money !!
Explain and illustrate by using
simple sketches and
calculations, what you
understand about the affect of
building shape OR collective
building to cost.
 Generally, increases in size of buildings usually
produce reductions in unit cost, such as cost/m2
of floor area.
 HYPERMARKET SCENARIO  buy in bulk, the
price per unit is cheaper compare to when you
buy just one item.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
characterizes a production
process in which an increase in
the scale of the firm causes a
decrease in the long run average
cost of each unit
 Rationally, certain fixed costs such as
transportations, erection and dismantling of site
building, and compound for storage of materials,
temporary roads etc may not vary significantly.
 A larger project is often less costly to build as
wall/floor ratio reduces.
 See example in page 221 Ekonomi Binaan, (Khairani,
2006)
 See also example Fig. 5.2 in page 87 Cost Studies of
Building (Ashworth, 2004)
 Figure 2.2 shows the effect of doubling the
length of a rectangular building on the ratio of
wall to floor area. The length of external wall per
square metre of floor area is reduced from
3.83mm to 3.17mm, a reduction of 17.25%
(Seeley, 1989)
 A 6-storey office has 360m2 of floor area on each
floor and served by 2 passenger lifts. The total
cost of the project of RM928,000 is equivalent to
RM430/m2 of floor area and the lifts cost
RM54,000, equivalent to RM25/m2 of floor area.
 If the floor area was doubled on each storey, the
lift provision could remain the same and the cost
shall reduce to RM12.50/m2.
 Although the construction cost per unit is
cheaper generally, it does not mean that the
operational cost is also cheaper.
cheaper
 It is more cost-effective to build a big building
instead of building a few small buildings
which have same floor area.
 See example in page 222 &223, Ekonomi
Binaan, (Khairani, 2006)
 Changes in
storey height
cause
changes in the
cost of the
building
without
altering the
floor area.
area
 Discuss for 10 minutes in group of 5 and
present your answers.
 Main elements that affected by this changes are walls
and partitions together with their finishing. There will
be also changes in other areas such as:
 Increased volume to be heated/cooled, higher level of
equipment
 Longer service and waste pipe to supply sanitary appliances
 Electrical wiring and water pipe
 Staircases, escalators and lift
 Additional load could result enlargement of foundations
 Additional maintenance works
 Constructional costs of
buildings rise with increases
in their height but these
additional costs can be partly
compensate by better
utilisation of
 highly priced land
 reduced cost of external
circulation works.
 Low cost flat are best to be low except in very
high cost site locations where luxury rents are
obtainable.
 Office developments in tower form are more
expensive in cost than low rise, however it
can compensate by the rent obtainable which
may more than the additional cost.
 Discuss for 10 minutes in group of 3 and
present your answer to En. Faiz
 Provision of vertical transportation i.e. hoist
& crane.
 High operation & safety cost.
 Increase engineering services i.e. lifts,
garbage disposal, sewage pump, fire fighting
and etc.
 Provision for bigger foundations, structural
frame, staircases and etc.
 Higher circulation areas
 Required specialist contractors – less
competition (IJM is one of the best high rise building
contractor in Malaysia)
 Wind loading – construction difficulties
 Changes in number of storey can be explained by example in page 226, Ekonomi Binaan, (Khairani, 2006)
 Similar example in Fig 5.5 page 92, Cost Studies of Building (Ashworth, 2004)

 Summary of Outcome of Increment in Height of Building to the Cost of Building - Ekonomi Binaan, (Khairani, 2006)
1. Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan
2003 509 m (1,670 ft) 101
storey
2. Petronas Tower I, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia 1998
452 m (1,483 ft) 88 storey
3. Petronas Tower II, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia 1998
452 m (1,483 ft) 88 storey
4. Sears Tower, Chicago,
United States 1974 442 m
(1,450 ft) 110 storey
5. Jin Mao Building, Shanghai,
China 1998 421 m (1,381 ft)
88 storey
 When Burj Dubai, United
Arab Emirates is
completed, it will be the
tallest building and
architectural structure in
the world at more than
800 meters (2625 feet).
(Wikipedia, 2007)
 Circulate means MOVEMENT IN CIRCLE
 Circulation space  entrance halls, corridors,
stairways and lift wells.
wells
 Circulation space can be regarded as ‘dead space’
which cannot be used for a $$ profitable $$
purpose and yet involves considerable cost in
heating, cooling, lighting, cleaning, decorating
and etc.
 An economic layout for a building will have its
main aims – reduction of circulation space to a
minimum.
 However, almost every type of building
requires some circulation space to provide
means of access between its sections.
sections
 In prestige buildings, spacious entrance halls
and corridors add to the pride of the
buildings.
 If we reducing the width of the corridors to an
extent that persons using the building suffer
could not really be justified.
 Corridors also act as an escape routes in case
of fire.
 So, cost is not the only criterion which has to be
examined.
 Aesthetic and functional qualities are also very
important.
 Circulation space requirements tend to rise with
increases in the height of buildings and special
consideration should be given when designing high
rise building.
 The circulation areas are different between types of
buildings. Office blocks  19%, Laboratories 
13%, 4-storey Flats  21% (Seeley, 1989).
 For example, an office block costing
RM3,400/m2 of gross floor area with 20%
circulation space is equivalent to RM4,250/m2 of
usable floor area.
 This is important in buildings such as office and
factories, which may be erected for letting
where rent is usually calculated on usable floor
area only.
 See example in page 228 & 229 Ekonomi Binaan, (Khairani, 2006)
 See also example fig 5.3 in page 88 Cost Studies (Ashworth, 2004)
 BUILDABILITY (refer Ashworth pg 94-95)
 The extent to which the design of a building
facilitates ease of construction, subject to overall
requirements for the completed project.
 Largely concerned with the work on site and the
practicalities of producing a structure from design.
 Design which require unnecessarily complex
construction methods and procedures or fail to take
into account of the mechanics of the work on site,
fail in this respect.
 Excellence in Design

Function Technology Aesthetics

Usefulness Comfort Materials Methods Appearance

Cost

In 10 minutes in your own words, elaborate what you understand

on the above chart.