Avi Friedman

Design for change: Flexible planning strategies for the 1990s and beyond

Abstract The current planning processes that have confined a developer to an approved plan for the entire life cycle of a project are presently being questioned. Rapid sociodemographic and economic changes in Canada have created a need for planning strategies that allow for a greater degree of flexibility. Adaptability to changing market trends has now become extremely important to planners and developers of large subdivisions. The demands to permit quicker planning and approval processes are the motivating force behind this paper. The proposal simplifies the development and approval process by introducing a piecemeal approach to design and building—one that can easily be modified in accordance with market changes. Fundamental to the proposed concept is the argument that one cannot forecast market trends in the course of developing large communities. Rather than design subdivisions today and subject their developers to lengthy and costly change processes later, one can propose an approach that will allow ...

Prefabricated wall systems and the North American home‐building industry

Cost, craftsmanship, technical performance, durability, flexibility and ease of assembly were analysed for nine types of wall systems. Although the products were found to be technically superior to conventional construction techniques, the accompanying disruption to the standard opertional routines were considered to be obstacles to achieving widespread acceptance.

The environmental impact of building materials in the North American building industry

The goal in selecting environmentally‐sound building products is to maximize use to recycled materials, and to ensure that, mining, harvesting and extracting raw materials does not pose a threat to existing resources of endangered species. The amount of energy that goes into the material at every stage of its life‐cycle should be minimized, as should the amount of waste generated.

The Development Process of Urban and Architectural Guidelines for the Rehabilitation of an Inner-city Neighbourhood: Le Village, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

The neighbourhood of Le Village in Cornwall, Ontario, was a prosperous working-class district until the late 1950s, when the textile mills in the area shut their doors. The layoff of many residents of Le Village marked the beginning of the deterioration of the communitys physical conditions. Many people moved away and sold their homes to investors who rented them out. Very little maintenance was carried out on these homes over the intervening years. As a result, the authors were engaged to survey the community and to prepare urban and architectural guidelines for its rehabilitation. The process began by collecting data on two main components of the neighbourhood: its urban aspects; and the condition of the homes. Armed with these findings and their analysis, the team studied the urban character of Le Village and the character of its existing homes. This observation, synthesis and analysis resulted in the development of design guidelines for the rehabilitation of urban components as well as those directly...

Prefabrication versus conventional construction in single‐family wood‐frame housing

Director of the Affordable Homes Program, Avi Friedman, in his CIB Montreal paper, presents the results of a detailed study, discussing costs, production time and quality into single‐family wood‐frame housing following a survey with manufacturers, who had an average of 100 full‐time employees.

The Next Home: Affordability through Flexibility and Choice

AbstractThe Next Home, designed and constructed at the McGill University School of Architecture in 1996, responds to the fundamental demographic and economic changes that have recently heightened the need for a new housing alternative that appropriately integrates flexibility with affordability. A prospective buyer can purchase one, two, or all three of the floors in a three-story unit designed as a single-family home, a duplex, or a triplex for a cost of

Cost Reduction Through Prefabrication: A Design Approach

50,000 (Cdn.

Waste Management and Disposal

) per floor (including land) in Montreal. Further-more, in a departure from the conventional stacking approach, open-web floor joists and a horizontal chaser provide builders and buyers alike with the opportunity to locate functions (bathrooms, kitchens) at any desired position within each floor. The users of the Next Home will be able to choose from a catalogue of interior components to tailor the design to their individual lifestyles and budgets, and can easily modify these initial parameters as the need arises. Similarly, to ensure pers...

A Methodology for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage of Senneville, Quebec, Canada

AbstractThe Grow Home is a 93-square-meter rowhouse, 4.3 meters wide, developed by the Affordable Homes Program at McGill University in response to the affordable housing challenge. The kitchen, bathroom, and living room are located on the ground floor, and an unpartitioned second floor is proposed in an effort to reduce costs and enable the owners to complete the unit at their own discretion. This paper examines how the Grow Home can be adapted to an industrialized method of production, using prefabricated panel systems, and determines the implications such construction would have in terms of quality, economy, and technical performance. The research includes an adaptation to the unit’s design and a cost estimate comparing prefabricated systems with conventional construction methods.A framework for the industrialization of the Grow Home was developed by adapting the units design to provide sufficient flexibility for the builder and economies of scale for the manufacturer. Architectural, modular, and techn...

The Wartime Home as a Paradigm for Today's Affordable Housing Design

Landfilling is the most common contemporary waste management method. Unfortunately, it is not one that can be sustained long term as we run out of viable sites and landfills continue to fill up much faster than anticipated. Landfilling also poses challenges that urgently need to be addressed. Leachate from landfill sites contaminates soil and groundwater, and the associated odors cause health concerns and discomfort among nearby residents. Furthermore, the emitted greenhouse gases are adding to the environmental damage. These effects can be alleviated if waste generation is reduced. Since dwellings are a leading generator of waste, this chapter focuses on finding sustainable ways to reduce the amount of waste created or to divert it to beneficial practices such as composting and recycling.