Esra Kurul

A qualitative approach to exploring adaptive re‐use processes

Purpose – The paper aims to report on the development of a process mapping approach to explore adaptive re‐use processes.Design/methodology/approach – Four case studies of adaptive re‐use projects in London (UK) were conducted. Two are reported here. Data were collected through in‐depth interviews with key agents and archival research on planning case documentation. Archival research was also used to “triangulate” interview data, which was analysed by using NUD*IST (now QSR N6) and Decision Explorer™ (DE). Data analysis entailed coding in NUD*IST, and map building and analysis in DE.Findings – The key common areas between different projects, and networked pivotal activities and issues are identified. A powerful tool for visualising project complexity, and hence for project assessment and evaluation, is provided.Research limitations/implications – Statistical tools could have complemented the post‐analysis verification discussions with the interviewees to ensure validity of the findings. Data processing an...

A History Of The Development Of Conservation Measures In Turkey: From The Mid 19th Century Until 2004

the amsterdam declaration (congress on the european architectural Heritage, 1975) and the Granada convention (council of europe, 1985) placed legal and administrative frameworks among the four pillars of integrated conservation, i.e. legal, administrative, financial and technical support. legal and administrative frameworks are also instrumental in the institutionalisation of urban and architectural conservation for they structure “the invention of new practices” (Healey et al., 2002a, 213).

Mapping the knowledge flow in sustainable construction project teams using social network analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge transfer (KT) practices in five construction projects delivering sustainable office buildings in Germany and the UK by using social network analysis (SNA). Design/methodology/approach Case studies were adopted as research strategy, with one construction project representing one case study. A combination of quantitative data, social network data and some qualitative data on perceptions of the sustainable construction process and its KT were collected through questionnaires. The data were analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, content analysis and SNA. This resulted in a KT map of each sustainable construction project. Findings The findings resulted in a better understanding of how knowledge on sustainable construction is transferred and adopted. They show that large amounts of tacit knowledge were transferred through strong ties in sparse networks. Research limitations/implications The findings could offer a solution to secure a certain standard of sustainable building quality through improved KT. The findings indicate a need for further research and discussion on network density, tie strength and tacit KT. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on KT from a social network perspective. It provides a novel approach through combining concepts of network structure and relatedness in tie contents regarding specialised knowledge, i.e. sustainable construction knowledge. Thereby it provides a robust approach to mapping knowledge flows in office building projects that aim to achieve high levels of sustainability standards.

Does the UK built environment sector have the institutional capacity to deliver sustainable development

Globally, the construction sector has to reduce its environmental impact. Institutional innovation is necessary to achieve reductions at the required levels. Robust and rigorous evaluations of the industrys capacity to bring about such innovation are absent, although there is a plethora of policy incentives, and more frequently obligations, for the industry to take action. This paper evaluates the UK construction industrys institutional capacity to innovate to become more sustainable. The industrys current impact on the environment is first illustrated. The second section argues the case for institutional innovation to meet the UK Governments targets, and reviews the policy implementation and institutional innovation literature. A framework that is later used to evaluate the UK construction industrys institutional capacity to deliver sustainability concludes this section. The main body of the paper focuses on this evaluation by using secondary data published by key government departments and industry bodies.. The conclusions identify the policy framework as the strongest aspect of the industry, whilst demonstrating that in other areas, i.e. content, capacity, commitment, and clients and collaborations, there is much room to develop institutional capacity. The fragmented industry structure and the current state of the economy are identified to be the main barriers to development.

Influences of social capital on knowledge creation: An exploration in the UK built environment sector

The UK built environment sector faces a number of important challenges such as reducing carbon emissions and cost. New knowledge should be created to develop new practices, competences and capabilities to overcome these challenges. Studies that characterise knowledge creation as a transformation process through the networks of social relationships and intra-organisational teams are needed to understand, and thus improve such processes in project environments. Structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of Social Capital (SC) influence the utilisation of knowledge creation opportunities inherent in project networks. Hence, SC provides the essential infrastructure for knowledge creation. A fresh approach to operationalising the concept of SC through social network analysis and content analysis is thus required. This paper develops and explores the conceptual relationships between knowledge creation and SC in the context of two live building projects. There are two main conclusions. First, structural network indices are indicators of knowledge creation opportunities but they should be considered in conjunction with the relational and cognitive dimensions to determine whether and how opportunities are being utilised. Second, project communication strategies should be designed to enable actors in structurally advantageous positions for knowledge creation to utilise these opportunities.

A case study of hybrid strategies to create value for a contracting business in the education sector in England and Wales

Successful hybrid strategies adopt service marketing principles although the adoption of those principles by construction marketers is not apparent. Through an interpretive inquiry approach attempting to capture multiple views in a case of successful strategic programmes for the primary school market, various value co-creation elements of the programmes are assessed according to four axioms of service-dominant (S-D) logic. The strategic programmes were found to create value by (1) developing new skills and knowledge, building relationships to leverage skills and close the knowledge gaps; (2) enhancing interactions through customer engagement, dialogue creation and enrichment, the use of BIM technologies and social networks; (3) strengthening many-to-many relationships through supply chain integration; and (4) assisting individual customers to define their value propositions and to evaluate them through free self-service systems, and products and services inquiries. Further research is needed to assess how customers value the various co-creation elements identified in the paperevidence for applying the generic value co-creation principles to marketing in construction.