A. D. F. Price

• DSc, PhD, BSc, FCIOB, FICE, CEng
• Project Manager at Loughborough University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present literature that suggests that project teams comprising members from culturally diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas and new approaches to problem solving. The challenge, however, is that they also introduce different understandings and expectations regarding team dynamics and integration. The quest...

This paper discusses the core issues of global risk factors modelling, assessment and management. The research reported upon forms part of a larger study that aims to develop a fuzzy decision framework for contractors to handle global risk factors affecting construction cost performance at a project level. Major global risk factors affecting cost p...

The increasing global nature of construction projects has highlighted the importance of multiculturalism and the new challenges it brings to project execution. However, there has, as yet, been no empirical work that quantifies explicitly the extent to which communication determines the success of multicultural projects. This paper explores the abil...

Local muscle fatigue usually occurs at low levels of energy output where loads are applied to a localised group of muscles. Local muscle fatigue can be either static or dynamic, depending upon the frequency of loading. Several ergonomics theories relating to local muscle fatigue are reviewed. An alternative method for determining relaxation allowan...

Construction organizations have to overcome many problems in order to achieve high quality performance. The complex nature of the industry can result in the lack of alignment of project objectives between participants. Effective pre-project planning can improve project performance. In order to improve pre-project planning tools need to be developed...

Background: Childbirth is a physiological process that could be given at home with fewer interventions. However, due to safety concerns, most women give birth in a hospital which can lead to more invasive measures and is not ideal for either the mother or the healthcare system. Therefore, there is a need for an alternative to conventional settings,...

Purpose A substantial amount of research argues that built environmental interventions can improve the outcomes of patients and other users of healthcare facilities, supporting the concept of evidence-based design (EBD). However, the sources of such evidence and its flow into healthcare design are less well understood. This paper aims to provide in...

Latest developments in stakeholder management literature focus on dynamic stakeholder engagement and disengagement practices, and how these are facilitated towards reaching systemic outcomes. However, limited evidence support that this network-level approach can positively influence project success. The paper analyses this issue by considering the...

Purpose Health and social care facilities are usually complex buildings that require continuous effort to provide resilient and sustainable responses to changes in demographics, technologies, diseases and models of care. Despite resilience and sustainability concepts being frequently used by practitioners and researchers, ambiguities in their defin...

Even though social responsibility (SR) has been widely discussed as a business concept, it is still not being effectively implemented within mega-construction projects due to a range of barriers. Overcoming these barriers requires detailed information, however, there is a lack of research on the barriers to SR implementation within mega-constructio...

Purpose The re-use of good design solutions is a key source of evidence and knowledge in the design of healthcare buildings. However, due to the unique nature of healthcare built environments, the critical application of this evidence is of paramount importance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the features of such critical application a...

Objective: The objective is to establish design strategies to help minimize nurse journeys and inform future decision-making. The impact of the ward layout was investigated through a case study ward in a multispecialty hospital in Tehran. Background: Nurse teams have the most direct contact with ward patients. Time spent on activities not part o...

The construction industry plays a vital role in every economy by contributing substantially to the national gross domestic product (GDP). Despite the significance of the industry, construction is often criticized for adversely impacting society and the environment through the nature of its work. Managing societal and environmental impacts are at th...

The construction industry plays a vital role in every economy by contributing substantially to the national gross domestic product (GDP). Despite the significance of the industry, construction is often criticized for adversely impacting society and the environment through the nature of its work. Managing societal and environmental impacts are at th...

Healthcare facilities throughout Europe are constantly changing to support efforts to provide efficient healthcare services with decreasing resources. Recent changes include larger and more specialist hospitals to achieve economies of scale. This approach has yet to be proven to sustainably respond to the demands, and efficiently satisfy the users’...

Navigating a healthcare facility can prove challenging to both new and existing patients and visitors. Poor or ineffective use of signage within the facility may enhance navigational difficulties. Signage strategies within facility design tend to be produced without consideration of how people typically navigate a space. Thus, strategies that ‘work...

The take-up of travel plans is increasing across the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, yet their impact on reducing car use is relatively low. Previous studies have investigated the determinants of generic travel plans but lacked an appreciation of the unique context of healthcare settings. This study investigated NHS travel plan co-ordinato...

Purpose Lord Carter’s (2015) “Review of Operational Productivity in NHS providers” stated that to improve National Health Service (NHS) England’s efficiency, operational productivity should be targeted in four main areas, one being estates management. NHS England’s estate includes a variety of buildings some of which are considered no longer fit-f...

In the UK, healthcare built environment design is guided by a series of long-established design standards and guidance issued by the Department of Health. More recently, healthcare design focus has broadened to encompass new approaches, supported by large bodies of credible research evidence. It is therefore timely to rethink how healthcare design...

Purpose This paper aims to identify costs related to dementia care provision and explore how purpose-built environment investments can help control these costs and improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a multi-method approach where the findings of a literature review drove the analysis of d...

Historically, Turkey has adopted a reactive approach to natural hazards which resulted in significant losses. However, following the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake, a more proactive approach has been adopted. This study aims to explore the way this new approach operates on the ground. A multinational and multidisciplinary team conducted a field investigat...

Using a case study of a pharmacy department rebuild in the South West of England, this article examines the use of evidence-based design to improve the efficiency and staff well-being with a new design. This article compares three designs, the current design, an anecdotal design, and an evidence-based design, to identify how evidence-based design c...

Future-proofing (FP) as a proactive initiative for asset management is an urgent need against uncertainty, particularly in health care due to unforeseeable demographic shifts and rapid advances in medical technology. Building information modelling (BIM) is a data-driven initiative, but a rigorous analysis between them will indicate that a synergy e...

Report by The URG(B)E Curriculum Working Party

This study sought to examine project delivery challenges currently being faced by energy clients and to determine how they could achieve value creation through better alignment of project delivery processes. There are important lessons to be learned from the energy sector on how to deal with the unique operational and project challenges. Four explo...

La población de muchos países está envejeciendo a un ritmo rápido que se espera que aumente en los próximos años. La prestación de salud y servicios sociales y la infraestructura física destinada a ello tienen que responder al envejecimiento de la población y sus consecuencias, tales como la demencia. El entorno sanitario construido puede impactar...

Purpose – This study aims to explore the challenges associated with the integration of resilience and sustainability, and propose a workable solution that ensures resilient and sustainable buildings. Recent research outcomes suggest that the number of natural hazards, both environmental and geophysical, will increase due to the effect of global war...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the general perceptions of UK construction organisations on developing successful inter-organisational relationships, with the paper reports on five case studies of different construction organisations, which include the main contractors, a specialist contractor and a managing agent contractor. The invest...

With an ageing population in many countries, health and social care providers are under growing pressure to improve the quality and safety of care environments for older people, and ensure they are fit-for-purpose for caring for those with age-related conditions, including dementia. Health Building Note 08-02: Dementia-friendly health and social ca...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine UK shale gas viability. The recent commitment to shale gas exploration in the UK through fracking has given rise to well-publicised economic benefits and environmental concerns. There is potential for shale gas exploration in different parts of the UK over the next couple of decades. As argued in t...

Healthcare buildings play a significant role in delivering healthcare services and outcomes (e.g. quality, suitability, cleanliness, patient experience, value for money and risk mitigation). However, the current diffusion of responsibilities in England between central government and healthcare trusts has created gaps and weaknesses in the evidence...

Healthcare buildings play a significant role in delivering healthcare services and outcomes (e.g. quality, suitability, cleanliness, patient experience, value for money and risk mitigation). However, the current diffusion of responsibilities in England between central government and healthcare trusts has created gaps and weaknesses in the evidence...

This study aims to examine the challenges and opportunities UK healthcare emergency planners and responders have to cope with major hazards. The study followed a qualitative research methodology where data was collected from a comprehensive literature review, an international workshop and interviews. The findings established that the UK healthcare...

Healthcare buildings play a significant role in delivering healthcare services and outcomes (e.g. quality, suitability, cleanliness, patient experience, value for money and risk mitigation). However, the current diffusion of responsibilities in England between central government and healthcare trusts has created gaps and weaknesses in the evidence...

Adequate ventilation is necessary for thermal comfort and reducing risks from infectious bio-aerosols in hospital wards, but achieving this with mechanical ventilation has carbon and energy implications. Natural ventilation is often limited to window-based designs whose dilution/mixing effectiveness are subject to constraints of wind speed, cross v...

In temperate countries, heat recovery is often desirable through mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR). Drawbacks of MVHR include use of electric power and complex ducting, while alternative passive heat recovery systems in the form of roof or chimney-based solutions are limited to low rise buildings. This paper describes a biomimetic co...

NHS Trusts in England must adopt appropriate levels of continued investment in routine and backlog maintenance if they are to ensure critical backlog does not accumulate. This paper presents the current state of critical backlog maintenance within the National Health Service (NHS) in England through the statistical analyses of 115 Acute NHS Trusts....

Populations in many countries are ageing at a rapid pace which is expected to rise over the coming years. People with dementia are predicted to increase by up to 100% by 2040 in developed countries, whereas in developing countries (i.e. Latin America, Africa, India, China, south Asian and western-Pacific regions) are estimated to grow even faster....

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate emergency department (ED) design space planning approaches and draw lessons for developing more resilient and integrated ED guidelines. Two key objectives have been set; these include: exploring potential factors affecting the ED performance, and investigate how ED space planning is addressed internationally th...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate two causality concepts, sphere of control (SOC) and agent–action–results (AAR), and their potential applications to construction business ethics. SOC is used in ethics training, and AAR is applied to ethical decision-making (EDM). Design/methodology/approach – A framework of ethics training and a framework...

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the 'community' with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socioeconomic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regenerat...

Recent decades have witnessed various industry-focussed government reports that have urged construction stakeholders to look further ahead by focusing on future-oriented issues such as continuous performance improvement, sustainability, training, and research and development. Evidence from a recent industry workshop of senior construction managers...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to: explore major and potential challenges facing healthcare facilities operation specifically those related to utility supplies; and quantify the impact of utility supplies interruption on the operation of healthcare facilities through the development of an estimation model. Design/methodology/approach – A pl...

Construction clients and governments recognise the significant impact the design, construction and occupation of buildings have on the environment and society. The construction industry and governments have a central role in driving the sustainable development agenda. Good sustainable design can deliver buildings with low running costs-an attribute...

Both industry and academia consider Evidence Based Design (EBD) to be a positive way forward to improve the quality of the health service through better utilisation of rigorous evidence during the design process. The use of rigorous evidence is not a distinct activity of the design process; it materialises on different routes and activities scatter...

Krystallis I, Demian P and Price ADF (2013) Supporting future-proof healthcare design by narrowing the design space of solutions using building information modelling BIM has been characterized by the UK Government's chief construction adviser as unstoppable regarding its rise in construction and he further positioned BIM as mandatory for public pro...

Both industry and academia consider Evidence Based Design (EBD) to be a positive way forward to improve the quality of the health service through better utilisation of rigorous evidence during the design process. The use of rigorous evidence is not a distinct activity of the design process; it materialises on different routes and activities scatter...

In this research, a field investigation was done with 263 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients to identify the impact of daylight exposure on patient length of stay (LoS) in hospital. Lighting data were collected by installing sensors inside in-patient rooms, and were used to develop a multiple linear regression (MLR) model to explo...

Managing in today's environment provides many challenges and project teams are frequently confronted with situations which challenge the traditional ways projects have been managed. Project success is dependent upon the effective management of people and at the heart of this process is client leadership. Terms such as responsive project manager, is...

Management of Global Construction Projects is the first textbook of its kind, taking a uniquely global approach to project management in construction. Using a wealth of case studies from around the world to explain theory and practice, the authors take a business-oriented, decision-making approach to project management and the challenges it faces i...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges faced by senior construction managers in managing cross‐cultural complexity and uncertainty. The rationale was to identify the key strategies that are considered essential for managing cross‐cultural complexity and uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach Interviews with 20 senior construc...

The Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been adopted in the UK construction management research and generated meaningful insights in analysing project management organisations from network perspectives. As an effective tool, social network analysis has been used to analyse information and knowledge flow between construction project teams which is con...

Whilst the application of BIM continues to be acknowledged and prevailing, design practitioners and academics find themselves in a paradox with an on-going discussion on the impact of BIM tools on design creativity and innovation. Literature suggests that BIM tools can hinder design creativity due to: parametric limitations; interoperability; and t...

Effective integration of project teams is considered key to employee satisfaction and long term commitment, which in turn enhances organisational effectiveness. It is important that heavy engineering organisations understand how to influence the process to ensure that project teams integrate satisfactorily for the benefit of both employee and organ...