Design quality indicator

The Design Quality Indicator (DQI) is a toolkit to measure, evaluate and improve the design quality of buildings.

Development of DQI was started by the Construction Industry Council in 1999[1] and the toolkit was launched as an online resource for the UK construction industry on 1 October 2003.[2] In 2004 the DQI received recognition from the British Institute of Facilities Management for the role of involving users in the design process.[3] The DQI tool was made available to users in the United States in 2006, and an online American version was launched on 20 October 2008.

Conceptual framework

DQI applies a structured approach to assess design quality based on the model by the architect Vitruvius, the Roman author of the earliest surviving theoretical treatise on building in Western culture, who described design in terms of utilitas, firmitas and venustas, often translated as commodity, firmness and delight.[4] DQI uses a modern-day interpretation of these terms as:

Methodology

DQI is completed by a range of stakeholders in the briefing and design stages of a building project, or on a completed building. Stakeholders who participate include:

DQI is applied in a facilitated workshop that is led by a certified DQI facilitator.

There are three models of design quality indicator:

DQI in the United States

Formed in 2006, DQI USA[9] is the only company that is authorized to distribute the DQI tool in North America. New York City's Department of Design and Construction has adopted the DQI tool as a mandatory step in the procurement of city-owned buildings such as police stations, libraries, firehouses, museums and clinics.[10] The DQI has also been used to investigate the relation between building design, user satisfaction, and property financial and marketing performance in North America hotels.[11]

DQI is a web-based assessment tool that helps define and evaluate design quality at all key stages in the building procurement process. Through a proprietary algorithm, the tool converts individual subjective perceptions into objective measurable results. Clients, designers and building stakeholders rate aspects of a project on a simple six-point scale by completing a short questionnaire. The quantification of these "design intangibles" is a unique feature to DQI. The spider diagram is the signature output of DQI. The “chunks” missing from the pie represent deficiencies in the building.

References

  1. ↑ Page 6, Spencer, N. and Winch, G. (2002). How Buildings add value for clients, London: Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-3128-9
  2. ↑ Construction Industry Council. DQI Online – How well is your building designed? 1 October 2003
  3. ↑ The Structural Engineer DQI online service gets recognition from BIFM – The Structural Engineer 2 November 2004
  4. ↑ Gann et al. (2003), Design Quality Indicator as a tool for thinking: Building Research and Information, London: Spon Press. doi:10.1080/0961321032000107564
  5. ↑ Design Quality Indicator
  6. ↑ Schools version of DQI
  7. ↑ Construction Industry Council. DQI for Schools Launched 8 December 2005
  8. ↑ Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Minimum Design Standards Launched May 2009
  9. ↑ "DQI USA: About Us: Company".
  10. ↑ DQI USA, LLC clients
  11. ↑ Zemke, D., Pullman, M., (2008), Design Assessing the value of good design in hotels: Building Research and Information, London: Spon Press. doi:10.1080/09613210802380993

Other references

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