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To report on architect reactions to the use of non‐prescriptive design and construction briefs in the delivery of private prison projects in Australia.

The introduction of the private prison projects in Australia saw the introduction of alternative delivery methods, such as Design‐Construct, for the delivery of prison facilities. The resulting design brief, forwarded as the “Request for Proposal”, was typically a non‐prescriptive document. Those architects who participated in such private prison design projects were interviewed using a semi‐structured interview questionnaire. Beliefs regarding the use of such briefs were gauged from the interview data.

The interviews revealed conflicting beliefs regarding the usefulness and appropriateness of the design brief. The responses were divided between a minority who found the briefs adequate, owing principally to the belief that it facilitated innovation. However, the majority considered the briefs as inadequate for prison construction. They believed that it allowed for manipulation by contractors, and that it compromised the design process and the integrity of the facility. As architects question the suitability of such design briefs for the delivery of prison facilities, the paper highlights the advantages and limitations in using prescriptive and non‐prescriptive prison design briefs.

This paper fulfils a need for data regarding the role of design briefs in prison design and construction. It offers a valuable comparison of the diverse approaches that can be taken, and the impacts this has upon how architects operate in prison projects.

The focus of this work is on the client-designer interface where decisions have significant impact over the lifecycle of the project. Therefore, the briefing stage is examined in the context of clients’ needs which is divided into project-based strategy and broader clients’ strategy. The purpose of this paper is to address the pitfalls in the briefing process which has been attributed to the shortcomings in the client-designer communication interfaces. This will be achieved by developing an automated brief generation framework. The research examines the efficiency of standard approaches to modelling and design, and the benefits that these methodologies have offered to the computer industry. The work reviews the similarities between the two industries and argues in support of the potential benefits in adopting a standard methodology in the construction industry. The structure upon which the framework is developed is based on system analysis and design methodology (SSADM) which has proven to be an effective platform used within the software development industry.

SSADM is an established methodology within the software development industry. The paper will demonstrate that due to fundamental similarities between the construction and software development industries, SSADM is likely to offer a viable platform upon which an automated enhanced brief generation model is developed for use in the construction industry. The construction design and construction process will be mapped on SSADM high-level definition before focusing and honing on the design phase. The methodology for the development of the framework will be based on the rationalist approach of generating knowledge through reasoning leading to model-building.

A model that is based on SSADM is proposed for the design development phase of construction projects. In order to shape the project strategy, the model considers the combined role of clients’ requirements with organisation strategy and environmental factors. The paper has shown that it is feasible to increase the automation of the briefing process and enhanced the briefing output. The model here does not diminish the importance of direct communication between the client and the design team. It provides a more structured way of doing so, while taking advantage of vast array of data and technology in order to improve the brief outcome.

From practical perspective, the proposed framework is in its formative stage, thus requiring incremental refinement through several case studies. This is particularly true about the AI components of the system which typically rely on extensive data representing the real-case scenarios. Therefore, the work invites further research into the examination of various parts as well as the overall system.

There are several ways by which construction projects are procured. There may be fluctuation in their rate of usage, but while there is no indication of any procurement option fading, new ones such as PPP and PFI are periodically introduced. The existence of this diversity is indicative of the fact that the industry tends to respond to problems rather than attempting to instigate a measured solution supported by theoretical underpinning. Subsequently, there have been suggestions of a communication and information discourse between actors and within processes involved in project lifecycle. This project is aimed at addressing the gap in the client-designer communication. The automated approach to brief generation will lead to better briefs while reducing ambiguities as well as the overhead associated with brief generation.

The quality of project brief has a significant impact on decisions at the design stage. In turn, these decisions will influence all phases of construction project lifecycle. The briefing session and requirement analysis of a construction project can be very difficult for inexperienced clients particularly for complex projects. Therefore, there is potential for the process of client-requirement-analysis to be optimised. The work promises to improve the quality of the briefing process, thus helping clients to realise their intended objectives and minimise resource waste.

The work builds on the commonalities of the construction and software development industries and takes advantage of the advancements in the latter. In doing so, project quality is defined quantitatively which is used to develop project strategy in a three-dimensional space. The development of the model was also contingent upon enhancement of artificial neural network structure.

Briefing in a project delivery context is one of the most critical factors in the project success. It defines client requirements, translates these needs into design criteria and generates a design concept. A lack of briefing clarity is one of the main causes of design changes and may lead to project cost and time overruns. This research aims to assess the brief clarity and its influence on project cost and duration.

This research created the PDRI-SD technique by utilising a system dynamic (SD) approach and project definition rating index (PDRI) tool to model the complex system of project briefing and associated variables. Stock and flow diagrams of the main subsystems including the briefing, the detailed design and the construction process, were developed to assess the influence of brief clarity on project cost and time. The PDRI was adopted to measure the briefing clarity and apply in the model. PDRI-SD was then tested in Australian building refurbishment projects to assess the model's effectiveness.

The simulation results indicated that a minor reduction of the lack of clarity throughout the initial briefing process could significantly mitigate unpredicted delay and cost overruns during the detailed design and the construction stage.

This research contributed to the existing body of knowledge by developing an effective technique to measure the impact of lack of brief clarity on project cost and time performance. PDRI-SD can also aid project clients to predict the influence of the initial defined brief on the detailed design and construction process using the historical data of similar previous projects. It provides clients with feedback, indicating whether the brief meets project requirements or whether parts of the project brief require more clarification/rectification before the project handover to the builders.

This paper aims to examine briefing practices and whether these are related to the quality of brief documents and client satisfaction in constructed health-care facilities in South Africa. The rational for the examination stems from the view held by scholars that the briefing process is critical to the success of projects, as well as client/user satisfaction in the constructed facility, and also because of undocumented reports of client/end-user dissatisfaction in constructed health-care facilities in South Africa.

The research process consisted of a literature review to identify existing briefing framework and practices in use applicable to facilities. This was supported by an exploratory case study of a recently completed public hospital in East London, South Africa. Data collection for the study was undertaken by means of conducting semi-structured interviews with two groups consisting of client representatives and the technical design team on the project.

The research established that in the context of this case study, inadequate client consultation took place, not all design consultants were adequately involved in the development of the project brief, limited use was made of a specific briefing framework in developing the project brief and that despite these shortcomings in the briefing process followed, a comprehensive good quality briefing document was produced and the client was satisfied with the health-care facility constructed.

The results of this study are generalizable with health-care facilities only. As such, research inferences and projections can only be made within this set and may not necessarily be applicable to the wider construction sector or to all projects within this sector.

The implications of this research are applicable to constructed health-care facilities. Practical inferences include the need to acknowledge that there is a need for a briefing framework, which should outline the involvement of all design consultants and client representatives when developing the project briefs for health-care facilities. The briefing framework is proposed for use in addressing the shortcomings in the briefing processes and practices and will also help the client in the choice of a brief process and practice which will comprehensively capture their requirements, give clear directives/information to the design consultants and will result in higher levels of end-user/patient satisfaction in the constructed health-care facility.

Clients and allied professionals in charge of health-care facilities’ construction are encouraged to consider the implementation of a standard framework for use in the briefing process. This reflection should encourage engagement through formative legislative provision and transparent awareness campaigns.

This work is original insofar, as it directly addresses the alignment of briefing practices to quality of brief documents and client satisfaction in constructed health-care facilities within the context of the South African construction industry. However, similar exercises have been undertaken on briefing practices in the wider construction sector.

This paper aims to examine how client requirements undergo representational and transformational shifts and changes in the design process and explore the consequence of such changes.

A series of design resources relating to hospital departmental configurations are examined and analysed using a social semiotic framework. The findings are supplemented by practitioner opinion.

Construction project requirements are represented and transformed through semiotic resource use; such representations deliver specific meanings, make new meanings and affect project relationships. Requirement representations may be understood as socially motivated meaning-making resources.

The paper focuses on one set of project requirements: hospital departmental configurations from a National Health Service hospital construction project in the UK.

The use of semiotic resources in briefing work fundamentally affects the briefing and design discourse between client and design teams; their significance should be noted and acknowledged as important.

The findings of the paper indicate that briefing and design work may be understood as a social semiotic practice.

This original paper builds upon scholarly work in the area of construction project communications. Its fine-grained analysis of briefing communications around representations of specific requirements is novel and valuable.

This paper aims to present key characteristics of educational design briefs for the circular economy (CE) through the analysis of 11 design briefs focussing on real-life challenges related to sustainability and the CE, developed with collaborating industry partners for four consecutive circular design internships conducted in Ireland, Catalunya, The Netherlands and Sweden.

These four internships were conducted between September 2017 and June 2019 and each internship lasted three to four months. The supervisors for each internship collaborated with local industry partners genuinely interested in adopting sustainable business practices to develop design briefs focussing on real-life challenges they face. The briefs for each internship were developed further according to the feedback of the interns, industry partners and supervisors of previous internships.

Five steps of brief making for circular design were identified as reviewing the existing resources, emphasizing the importance of systems thinking, emphasizing the importance of collaboration for the CE, focussing on circularity and communicating expectations. The paper outlines how design briefs changed throughout the consecutive internships according to the different curricula and the characteristics of an educational circular design brief.

For design educators and researchers, the value of this paper lies in presenting the steps for the brief making of educational circular design projects. Additionally, the characteristics of circular design briefs are outlined, discussing their focus and content to act as a guide for design educators.

The aim of the paper is to investigate the architectural firm's role in the briefing process on international projects and to identify the strategies of successful firms to overcome barriers.

A model is developed based on a critique of briefing models and international design management theory. The development of a reflexive capability model borrows cultural theory concepts of capital and reflexivity. The model is based on maximizing reflexive capability through the management of social, cultural and intellectual capital. Two case studies of architectural firms identify barriers during the briefing process and strategies to overcome these barriers. Data collection involved 16 interviews with senior management and design team staff.

There are various barriers and strategies used to achieve success in the briefing process. However, the management of a firm's capital is key to successful briefing on international projects and is a characteristic of reflexive practice. Reflexivity is based in a positive interpretation of change, and a continual responsiveness to change by participants in a system. The study provides useful information on management of the design and briefing stages of international projects.

The study is limited by the number of case studies used and the difficulty of generalisability of findings.

The research is that it provides useful information about how to approach constant change during briefing for the architects and clients who work on international projects.

The model is original and has value as it assists in explaining why some firms are more successful than others. The case studies provide new knowledge on international projects and the briefing process. The value of the paper is for the academic community, professionals in the built environment and clients involved in international projects.

This paper aims to provide a better understanding of how architects perceive and use briefing documents. It discusses what type of briefing information architects find relevant for their design process, and how and when briefing information should be presented. It also gives recommendations for clients and consultants that produce the brief.

The article is based on a review of briefing literature, six exploratory interviews with two clients, two architects and two consultants, 18 in‐depth interviews with Dutch architects, and a workshop with Dutch experts on briefing.

A brief (or “program of requirements”) is a crucial means of communication in the interaction between clients and architects. A good brief explains what the client needs, desires and expects from a project. This is all crucial information for the design process. In the interviews, however, many architects indicated that, in daily practice, briefing documents are not as useful as they should be. In their opinion, briefs are often too long, containing overly‐detailed specifications, that are not always clear, consistent or complete.

In addition to the analysis of architects' complaints, six recommendations are given with respect to the briefing process, the contents and structure of the brief, and the status of the brief.

Most publications on briefing focus on the client and brief writing at the start of a project. The present paper discusses the opinions and experiences of the architect and the use of the brief in the design process.

Initial briefs (programs) were examined in order to obtain an overview of current practice in documenting the briefing process for new health care buildings in Sweden.

An audit instrument was developed and used to examine briefs for the content and quality of information and to determine whether and to what extent the information was comprehensive and patient‐oriented.

The results indicate that few strategic briefs make use of evidence to support their statements. Moreover, few briefs had an explicitly patient‐focused goal for the project or measurable outcomes.

This new audit approach can be applied in various organisations and over time to improve the briefing process and create clearer goals and guidelines.

The aim of this paper is to describe the process of the client's operationally determined requirements as they are translated into a strategic brief and how this is then transformed into a number of general briefs (outline briefs – four in total) adapted to various project categories so as to eventually be implemented in approximately 500 projects (through project briefs) distributed throughout Sweden. In addition, there is a description of the procurement procedure, which was directly based on briefs and the collaboration between the construction project's various players during the design phase, with the aim of clarifying how the development business's requirements were tested, developed and gradually implemented in the form of physical solutions.

Two research methods have been applied: a broad (comprehensive) case study based on a workshop, interviews and studies of project documentation; and literature studies with the aim of generalising and analysing the client's brief work on the basis of the case studied.

A number of factors (11 in total) of importance to implementation of the dynamic briefing are described and discussed in relation to the theoretical discussion in the field (theoretical framework). The case study supports the picture of briefing taking place as part of a dynamic process during which all players are responsible for adopting the development operation's overall goals, developing them and realising them in the best possible way in the individual project.

The case study describes how business requirements are translated and developed during a collaborative process involving client and contractor – the brief's importance as procurement data. Experience from this case study may also be of benefit to other client organisations that are to implement national/international projects.

The case study describes new knowledge of how national change processes are realised as well as collaboration between client and contractor. The paper offers insights for the academic community, professionals in the construction industry and clients involved in large‐scale facilities and change processes.