Date post: | 01-Jan-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | denton-buck |
View: | 45 times |
Download: | 1 times |
Pragmatics of Place
Sam Williams
Space Planning & Strategy Manager
University of Lincoln
Pragmatics of place
Effectiveness
Expression
Efficiency
Student and staff
experiences
In the Learning Landscapes university, academics and estates professionals work to optimise student and staff experiences through their design and management decision-making around:
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Expression (the idea of the university)
Definitions of all of the above are problematic – especially if academics and estates professionals do not share a vernacular and syntax for communication
Pragmatics of place
Building on the work of the UK HE Space Management Group (2003 – 7), which was focused primarily on efficiency
Pragmatics of Place aims to facilitate engagement by providing a guide to key issues and vocabulary of academic space design and management processes
1. Raise awareness of space management imperatives, preoccupations and drivers
2. Subvert the processes themselves by giving them a more academic sensibility
Space Management Group research foci
Example: the cost of space
Sustainable estate provision*
Operating costs such as energy, water and cleaning
Maintenance spending necessary to keep space in good condition
Depreciation, including the cost of end-of-life building replacement
* HEFCE 2005/26 The cost of space
The cost of space
Rent and ratesInsuranceEnergyWater and sewageMaintenanceCleaningEstate managementSecurity and porteringMail room
Depreciation
Total
24.183.08
32.921.254.111.11
22.3115.92
1.64
37.79
£184.62
One university’s estimated 2009/10 sustainable estate provision (per m2 of net internal area)
…and this excludes the costs of capital tied up in the estate
(2004/05 average £45.10 / m2)*
* HEFCE 2005/26 The cost of space
The cost of space: illustration
One university’s estimated 2009/10 sustainable estate provisions for…
An estate of 60,000 m² net internal area £11.1m per annum
A typical staff space ( 10 m² ) £1,850 per annum
A typical 25-student seminar room ( 50 m2 ) £9,250 per annum
Dimensionality
Efficiency, effectiveness and expression are contentious words – in part because there are multiple dimensions to each.
For example, “efficiency”:
Costs per square metre? (SMG definition)
Teaching hours per square metre (frequency)?
Costs per £ of university income?
Costs per graduate produced?
Teaching hours per graduate produced?
Study hours per degree earned?
Thephysicalspace
FinishesFurn
iture
Technologies
Location
Ser
vici
ngSpo
ntan
eity
Scheduling
Availability
Aspirations
Pedagogy
Com
munity
Terms
Den
sity
Demography
Focus
Lifes
tyles
Comfo
rt
Not space planning, but
place planning
“With greater mobility, students have a choice in where they can work and tend to gravitate to spaces they enjoy – so quality of design matters more.
New space models for educational institutions therefore need to focus on enhancing quality of life as well as supporting the learning experience.”
Dugdale (2009) Space strategies for the new learning landscape
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume44/SpaceStrategiesfortheNewLearni/163820
Another dimension…
Vernacular and syntax: themes
Complexity, not flexibility
Places, not spaces
Efficiency of language
Academic sensibility and subversion, not managed consensus
Don’t avoid the void
Theorising practice: the fun theory