Commercial considerations

Two supermarket chains in the USA have developed prototypes for environmentally conscious stores.

Walmart's feature glulam beams, timber frame and plywood. It has been dubbed Eco-Mart! Other designers (Site) located the Best store in a densely wooded suburban area so as not to destroy the existing vegetation. The surrounding forest invades the structure in such a way that architecture appears consumed by some role reversal…nature's revenge.

Traditional procurement routes exert little influence on designers who choose the materials and systems on their personal and client preferences as well as cost factors.

Despite the fact that the environment is an important issue for us all, the majority of clients do not have an ideological commitment to improving the environment in the broadest sense, if such buildings require increased expenditure. Most, as yet, are unwilling to make the necessary increased capital investment.

Erick van Egerat created this office for the ING Bank Budapest, Hungary as a strong statement for his client. It was designed using the traditional method of procuring buildings.

Other methods of procurement may exert influences on the selection of material and systems.

However other methods of procurement are gaining popularity because of pressures to save construction and 'lead-in' times or because the expertise of a contractor may be deemed beneficial at an early stage. (Non-conventional contracts now account for over 50% of all contracts in the UK.) Each method may impose influences on the timing of design decisions, the selection of materials and systems as well as increase or decrease the degree of client risk or cost uncertainty. The correct choice of procurement route is critical to the successful realisation of these objectives.

The Berlin Potsdammer Platz was a fast track development, yet the designers still managed to achieve design excellence with technical innovation, in which steel played its part.