Perkins and Will Research Journal Vol. 4 No. 1

This issue of Perkins and Will Research Journal includes five articles that focus on diverse research topics, such as legal aspects in architectural profession; use of performance-based computational design methods and digital fabrication; comparison of different hospital floor plans and walking efficiencies; methods for studying relationships between rail transit and real estate development; and sustainable design strategies and technical design of a healthcare facility. “Architectural Services During Construction: Duties and Liability” is a literature review that presents architect’s responsibilities and obligations under the construction contract. It discusses information obtained from the AIA standard contract documents, white papers and law reviews. Conclusions indicate that architects should be fully cognizant about their responsibilities defined in the contract and limit their work to such expertise. “Re-Skinning: Performance-Based Design and Fabrication of Building Facade Components: Design Computing, Analytics and Prototyping” discusses a collaborative research project between Perkins+Will and the University of Cincinnati. The objective of the collaboration was to integrate building performance simulations and modeling to drive design decisions, to use parametric design tools for exploration of building skin designs, and to investigate digital fabrication and prototyping methods for building facade components. “A Simple Model for Comparing Healthcare Staff Walking Efficiencies Across Different Hospital Floor Plan Designs” discusses a methodology for investigating relationships between spatial layout of hospitals and walking patterns of healthcare staff. The study used pedometry step measurements to compare walking energy in double-loaded and racetrack corridor floor plan designs. Research findings indicate that the racetrack corridor floor plan layout minimizes walking workload of healthcare staff. “Projecting Returns on Transit Investment: A Research Proposal for Analyzing and Evaluating Investments Made In and Around MARTA Stations and Projecting the Returns” presents a research methodology that can be used to study correlations between rail transit stations and real estate developments around them. The article infers that real estate development has been successful around transit stations in some areas, while not in others. The authors propose to investigate developments around Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stations. “Sustainable Design Strategies and Technical Design Development: Rush University Medical Center Entry Pavilion” discusses sustainable design strategies that were considered as an approach for meeting the Living Building Challenge and several building performance analyses that were conducted during the different stages of the design. It also discusses technical design development and construction of a glass terrarium, one of the unique design aspects of the entry pavilion