British Library Centre for Conservation

DQI was used as part of the briefing and design process as a way to engage end users in a structured conversation around their specialist requirements for the building and to test whether these aspirations had been met during the design development.

The brief for the building was challenging not least because it accommodates both the conservation and the sound archive departments which have very different specialist requirements.

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The British Library Centre for Conservation was developed to provide world class, purpose-built facilities for the conservation of books, and dedicated facilities for the library's sound archive. Designed by architects Long and Kentish, the conservation centre is an extension to the existing British library located next to the newly developed St Pancras station in central London.

The main entrance to the centre is located through the existing Library building on the first floor across an extended terrace that leads into a public exhibition space. The use of red brick acts to unify the old and new so that the exterior form reads as part of the original building rather than as a disconnected extension. Internally the centre has its own distinct identity and the design, which is led by the buildings unique functional requirements, is markedly different when compared to the rest of the library.

The marrying of conservation and the audio archive into one building offered a challenge to the design. DQI was used as a way to set shared goals across departments and to ensure that end user needs were being met through various stages in the design process.

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Project Managers Drivers Jonas assisted by Davis Langdon, initiated use of DQI as a way to set end user aspirations at the briefing stage and to test them through the assessment of the design in its developmental stages with two mid design DQI assessments. The same group of stakeholders where involved in each DQI session to ensure consistency in results.

It was crucial that all stakeholders, especially those who had no prior experience of the design process, felt willing and able to participate in the DQI session. At the briefing workshop the DQI facilitator encouraged stakeholders to think about good and bad buildings encountered in their daily lives in relation to the three main sections of DQI; Functionality, Build Quality and Impact. These conversations generated debate around what makes a building successful and got respondents thinking about design and its effect on people and organisations.

The facilitator then related the points discussed to the British Library Centre for Conservation and emphasised the need to ensure quality in all three areas. The importance of thorough end user consultation was emphasised as a way to ensure that key requirements are understood and integrated into the design. The facilitator then introduced DQI as a process to aide this consultation, to develop measurable needs and aspirations around design quality and to test them through the life of the project.

The mid design assessments began with a briefing around the results of the previous DQI session and a presentation of the design by the architect. Participants were then asked to evaluate the design using the DQI online questionnaire. They were encouraged to fill out the questionnaire independently to ensure that their individual perspectives where highlighted. At the end of the session the group came together to discuss the results and any issues, ideas or questions that had been generated through completion of the questionnaire.

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The DQI briefing workshop was the first time that a broad range of users had come together to discuss requirements for the new building. The workshop provided a forum for the different specialists to come together and understand each others requirements which enabled cross departmental understanding and facilitated the development of a shared vision for the whole project.

The result was a mutual recognition and appreciation of the competing specialist requirements that needed to be accommodated in the new building.

The two mid design DQI assessments were used as a way to compare demand and supply design quality evaluations to see how well they aligned and to highlight any potential issues with the building in relation to aspirations set at the briefing stage.

The results of the mid design DQI assessments where analysed by the project managers Drivers Jonas and discussed in design development meetings. The graphs generated by the DQI online tool proved particularly useful as a way to simply illustrate where views were aligned and where disparities were evident.

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DQI helped the process in the following ways:

• Allowed for a dialogue to be initiated between design professionals and end users
• Facilitated the periodic testing of original aspirations set by end users providing a check list of priorities
• Enabled a comparative assessment of demand and supply side assessments illuminating how well aspirations aligned
• Provided a forum for different specialists to come together and understand each others requirements enabling an understanding and shared vision for the whole project
• Opened up a conversation between different specialist departments facilitating cross departmental communication
  

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A more detailed version of this casestudy can be found on the CABE website.

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