The value of the interior designer in the management and construction of sustainable buildings

Abstract

The aim of the research report is to determine and evaluate the value of interior design in the management and construction of buildings particularly sustainable buildings. The building industry has a significant impact on the environment due to the nature of its large footprint on the environment and usage of natural resources. Like any other industry, the building industry is gradually moving towards sustainable or green solutions to mitigate the negative impacts it has on the environment and improve quality of life for present and future generations. Sustainability in its definition includes not only the conservation of the environment but also creating healthy physical environments for human beings including indoor spaces where they spent majority of their existence.

The project management frameworks that have been developed for the implementation of green buildings entail a holistic and comprehensive design approach that requires all professions involved in the design process to be included in the initial phase of the Project Lifecycle Process for effective implementation of a sustainable building. However, in most building projects, interior designers are often not included in initial stages of the project but rather after construction due to many factors that will be explored in the report. Excluding the interior designer can result in design solutions that do not cater for human consideration and the end - user experience. This is qualitative research where a qualitative research method in the form of one-on-one semi structured interviews was utilized. The participants who took part in the one- on-one interviews consisted of 21 professionals within the built industry who were selected based purposeful sampling. The participants were pre-selected based on educational qualification within the built environment, experience in number of years and registration with a professional body in their respective fields. The participants were asked preformulated questions but the interviews themselves were semi structured to make room for more discussions, ideas and more questions to be explored to answer the research question.

The findings of the research based on the qualitative interviews and literature review revealed that interior design is still a developing profession in South Africa. It is a profession that is struggling to find its rightful place due to being misunderstood based on a general lack of knowledge and being perceived as an artsy career based on aesthetics rather than functionality and technicality. It finds itself having to compete with more developed and dominant professions within the building industry. This leads to interior designers being undervalued, underappreciated and underutilized. However, the study determined that there is indeed value in the inclusion of interior design in the inception phase of building projects particularly green building projects depending on the type and size of building project