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Abdalla, A (2007) Meeting housing needs in Libya: towards a responsive owner-built housing with particular reference to Benghazi City, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Agha, R H M (2016) The role of intelligent systems in traditional courtyard houses in Baghdad, Iraq, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Andam, K A (1979) Computer aided design of precast concrete industrial buildings, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Assadi, S O A (1997) An investigation of the records kept by supervisors on construction sites, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Beitelmal, J A (1999) Development of appropriate technology road condition monitoring system: Case study of the city of Benghazi in Libya, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Chen, Y (2008) Using mobile computing for construction site information management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Chritamara, S (2017) An application of the real option framework to large infrastructure projects: evidence for Thailand's transportation system, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Newcastle University Business School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Das, P K (2006) A sustainability impact-assessment tool for selected building technologies in rural India: the case of the Andhra Pradesh primary education project, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Fieldson, R (2007) Towards a framework for sustainability in UK retail architecture, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Ghanbari Parsa, A R (1989) The interaction of planning policies and construction technologies in Iran with reference to China & Japan, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Town & Country Planning, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Grifa, M A (2006) The construction industry in Libya , with particular reference to operations in Tripoli, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Hatmoko, J U D (2008) The impact of supply chain management practice on construction project performance, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Lopane, F D (2022) Spatial optimisation for resilient infrastructure services, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Mahdjoubi, L M (2001) An investigation of computer generated architectural representations on design decisions taks, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

  • Type: Thesis
  • Keywords: virtual reality; animation; architectural design; communication; design practice; information processing; participation; training; variations; design decision; client; designer; experiment; simulation
  • ISBN/ISSN:
  • URL:
  • Abstract:

    The use of computer-generated visual simulations (3D CAD, photomontage, animation, virtual reality and so forth) is becoming widespread in architectural design practice. These advances have particularly affected communication and decision-making between clients and designers. At present, the development, design and use of visual simulation material in practice is predominantly based on intuition, prior experience and/or trial-and-error approaches. This area has been largely neglected by research, which has resulted in a lack of an established conceptual framework to guide research, aimed at improving practice in this field. As a consequence, there are diverging views over simulation properties and style of representation that should be used in a simulation. The ’photorealistic’ approach advocates increasing simulation properties to improve communication, understanding and credibility of visual simulation material. However, the ’abstraction’ approach argues that since human information processing is limited, increasing the amount of detail in a presentation could not only be wasteful, but could also deter participants from the intended message of the communication. In conformance with this view, the emerging ’non-photorealistic’ approach promoted the production of abstract visuals, similar in style to sketches, paintings and drawings. However, there is a lack of evidence to support the claims made by these two approaches. In practice, representations varying in simulation properties and style of representation have been indiscriminately applied with a limited concern about the implications for the effectiveness of communication, participation and decision-making. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of simulation properties and the style of representation on design decision-making of specific architectural design tasks. It sought particularly to establish whether the participants’ confidence in the simulation techniques to portray the finished space and building were significantly affected by simulation properties and the nature of the task. As a result, a conceptual model was developed to generate and test hypotheses and guide future research in this field. This model provided the structure and the focus for examining the relationship between the principal components (design-decision tasks, computer visual simulation and decision-makers) and their subset of variables (e.g. simulation properties, style of representation, level of expertise and design training). It sought to investigate participants’ responses to simulation properties, their confidence in the simulation and preference for a style of representation. The confidence in their decisions and preferred styles of representation were considered as measures of the quality of the design decisions. The experimental study was designed to provide participants’ responses to a controlled variation of simulation properties. The effects of three levels of computer-generated architectural representations on design decision-making were evaluated in a series of experiments designed to measure participants’ responses along cognitive, affective and motivational dimensions. Moreover, the decision qualities were assessed through the confidence in simulation and preference for the appropriate style of representation. The confidence ratings were examined according to simulation properties and design-decision tasks. The preference ratings were assessed in relation to the appropriate style of representation and the nature of the tasks. The findings of this study made it possible to infer that while increasing simulation properties was not significant in the evaluation of cognitive tasks (e.g. layout, size of rooms, location, access and scale), it was highly significant in the appraisal of affective tasks (e.g. appearance of building exteriors and interiors). In addition, adding more detail did not significantly affect respondents’ expression for the need for change for either cognitive or affective tasks. While, it was found that adding more detail did not increase participants’ confidence in simulations during the evaluation of cognitive tasks, the increased simulation properties resulted in greater confidence ratings in carrying out affective tasks. In their selection of the style of representation, participants’ consistently preferred the photorealistic representation, independent of the decision-tasks at hand. Nevertheless, these preference ratings were stronger for the affective tasks and were in most cases not related to variations in simulation properties. In summary, the conceptual model proved to a very useful aid of thought and provided a theoretical base to test hypotheses. The results of the research are used to make recommendations for both research and practice for the production and selection of simulation material for design and decision-making purpose.

Mashamba, M S (1997) The construction industry in Zambia: opportunities and constraints under the structural adjustment programme and the enabling shelter strategy, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

McGinty, L N (2020) Business model innovation for green urban infrastructure, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Muzir, A K K (2017) School buildings maintenance in Malaysia: Current practices, key challenges and implications, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Riano Cruz, J D (2022) Investigating formation of social capital benefits for value creation and strategy enhancement: the case of SMEs in the UK's construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Royapoor, M (2015) An investigation into the energy and control implications of adaptive comfort in a modern office building, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Salagoor, J Y (1990) The influence of building regulations on urban dwelling in Jeddah, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Scott, S (1991) Project plans and record-keeping on construction sites in the United Kingdom, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Shaaban, S M (2004) A user-centric approach for the development and evaluation of a visual interface to online information in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Shar, B K (2002) Application of it to improve the design process in the construction sector of Pakistan: A case of the specification management process, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Stoyell, J L (2004) Eco-design decision-making: towards sustainable engineering design of large made-to-order products, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Sun, M (1993) Technology transfer, architectural design and integrated building design systems, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Tangtinthai, N (2016) Extraction, use and disposal of construction materials in Great Britain and Thailand, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Tarhuni, S M (2013) An investigation into the management of knowledge in a historic building conservation organisation in Tripoli, Libya, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Wiguna, I P A (2005) The influence of risk on project performance in Indonesian building contracts, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Williams, G A (1992) Contract as organisation: an economic analysis of the Joint Contracts Tribunal's Standard Form of Building contract 1980, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Faculty of Law, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.