New framework for architecture industry includes tool to calculate cost of services, timelines

a framework has been drawn up to boost the architecture industry it includes a tool to calculate the cost of services as well as on timelines and the Singapore Institute of Architects says that the value articulation framework as it's called was conceived to address issues such as brain drain and low wages it's hoped that this will also eradicate what's called fee diving that's where firms quote well below Market rates for the tenders this was announced at the 18th Singapore Arif Fest The Institute says that firms today are doing almost double the work compared to 20 years ago but they are now pricing their fees three to four times less the framework will be constantly updated with changes in the industry we must do more to collectively enhance the value proposition of the architectural profession to attract and retain Talent firms and Business Leaders need to continually invest effort and resources to provide professional development opportunities and Progressive workspaces or work places for for employees to thrive in a first the public housing authori is calling for design ideas from the architectural Community for the upgrading of book at Mera Town Center the hdb is partnering the Singapore Institute of Architects to organize this competition which runs for two months the Town Center will be refreshed as part of plans to rejuvenate booket miror under the hdb's remaking our Heartland program the competition aims to canvas ideas from professionals and students in the architectural and design sector the winning team will receive $15,000 Singapore dollars two Runners up will also pocket $5,000 each for more we speak now with Melvin tan he's president of the Singapore Institute of Architects and he joins us live now on Zoom good evening Mr Tan in a survey only seven in 100 architecture graduates are saying that they will stay in the profession for the Long Haul how do you hope to improve the image of the architecture profession and provide perhaps more motivation for architecture professionals to actually stay to build up the industry hi Don thank you for that question so that survey and that statistic was something that happened two years ago but since then Singapore Institute of Architects has been pushing many initiatives to improve the perception and the in impression of the profession and some of these initiatives we've taken are to uh celebrate young architects in the new generation who are doing great work we also have Design Awards that celebrate some of these architects who are doing fantastic work but also very important is to ensure that the young Architects are getting paid well they're being paid commensurate with few other Industries uh and these are some of the things we're contining to push as an Institute right there is this there's something called blueprint right which I'd like you to explain briefly to us as well but what are some of the most important issues and challenges for the architectural profession that blueprint will actually address so the issues that we Face are somewhat um complex however one of the main issues that we also face is the fact that um without commensurate fees a lot of work is being done by The Architects perhaps scope creep things that add on to the project without us even being able to charge fees for are are happening in the industry and blueprint is basically a articulated framework that spells out the scope of work that a typical architect will undertake for a project the idea is that both practitioners meaning The Architects and Engineers as well as the clients are able to have perhaps a transparent um set of scope where any changes to that can be attributed to fees and I think that's one of the things that we're trying to address with blueprint of value articulation framework on that point uh Mr Tan one of the key challenges seems to be able to articulate as you were saying they more clearly perhaps the value that Architects actually bring to the built environment why do we have this problem in the first place well the work of an architect is goes beyond just designing how beautiful a building is uh the work we do is not just design but also takes on statutary requirements and a whole complex amount of work and liabilities so over the years as the built environment um becomes more complex and the environments and an architect are also more in-depth uh the amount of work actually is continually added without anyone really putting together clearly what they are in totality uh and the building environment also requires us to comply with quotes from easily 10 to 20 different departments so now if each department has a certain code all of them then add up to the type of work and amount of work we do and therefore um Saia has felt that the initiative to articulate the work the codes the requirements and the time uh that would help our members understand the work that they're doing right Mr T what I hear you say is that you want to be able to raise the profile and understanding of the value of Architects in exactly what they do that to sort of understand with more uh Nuance perhaps the complex nature of the work that they do how far does collaboration with Community initiatives like the one with hdb on the book at mirror design actually achieve that goal so something like the HGB um ideas competition is helpful because it's not just the community the architectural community that is aware of such an exercise um the people and the residents around booket mea also now have visibility of something that's going to happen to the area where they live Work and Play Now by having such initiatives like the ideas competition uh we believe that residents and people and the man on the street can appreciate the value and the inputs that a designer can bring to create Comfort to create habitats which are well poised for comfort and living and so such activities are really really do go a long way to ensure that more people understand uh the value that an architect and designers can bring Mr thank you for your perspectives there we've been speaking with Melvin tan president of the Singapore Institute of Architects thank you

Channel: CNA

Views: 4,836

Keywords: Singapore Archifest, Singapore, Singapore Institute of Architects, architecture, architecture industry, Value Articulation Framework, Melvin Tan, Bukit Merah, HDB, Remaking Our Heartland, Indranee Rajah

Id: YcWCrdaM8N8

Length: 7min 7sec (427 seconds)

Published: Thu May 16 2024