This study investigates the trade-offs of energy renovations in Amsterdam’s social housing stock from 2025 to 2050, evaluating three renovation prioritisation schemes - BUR (energy-burden focused), IMP (emissions-focused), and EFF (cost-efficient) - across varying deep-renovation quota pathways - LOW (15% deep renovations and 85% limited renovations), MID (50% deep renovations and 50% limited renovations), NPA (85% deep renovations and 15% limited renovations). Using a material-flow and energy-renovation model, the impacts on energy savings, household energy burden, material inflows and outflows, operational and embodied carbon emissions, and renovation costs are quantified.

Results reveal that prioritisation schemes significantly shape renovation outcomes. BUR prioritises foundational envelope improvements, effectively reducing household energy burden and costs, especially for vulnerable tenants. IMP maximises operational CO₂ reductions through renewable heating system upgrades but can increase financial burdens and leave poorly insulated units behind. EFF balances cost and emission performance, gradually shifting focus toward heating system upgrades with higher renovation quotas.

Deep renovations increase material flows and embodied emissions, while envelope components dominate resource use. Higher renovation quotas amplify emission saving and energy costs outcomes, highlighting the importance of burden-sensitive implementation.

Policy implications indicate that achieving Amsterdam’s climate and energy goals requires integrating technical, economic, and social objectives. Envelope-first programmes, staged implementation, andfinancial safeguards are fundamental to prevent inequitable outcomes. From a scientific perspective, future research should adopt full life-cycle assessments, multi-cycle renovation modelling, and behavioural considerations to better capture real-world dynamics.

Overall, this study demonstrates that effective renovation strategies require a careful balance of decarbonisation, cost-efficiency, material use, and equity to ensure a sustainable and just transition of the social housing stock where no household is left behind. ... Read more

Cost overruns and delays remain quite challenging in large construction and infrastructure projects. These challenges are partly due to the failure to properly identify and quantify second-order effects of risks. Second-order effects of risks are the indirect impact of a risk that can disrupt the overall project schedule and can cause a project to go over budget and run out of schedule. This research highlights the need to better identify
and quantify second-order effects of risks in the design phase of construction and infrastructure projects, where a new methodology is developed that can help in this regard. The research method used, the Double Diamond Design process model, starts with an extensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with experts in the field to clarify the definition of first-order effects and second-order effects of risks and analyse
their current handling. The newly developed method focuses on cascading risk mapping, (dynamic) vulnerability analysis, exposure to risks, probabilistic assessments and Monte Carlo simulations to better predict project outcomes. The new method has been validated by an expert panel, showing that it improves the identification and quantification of risks, although its complexity may require additional training and time
for implementation. This research aims to improve the accuracy of cost estimates and project planning by incorporating second-order effects of risk into these processes. The developed method, while promising in improving the accuracy and clarity of risk management, needs further testing to evaluate its practical efficacy compared to current practices. ... Read more

Over the last decades, the complexity of projects has been increasing. Studies have shown that using existing project management theories in a traditional manner has failed to bring success (Whitty & Maylor, 2009). It is impossible to predict everything and act according to a static plan (Sohi et al., 2019). Improvisation is inevitable (Alhussein et al., 2022; Hamzeh et al., 2019) and therefore necessary to be researched.
A substantial part of previous research has focussed on using a jazz metaphor when describing how improvisation can be implemented within organisations, see Barrett (1998), Hatch (1999) and Weick (1998). A specific type of organisation is the project team, which is temporary and focusses on delivering a project. However, the parallels with improvisation in jazz have not been applied to project management yet. Although existing studies on improvisation in project management show the value (Abuseem et al., 2023; Leybourne, 2011; Malucelli et al., 2021), they remain theoretical and lack the application of improvisation. Hence, the main research question of this research is: “What can we learn from applying the parallels between improvisation in jazz and organisation to project management?”.
Because of the exploratory nature of the research, qualitative methods are applied. First, a literature study is carried out, which is followed by in-depth interviews and observations of design team meetings. The combination of the methods allows triangulation. This research limits itself to improvisational actions within the design phase of construction projects, which means that the construction phase has been omitted. It is scientifically relevant by focussing on getting a new understanding of improvisation in project management using the parallels. Moreover, it is societally relevant by gaining insights into the dynamics and improvisations within design teams, which can help to improve improvisational actions.

We can learn that the parallels, between improvisation in jazz and organisation, can be applied to project management actions taking place in the so-called safe zone. This is a created setting in which all the disciplines come together to (re)act based on their knowledge and experience. The safe zone can be compared to a jazz jam session, which is characterized by its informality and the going back-and-forth between the musicians. The actions taking place within the safe zone could be described as improvisations on a microscale. Furthermore, another type of improvisation in project management has been defined. These are reactions to exogenous trigger events outside of the safe zone. Trigger events could be unexpected behaviour, an external change in circumstances, a late substantial design change or a substantial change in requirements. In jazz, there are also trigger events present. However, the reactions to the trigger events are still part of the safe zone in jazz, while in project management, this is not the case. Therefore, the parallels have not been applied to reactions to exogenous trigger events.

In general, this research suggests that by applying the parallels, a new way of understanding design teams in project management is revealed. The applied parallels show that design team meetings are not meetings in which the project manager follows a strict agenda and controls a hierarchical structure as described in traditional project management literature. Instead, the design team meetings are comparable to a jazz jam session in which the course is determined by all the disciplines. The openness of the project manager and emphasis on team dynamics are crucial in facilitating improvisations.
... Read more

The construction sector is responsible for 39% of the global energy- and process-related CO2 emissions, of which 11% is due to the production of construction materials. The municipality of the city of Leiden in the Netherlands has set goals to build 17,000 new dwellings between 2020-2030 and to lower its overall carbon footprint. In this study, the environmental impact reduction potential of wood construction systems (WCSs) for the construction of 17,000 mid- and high-rise residential buildings in Leiden was explored. The two WCS alternatives studied are cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction systems built with either the modular or flatpack method. A number of sustainability choices expected to lower the environmental impact of WCSs through prolonged biogenic carbon retention time were quantified in a scenario-based life cycle assessment (LCA). These choices included high-end reuse of WCSs, wood material downcycling into particleboards, extending the building service life (BSL), dwelling size reduction, and wood resource country selection. Results showed a maximum hypothetical impact reduction of 92.3% for modular CLT and 91% for flatpack CLT WCSs. This hypothetical reduction was achieved when all sustainability choices were combined. The selected scenarios used and the level of detail of the LCA model do not fully align with current trends in the construction- and housing sector. Therefore, the actual realization of the impact reductions presented should not be perceived as highly feasible. Two originally included WCS alternatives consisting of CLT and timber frame construction (TFC) hybrids could unfortunately not be quantified due to technical issues with the used LCA modelling software. ... Read more

In recent years, the housing market has been under pressure due to growing demand for (inner-city) housing and a lack of supply. Housing is in high demand as a result of factors such as population growth, rapid urbanization, smaller households, the freezing of "mobility in houses, and so on. The low developing speed to cater to these issues might instigate an investigation into possible adjustments to the current building methods to increase the rate of housing production.

The building sector has the potential to fulfil these demands by becoming more product-driven, efficient and sustainable, which are said to be attainable with the use of modular construction (Bertham et al., 2019). However, traditionally, the building industry is characterized as a project-driven industry with unique characteristics such as location-bound design, one-of-a-kind/unique production, changing partnerships per project, outdoor and environmental factors, and multiple clients and suppliers involved in a single project. These characteristics conflict with the product-driven ambitions, leading to negative effects on performance such as low levels of effectiveness and efficiency, low rates of innovation and difficulties in knowledge sharing and learning.
This research explores the potential benefits of vertical integration in modular construction value chains. The study is based on an empirical single case study of an integrated modular building company in the Netherlands. The case study examines the implementation of vertical integration in the modular building company, and its impact on the project- and product value chains.

To achieve effective vertical value chain integration during the development phase, the industry needs to focus on synergy, competency, and organization and adopting the appropriate production system fitting to their organization, product and production profile. Synergy involves establishing a clear and structured collaboration structure between departments, early involvement of key parties, and having a systematic approach to the project. Competency involves having adequate experience in the modular construction industry, defining a modular design system with configurable designs, and focusing on modular design systems with configurable elements, design flexibility, and efficient and streamlined production processes. Organization involves establishing unambiguous guidelines and expectations for each phase of the project, creating a comprehensive project plan that clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of each team member, and identifying the primary coordinator for each phase. Additionally, it is essential to have a supportive and collaborative company culture with trust among employees, morale and motivation, and leadership that encourages and facilitates cooperation and collaboration across different departments and locations for all factors to thrive.

Based on the modular construction goal, fitting product and production characteristics were explored, which resulted in defining appropriate production systems. The focus on modular design systems with configurable products and the need for design flexibility described in the product description align with the characteristics of assemble-to-order production. The emphasis on product-oriented and project-oriented approaches, as well as the need for design consistency and efficient translation to production, aligns with the characteristics of make-to-order production.
... Read more

In 1987, Brundtland coined the term "sustainable development" to tackle the worldwide issue of environmental deterioration. Subsequent to that, swift progressions in science and technology have resulted in climate change, characterized by a rapid increase in global temperatures. The primary objective of the Paris Climate agreement is to limit the increase in global temperatures to a maximum of 2°C, with a preferable target of 1.5°C. The issue of energy usage in buildings is increasingly concerning as buildings contribute to 40% of the total carbon dioxide emissions. Global governments are implementing stringent steps to mitigate emissions and establish benchmarks for energy usage in buildings. In the Netherlands, mandatory energy labels have been implemented to regulate energy usage. However, these labels solely consider energy consumption related to heating, cooling, lighting, and hot water supply. This leads to disparities in energy performance, which are frequently disregarded or ignored throughout the design phase.
The behavior of occupants is a critical factor in building design, as it has a substantial influence on energy consumption. Occupant-centric design minimizes overall energy usage by decreasing buildings' susceptibility to occupant behavior. The categorization of occupant behavior encompassed three primary classifications: occupancy, interactions, and behavioral efficiency. These characteristics highlight the diverse manners in which occupant-related factors impact the energy efficiency of buildings. The industry's current processes expose multiple issues and limitations that contribute to energy performance gaps, including specific design and asset management techniques. In order to minimize the overall energy consumption in buildings and close the energy performance gap, it is imperative to tackle these issues. Considering the problems and deficiencies found in present industry practices and the theoretical insights from scientific literature, it is crucial for real estate developers to consider aspects associated to the occupants when designing a building. Occupant behavioral aspects identified in literature are associated with the design of building components, including the façade, spatial layout, HVAC systems, lighting, and others.
A design approach that prioritizes the needs and preferences of the occupants was developed by establishing a connection between factors linked to the occupants and the design of the building. The design strategy has three distinct phases: pre-design, conceptual design, and detailed design. During each stage of the design process, a design that prioritizes the needs of the occupants is created by considering the several aspects that influence the occupants' energy consumption behavior. Additionally, a strategy for asset management will be created to guarantee the fulfillment of energy performance goals during the building's operational phase. Real estate developers must take this crucial step to achieve regulations, such as Paris-proof targets, which impose limits on the overall energy consumption in buildings, including those by the tenants. The design strategy incorporates various metrics to monitor the energy performance of buildings, which serve as the foundation for bridging the energy performance gap. The developed design strategy also has several significant practical implications that were identified.
... Read more

Women in construction are marginalised, and gendered work culture results in a higher turnover rate of early female professionals. On the other hand, after the COVID-19 pandemic, construction organisations have understood the need for digitisation to derive benefits from digital tools. Besides, it was presented that using digital devices may impact work & employment and employees’ behaviour and organisational culture. In this context, the study aims to explore how the usage of digital tools at work influences the gendered work culture and how it can improve the early career experience of female employees in the construction sector.

This research employed two data collection methods: (1) a review of previous studies and (2) a series of semi-structured interviews. Reviewing previous studies aims to understand the trend and phenomena of the research topic to build a research framework. Career development challenges for female early career professionals: family-work balance; pay; stress; recruitment and selection; training; allocation of tasks and positions; work climate and condition; network; and career opportunity. Then, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted.

This research suggests that using digital tools in communication results in misunderstanding, fewer opportunities for bonding and relationship building with colleagues and exclusion. Moreover, the usage of digital tools enables female employees to gain respect and be heard because the results of the digital tools support their opinion. Furthermore, the data-driven perspective promotes removing bias and subconscious bias in decision-making. On the other hand, hierarchy and pressure on budget and schedule hamper the implementation of digital tools at work practice. Besides, it was identified that these changes affect the experience of early female employees in the sector. The digital-related skillsets provided them with more job opportunities, breaking gender-stereotypical norms. A remote working environment enabled by digital communication made female employees balance work and life more manageable, and promotion decisions can be based on a data-driven perspective. Regretfully, digital communication disturbs the accommodation of new employees and socialising opportunities between colleagues.

It is recommended to facilitate training programmes for digital tools to improve and promote the benefits of using digital tools. In addition, more flexible network practices can also be provided to encourage socialisation, and fair and accurate data analysis programmes for promotion can be developed. ... Read more

The Netherlands is in de midst of an energy transition, 7 million households and 1 million buildings that are currently poorly insulated and heated by natural gas must be transformed into well-insulated buildings and heated with a sustainable heat source. The government encourages homeowners to make their home more sustainable by providing subsidies for insulation and sustainable heating technologies such as heat pumps. Heat pump manufacturers are seizing their opportunity by developing online heat pump decision-making tools that allow homeowners to check whether their home is already suitable for a sustainable heat pump system, said they do this mainly out of their own interest to sell more heat pumps. In addition, there are also independent organizations that develop online heat pump decision making tools, they do this more out of interest for the climate. But it’s not clear whether these tools provide all the information and advice a homeowner needs before engaging an installer to install a heat pump system. In addition, it is not clear whether existing tools provide right advice to support the energy transition. Therefore existing online tools are analysed and reflected on through literature and additional research in order to develop a better tool. Therefore the main research question in this thesis is:

How is a heat pump decision tool for homeowners with limited technological knowledge designed, which gives an advice that contributes to the energy transition of the built environment and which provides an advice on which heat pump system and additional measures a homeowner should consider before engaging an installer?

First a literature study is conducted into the energy problems related to space heating in the Dutch built environment. Possible sustainable sources and heat pump systems with a high contribution to the energy transition are defined. These sources and systems are then included in the newly designed heat pump decision making tool.

Existing online heat pump decision making tools are then analysed in order to function as a basis to define all aspects a homeowner should consider before purchasing a heat pump system. A review is made on the basis of the literature study carried out earlier in which areas the advice of the existing tools is lacking. These shortcomings are addressed in the new tool.

Thirdly based on an example home, it is investigated which measures during an energy renovation that a home ultimately uses less energy, emits less CO2, is heated sustainably and has an higher indoor comfort. These findings are included in the new tool.

The new heat pump decision making tool is then developed on the basis of flow diagrams. All decision moments are based on the findings from the various conducted studies. These flowcharts are eventually converted into a digital online heat pump decision making tool. With this new tool, the homeowner is provided with all the necessary research-based information before engaging an installer to purchase a heat pump system. This assures the homeowner of correct advice without the involvement of an installer, which leads to a major contribution to the energy transition, better indoor comfort and lower heating costs.

Overall it can be concluded that: insulating the home first as described in the tool (minimum label B according to the insulation standard) leads to the highest contribution to the energy transition and a higher indoor comfort. And that the choice of the heat pump systems depends on the home-specific aspects, and the wishes of the homeowner. ... Read more

There is a growing need for social housing in the Netherlands, especially in urban areas. The construction industry faces the difficult task of quickly responding to this demand while also reducing the embodied carbon emissions of new buildings. A proposed solution to these tasks is constructing mass timber buildings, leading to cheaper buildings and faster construction times while also reducing embodied carbon emissions compared to traditional buildings (Amiri et al., 2020). Due to its high strength and low weight, research finds that mass timber is suitable for reinforced concrete replacement. In doing so, a reduction of 2,4 Million Tons of C02 Equivalent annually can be established.

However, mass timber construction faces barriers—especially when addressing social housing associations due to their strong focus on affordability and risk reduction. Since the construction of social ‘carbon neutral’ housing is a major societal and environmental challenge, this research aims to define the barriers and develop strategies for overcoming these barriers to enable mass timber construction. For this purpose, the central research question is as follows: “What are the barriers for the construction of modular mass timber social housing, and what might be strategies for overcoming them?

Since this question is explorative, a qualitative research approach is used with the double design method. In the first diamond, the barriers are discovered and defined. In the second diamond, the strategies for overcoming these barriers are developed. Expectations are that the demand for mass timber buildings is above average in urban areas where a scarcity of land occurs, and municipalities have non-statutory supplementary ambitions regarding sustainability. Therefore, this research focuses on housing associations operating in urban areas. The barriers are identified by analyzing data obtained through a series of consultations with experts and eight semi-structured interviews with social housing associations. Ten barriers resulted from these interviews, which were classified into four categories.

The first category consists of social, cultural, and organizational barriers in adopting mass timber construction. Housing associations experience unclarity about circular decisions, show risk-averse behavior, and are having difficulties changing. The second category contains sectorial barriers. These include a sectoral knowledge deficiency, strategic alliances with the traditional industry, and the unique project-based approach that forms a barrier for modular construction since it limits the degree of repeatability and standardization. The third category are technical barriers. They consist of the perception among housing associations that modular construction results in uniformity, which is further obstructed by different programs of requirements.

The strategies for overcoming these barriers are based upon insights from an online expert panel meeting. The panel consisted of two representatives of mass timber construction companies, an architect, and an expert on bio-based construction materials. There was consensus among the experts about four strategies, of which the most important is to change the conditions for mass timber. This can be done with long- and short-term knowledge increase. Other strategies include the role of the municipalities and universities. However, to enable mass timber construction structurally, the construction costs must be lowered. The industrialization of modular construction could do so. Another way is letting social housing associations review their decision-making process from cost-based to value- based. This can be done by looking at total expenditure rather than building costs. The third strategy lets suppliers create a (open) building system based on standard floorplans with the flexibility for fitting custom facades. An open building system creates the opportunity for an infill industry to arise and allows a shift from a traditional design process towards product thinking. The fourth strategy is to safeguard the future value of components by using materials with common dimensions, which contributes to a total cost of ownership approach. Changing the responsibility of a product’s maintenance incentives suppliers to use durable and remountable materials, allowing circular business models.

This research answers the central question by presenting the ten barriers and four strategies. In doing so, this research provides implications for academia by combining modularity, mass timber, and social housing. It has delivered a well-ordered list of barriers that provides implications for practice. However, the presented strategies for overcoming these barriers do not guarantee the uptake of modular mass timber construction. Since this is a relatively new topic in the Netherlands, it also requires time to be adopted and deployed in the market. A TCO approach looks most promising to enable modular mass timber construction. Future research should find how to best incorporate this within a traditional- orientated construction value chain. ... Read more

The circular economy transition requires companies to implement innovative supply chains and business models. However, the number of available solutions for the application in the circular built environment is limited. These solutions could be developed through the co-creation between companies aiming for circular transition. However, it is unclear how the co-creation process would look like in the context of the circular build environment. One such case is the REHAB project where stakeholders develop circular building components for housing renovation. Based on the example of one of the components — circular extension — this research develops three process maps of co-creation to help stakeholders organize the co-creation process for the development and implementation of the service loops of the product. This is done by reviewing the academic literature and identifying the requirements and parameters of co-creation for the case for the circular extension, as well as identifying the co-creation designs already available in the literature. Based on this, further process maps were synthesized. The developed process maps consist of six phases: engaging actor, co-conception, co-design, co-production, co-maintenance and co-disposal. Each phase is subdivided into a number of sub-steps for which the best solutions and/or options are mapped. The developed process maps contribute to the circular co-creation literature by showing a clear picture of the co-creation process that practitioners could follow. Additionally, this research evaluates the developed designs with the project stakeholders and derives six lessons learned that could be applicable for circular building components: 1) Cost efficiency is the main aspect influencing implementation of circular building components, 2) Organizing circular co-creation process requires involvement of a human interaction specialist and circular economy consultant, 3) Circularity is largely dependent of the party that initiates the process and becomes the problem owner, 4) Circularity of circular building components in the current reality depends on the formation of secondhand markets, 5) The co-creation process structure is similar for different circular building components, change only network composition and activities/options that could be considered, 6) Sell and buy-back business model and take-back agreements have the most potential for the circular building components, compared to other solution. ... Read more

The Dutch government aims to become fully circular in 2050 and to reduce the virgin material demand by 50% in 2030 (Rijksoverheid, 2016). For a country that has relied on a linear economy for centuries, this will prove to be a major challenge (Circle Economy, 2020; Rijksoverheid, 2016). Simultaneously, due to urbanization, the Dutch government intends to build one million dwellings between 2016 and 2030 (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken, 2020). These two goals conflict because the first one aims to reduce material demand, whereas the second indirectly increases it. So far no study has paid attention to the impact of different circular construction solutions on the abiotic material demand. This is the gap that this thesis aims to fill, using the city of Leiden as a use case.
To help solve this problem, three steps were taken: 1) create a baseline of the total material demand for the residential sector, starting from the assumption that we continue to build in a linear way; 2) examine the views on circular solutions among experts; and 3) quantify the impact of certain circular solutions on the baseline in order to assess whether the goals defined by the government can be reached. The main aim of this thesis is to create a model that enables us to quantify the impact of five solutions in six different scenarios. In the first scenario the research on the potential of urban mining materials from Verhagen et al. (2020) is expanded and followed up by a second scenario in which the loadbearing structure was replaced by a (partly) wooden alternative. Thirdly, other elements of the building (e.g. facade and interior walls) were replaced by a biobased variant. In the fourth scenario the floor area of the apartments is decreased and in the fifth scenario the basements commonly built under high-rise apartment buildings are removed, whereas in the sixth, and last, scenario the first five are combined. From the analysis results that the two goals mentioned above are only achievable through a combination of multiple solutions. The total virgin abiotic material demand for an average year between 2020 and 2030 would be around 155,000-tons in the business-as-usual scenario. The biggest impact came from switching the concrete loadbearing structure to a wooden (CLT) alternative, which leads to a reduction of 46% of the virgin abiotic material demand. The second largest impact resulted from converting the low- and high-rise apartments into micro-apartments in combination with downsizing the single-family dwelling size by a quarter, which leads to a reduction of 27% of the virgin abiotic material demand. Similar to this solution is excluding basements for parking under high-rise apartment buildings, which gives a 24% reduction. This is followed by the Urban Mining scenario, in which the released circular demolition waste is recycled/reused. This scenario had an impact of 19% on the total virgin abiotic material demand but is less difficult to implement compared to downsizing living space or parking spots. The scenario with the lowest impact was replacing abiotic material in the fit-out of a building, which only yields 7% of the virgin abiotic material demand. All solutions combined the total reduction was 91%, which clearly transcends the absolute goal of 69%. The results of the quantitative part of this thesis were in line with the results from the interviews, where changing the structure was mentioned as “the biggest fish” and changing the fit-out “rumbling in the margins”. ... Read more

Stakeholder management is one of the elements of project management within the building industry. Stakeholder management consist of stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement. Current stakeholder analysis models, methods and tools are often very focused around one central issue: individual characteristics or relations between stakeholders. Stakeholder analysis theory often strands in theoretical models, where an operational approach is missing. Combining stakeholder analysis models, methods and tools is necessary to get better stakeholder insight. However this combined approach is missing from the building industry. ... Read more

In the city centre of Almere Haven almost 40% of the public space consists out of unattended backside areas with no spatial quality. With an increasing vacancy in the plinth, the dark unattended corners and parking dominate the street view. It is the place where the bedroom windows meet the noisy delivery vans, with in between the back-doors leading to homes. Do these spaces need a redevelopment? If so, how?

Besides that, cities are getting bigger and bigger, in height and hectare. Eventually, there is a limited possible grow and there is a need to look for other solutions to densify. In times where the demand for new homes is reminiscent of the ‘Volkshuisvesting’ of the 70’s and 80’s, we are obliged to look creatively at our current housing stock and urban infill. Our stock exists for 33% (CBS 2016) out of houses built between the 70’s and the 80’s. Which consists mainly out of family homes. In the building complex, the family homes can easily be divided into studios or two-room apartments to increase the density and variation of housing in the building. Could these backside a possible location for densification.

These less-favoured areas in other cities face the same problems. The elements of Almere Haven and Rotterdam that cause an unpleasant feeling in these areas have been compared with each other. Such as cars, hard materials, no need to stay a long time, no greenery and blind facades. The elements are not directly the problem, but the high amount of occurrence is. The transition from building to urban needs to be softened by creating a buffer zone by adding soft materials and rearrangement of the program. The strategies have each a different approach for creating softness, keeping the existing situation, the addition of green or the densification of the areas.

Strategies

01. Opening up the plinth by transforming the retail into homes with across new infill for the back area
02. Densification as a new infill for the back areas.
03. Opening up by placing a function before the storage space, such as office space with across a new green area
04. Opening up the plinth and keep the current urban infill

The project shows that with different eyes for the backside areas, these unpleasant spaces in the middle of the centre can be changed with minor, intermediate and major interventions. At the same time, densification of 60% more homes can be realized within the same building envelope. In a new area with spatial quality for new residents and the current residents. For cities with similar back areas, changing these areas will ask a lot of effort of multiple stakeholders. And yes, cities need back area’s like this, it is also a way of life. But ask yourself: Do we need so many in our direct living environment or can some of them be changed in a pleasant environment? ... Read more

The environmental pressure on the planet and its limited capacities has resulted in the need for new building methodologies that respect this limited capacity. Building methods based on the principles of the Circular Economy could pose an answer to this problem. However, limited knowledge and tools are available to bring this into practice. This research focuses on circular building from the perspective of re-using building components upfront and its relation with the project management of non-residential building projects in The Netherlands. The study aims to clarify the role of the project management and obtain more insight into the briefing, the project organization, and the selection of the project team, in relation to the re-use of building components. By conducting qualitative research, consisting of a literature study and empirical research, including multiple expert interviews with people involved in re-use projects and case study of a renovation and a newly built office project, a better understanding has been achieved. The research suggests that the management of the initiation phase is of great importance in setting a good starting point for re-use projects. The briefing could help in this by defining clear ambitions and goals. These can guide the team throughout the process. Besides, the way projects are organized could facilitate the inclusion of re-use. This includes the extension of the initiation phase, in which an inventory of reclaimed components is started. Throughout the process better integration between activities is needed to align the reclaimed components with the design, this comes with additional iteration. Lastly, the project team selection is found to have an impact on re-use. The composition of an interdisciplinary team is proposed to integrate planning and design activities and conduct them earlier in the process. This includes (new) collaborations with re-use experts. It is also found that the motivation of the team members could impact the amount of re-use. These findings are translated into a project management framework and in the visualization of the re-use process in a flow chart. These can be used by project managers in future re-use building projects. ... Read more

This master thesis investigated the coordination aspects of the MOR Team TU Delft, a volunteer-students based team, that produced an AEC project for the Solar Decathlon Europe 2019 (SDE19) competition. With a closer look at the aspects of organisation, motivation, and mission, this researched provides an objective account of the characteristics and functions of coordination that aided this team in producing an award-winning project. It is thanks to the study of the available documents, the personal notes of the author, and the interviews with some key members of the team that this research highlighted how a mission-driven team developed an experimental attitude toward an Organically Integrated Project Delivery. The organisational and coordination aspects of Solar Decathlon teams it is not yet a widespread area of research; therefore, this master thesis conducted an exploratory case study that followed an inductive approach. Among the results mentioned above, this work highlighted how the study of volunteer-students based teams, competing in the various Solar Decathlons, can become an exciting area of study for management practices within AEC projects. The peculiarities of these projects have the potential to provide tangible and comparable results in the study of design and construction management. It is thanks to these considerations that this research asks for the development of further studies, with the effects of both further validating the results here presented and to further expand the body of knowledge on this typology of projects. ... Read more

This thesis elaborates on a theoretical, epistemological and design research framework for the possibility of an operative synthesis of, on the one hand, climate-related risk management (primarily, flood exposure from multiple source, i.e. sea level rise and coastal/tidal flooding, fluvial flooding and pluvial flooding) and, on the other, the planning and design of operational landscapes of material production, as a means for sustainable ecological development. Contemporary practices of managing ecological, environmental and climatic risk rely heavily on a ‘mitigation’ approach, where the imperative is the restoration of a previous ‘natural’ order or the spatial planning of the next waves of development and urbanization according to the evaluation of the internal logics of natural processes. However, this line of thinking severely hinders the possibility of a creative and proactive reorganization of human processes of material production precisely because it presupposes a “nature-society rift” (Moore, 2014). Similarly, the negative externalities associated with the extensive and intensive operationalization of vast terrestrial terrains are viewed as singular phenomena to be addressed in situ and not as opportunities to fundamentally reconceptualize contemporary planetary urbanization (Brenner, 2016). The basis upon which this work is built, is that to properly address climate-related risk one has to, also, address unsustainable patterns of material production and the physical and functional organization of urbanization. Following the development of the concepts of "concentrated" and "extended urbanization" through the construction of gradients of "agglomeration" and "operational landscapes" (Brenner, 2013; Brenner and Schmid, 2014; Katsikis 2014; Katsikis 2018) and in contrast to the predominant approach of placing the emphasis on the agglomeration side of these gradients, this thesis attempts the opposite: shifting the analytical centrality from agglomerations to the operational landscapes that sustain them, we are able to formulate an urbanization hypothesis that addresses the requirements of the latter not as externalities of the former (thus hindering the capacity of the framework to be adequately socio-ecologically sustainable) but as the fundamental elements of the planning and design of the urban fabric. It is, thus, suggested that an incorporation of biophysical processes and ecosystem functions, which are central to the performance of operational landscapes, within the urbanized landscape would, at the same time, offer climate-related performance. Assuming, therefore, that this act is an act of construction of the urban landscape and, even further, it partakes in its economic activities, this work reformulates Lefebvre’s opening statement in “The Urban Revolution” (2003) as following: 'the urban has been completely operationalized', and attempts to elaborate on the coming-into-being of this reality, ‘the project of the cultivation of the urban’. As such, the objective of this thesis is to develop a framework for a design exercise that could inform a potential urban and territorial project. The design research proposal elaborated here is one that seeks to discuss the possibility that “agglomeration landscapes” become hybridized with “operational landscapes” (Katsikis, 2018). By that I mean that contemporary cities and urban regions renounce their sole correspondence with the secondary and tertiary sectors of economy and, in turn, take on the role of encompassing primary (i.e. material) production as well. In other words, this work assumes that there is a possibility that the various productive hinterlands of the planet be diffused within and throughout the urbanized landscapes that they sustain. By concurring with Moore (2014) that operational landscapes represent, essentially, the way that humanity interacts with nature, I evoke Foster (2000) to propose the possibility of retrofitting material production within the economies of agglomerations and, thus, operationalizing the urban. ... Read more

This thesis looks into the architectural experience of waiting, in order to understand the fundamental, architectural problems of waiting space. It consists of two processes - research and design - that intertwine with and responds to each other. The research is an analysis of waiting through philosophy and architectural projects. The design project in the end responds to the theoretical concerns explored in the research part, while actively provoking new ideas of space in transitioning areas, by employing, transfiguring and assembling different modes of waiting spaces from case studies to a specific site. ... Read more

Circular building has been increasing in popularity over several years. The idea being that we should not use resources only once and then discard them, but continue using them in new products. The construction industry has responded to this by designing 'circular' buildings that can be disassembled at the end of their functional life. This leaves the question open of what to do with the current buildings stock. Since the building stock only grows with approximately 1% a year, the lion's share of buildings that will be demolished in the next 50 years has already been built. This research explores five cases that are trying to solve this issue in different ways. The case studies are used as a basis to identify drivers, barriers, and opportunities for circular demolition and component reuse. The main drivers are environmental, societal, and behavioural in nature. Whereas the main barriers are economic, behavioural, and governmental. Opportunities for entrepreneurs and governments have been identified to overcome these barriers. ... Read more

The aim of this thesis is to identify the obstacles for the transition of refugee camps and to identify whether network management can be a way to deal with this. The combiniation of the long-term existence of refugee camps, its negative impact on individuals, the inevitable urbanization and the lack of policy implementation of the UN refugee agency causes urgency to look at the management of a refugee camp differently. Humanitarian aid is not appropriate anymore and the moment development aid comes in remains unclear. The linkage between the different forms of aid is lacking. In this thesis, the transition between these different forms of aid is investigated by conducting a network analysis the case study: Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. The results show that the main obstacle in the transition is the lack of interaction and platform. This is caused by several institutional obstacles. The host government rejects the durable solution integration, has a complex decision-making structure and points towards the international community to take care of the refugee camp which causes absence of incentives to intiate interaction about the transition of the camp. Also from the UN side there is a lack of mandate for the long-term, a short-term funding system and non-transparancy between agencies causes obstacles for interaction. Also having a developmental approach, or exit strategies for humanitarian agencies is blocked by the difficult economic situation in Jordan and the high standards of UN agencies.
By analysing a Think Tank project which aims to establish interaction about the future of Za’atari Refugee Camp the application of network management strategies is tested. The results show that some interaction was established successfully but that the process stagnated when actors had to take ownership and resigned predominantly from the process. Lacking protection of core values and lack of agreement on process rules can be one of the reasons for the stagnation in the process. There are several obstacles to be found to the transition of refugee camp Za’atari, which can also be found worldwide in other refugee camp situations. These obstacles cannot directly be overcome by networkmanagement because it is limited to the extent wherein the core-values remain protected. Network management is hampered when actors on purpose execute non-cooperative strategies to protect their core-values.
... Read more

In this work, a study into the weaver’s of Tangier is carried out. A first-hand
investigation takes place in order to reveal the weaver’s main challenges, their desires and therefore the interventions that a hypothetical association should consider in order to revive the craft. Further fieldwork, looks into the aspirations of the Moroccan youth and why they are not interested in traditional craft, as well as into the potential for collaboration with modern designers. Two case studies in which a traditional craft was revived and introduced into the modern market are looked into: the World of Weaving enterprise of Tanzania and Harris Tweed, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. In a crossanalysis, these case studies indicate the importance of 3 main aspects of the trade: the brand, the access to the market and the access to supplies. With the knowledge acquired
throughout the fieldwork and with the indications given by the case studies, a series of considerations are suggested for the hypothetical association. These considerations are based on the level of centralisation that this association could develop with regards to the 3 aspects. ... Read more