What are the best strategies for ensuring buildings remain adaptable over time?

3 Adaptive reuse

A third strategy for ensuring buildings remain adaptable over time is to adopt adaptive reuse, which involves repurposing existing buildings for new functions, rather than demolishing or abandoning them. Adaptive reuse can preserve the historical, cultural, and aesthetic value of buildings, as well as reduce the environmental impact and cost of new construction. Adaptive reuse can also create new opportunities and challenges for engineering managers, by requiring them to balance the preservation and innovation of building features, systems, and materials, as well as comply with the relevant codes and regulations.

4 User involvement

A fourth strategy for ensuring buildings remain adaptable over time is to involve the users in the design, construction, and operation of buildings. User involvement can increase the satisfaction, engagement, and ownership of the users, as well as the responsiveness and relevance of the buildings. User involvement can take various forms, such as co-design, participatory budgeting, feedback mechanisms, or user-generated content. User involvement can also foster a culture of collaboration and learning among the users, the engineering managers, and other stakeholders, by creating a shared vision, a common language, and a continuous improvement process.

5 Scenario planning

A fifth strategy for ensuring buildings remain adaptable over time is to use scenario planning, which involves developing and analyzing multiple possible futures for buildings, based on different assumptions, trends, and uncertainties. Scenario planning can help engineering managers anticipate and prepare for the potential opportunities and risks that may arise from the changing social, economic, environmental, and technological factors that affect buildings. Scenario planning can also support the decision making and communication of engineering managers, by providing them with a framework, a methodology, and a tool for exploring and evaluating different options and outcomes for buildings.

6 Design thinking

A sixth strategy for ensuring buildings remain adaptable over time is to apply design thinking, which is a human-centered and iterative approach to solving complex problems. Design thinking can help engineering managers understand the needs, desires, and behaviors of the users and the stakeholders of buildings, as well as the context and the constraints of the problem. Design thinking can also help engineering managers generate and test innovative and feasible solutions for buildings, by using techniques such as empathy, ideation, prototyping, and feedback. Design thinking can also foster a mindset and a culture of creativity, experimentation, and collaboration among engineering managers and their teams.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?