ABSTRACT
There are several limitations based on the temporal and practical constraints of this research project:
This research examined the functional performance of transportable buildings, and concentrated on the quality of building services, such as functionality, usability and durability. Environmental performance, such as air quality, outdoor environment and energy consumption, were studied less thoroughly due to the technical requirements involved, such as specific computer software and other measurement equipment.
The research concentrated on the post-occupancy evaluation of transportable buildings, therefore pre-occupancy evaluation and monitoring were examined and analysed in less detail. This is because the research goal focused on the functional performance of a building, which values users’ opinions and aims to improve communication between the designers and the users.
Due to the research scope, although medium-scale and large-scale projects were reviewed to enable the design quality indicators for transportable buildings to be developed, they were not specifically assessed. This is because they are much more complicated in terms of project management, and normally require multiple designers, large construction teams and relatively more advanced technology. This was not possible within the scope of an individual research project, since the complexity requires a longer process and more funding.
Other public-use buildings, such as transportable offices, clinics and theatres, were not specifically examined in this research because there were no suitable case studies available to the author during the research period. While the study of an elementary school focused on a building with inherently different functions than a public exhibition space, the provision of a satisfactory evaluation conceptual model, which has sufficient adaptability and flexibility to be applied to the assessment of other building or functional structure types, enabled the research findings to represent a wide range of transportable buildings. Although each individual building clearly offers a different function, they can be assessed under a general framework for conceptual evaluation.
The Evaluation Conceptual Model was sent to the designers of each case study to assess their design project for post-occupancy evaluation. Although feedback was received from the three designers within a sufficient time frame, the usability of this model, in terms of how convenient it was to participate in ranking the indicators, was not tested. Currently, the Evaluation Conceptual Model is limited in its theoretical recommendations, and although it provides a practical guide that has been tested through case studies, it is not yet possible to broaden its use for greater impact. The usability of the Evaluation Conceptual Model should also be considered within future research, and many potential approaches could be further developed, such as the development of practical software which can be used by architects or designers for comprehensive evaluation. It could also be developed as a mobile device-based application for users who are interested in the design of transportable buildings.224
In this research, the evaluation of small-scale public transportable buildings focused on the relationship between the building and its users. The relationship between the building and its surrounding environment, including the construction site and surrounding conventional buildings, was discussed in general and, while not examined against a set of criteria, the important indicators of how the built environment can interact with transportable buildings to create a better visiting/occupying experience were addressed.
