TEACHING ARCHITECTURAL CONSTRUCTION IN

A SIMULATED ENVIRONMENT Russell Stevens

Summary
This poster investigates the use of Coventry Universitys Building Simulation
Centre in the education of undergraduate Architecture students. The Centre
was not designed for this purpose but an opportunity was seen by the
author to enhance student learning and understanding of construction
technology through its use. The trial has proved successful and use of the
facility is to be expanded throughout the course

Introduction
The Architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of
study and varied kind of leaning, ...It follows, therefore that architects who
have aimed at acquiring manual skill without scholarship have never been
able to reach a position of authority to correspond to their pains, while those
who relied only upon theories and scholarship were hunting the shadow, not
the substance On the Education of Architects, Vitruvius (first century B.C.)
Since its conception architectural education has combined theory and
artistry with technical issues concerning construction techniques. This
ancient approach remains embedded in the ARB and RIBA criteria for
validation that govern architectural courses in the UK. These criteria include
the ability to create architectural designs that satisfy both aesthetic and
technical requirements and an understanding of the structural design,
construction and engineering problems associated with building design
(RIBA 2010). These criteria are mapped across all modules of the
Architecture Course, but are most directly focussed on in 20 credit modules
Construction Technology & Environmental Design in years one and two.
It is apparent from student feedback and performance that there are a
notable number of otherwise talented students who find the construction
technology particularly challenging. Anecdotally it would seem that, while
they acknowledge its importance, they find the subject abstract and difficult
to process and relate to real buildings and their other learning activities.

to this

Construction technology is primarily taught through a combination of

lectures, seminars, and project based activities, supported by visits to
construction sites. These visits are important to provide real experience of
the subject matter, yet site visits are challenging for a number of reasons:

from this

by doing

by touching

by feeling

Construction sites are inherently dangerous places

Noise, activity on site, and frequently limited access mean that they are
not an ideal teaching/learning environment
It is not possible to synchronise activities on site with material being
taught in class
Finding suitable sites to visit can be challenging, and travel to them is
frequently time consuming .

by realising

by listening

YOU LEARN

by imagining

by smelling
by watching

In response to these issues the Universitys Building Simulation Centre

was explored as an alternative to visiting actual construction sites.

by tasting

Taxonomy of simulation pedagogy

(Poikela, E. & Poikela, P. 2012)

Staff Feedback:
The Building Simulation Centre
With the rise of affordable computer technology, much has been written
about the new learning environments that are available in our digital world.
At one extreme are the online environments supported by social media
(Beetham and Sharpe 2013), and at the other are the Immersive Virtual
Worlds such as second life (Savin-Badden 2010).
Teaching and learning in Simulated Environments precede these
experiments by many decades. Although frequently enhanced by computer
visualisations, these simulated environments create worlds in which
learning events are staged, often with props, actors and constructed
scenography. In some cases they can be highly particular and technology
driven such as a flight simulator with its hydraulically driven cockpit and
computerised visual effects, while at the other extreme the simulation can
be very basic with, for example, actors playing victims in first aid training.
Simulated environments are frequently used for teaching and learning in
high risk professions (i.e. pilot training and medical training), and much of
the research literature comes from these professions (Poikela, 2012).
The Building Simulation Centre at Coventry University was designed
primarily to offer training opportunities to construction companies for their
onsite management staff. In an environment surrounded by props and the
noises of construction, these students are confronted by situations acted
out by actors, and they learn to respond appropriately. The sense of reality
is enhanced by a curved large screen projection of a computer model of a
building in various stages of construction. This model was based closely on
photographs of a real construction site (as are the scenarios) and it is
navigable in that people can move through and around the building.
For the architecture students it was the simulated environment (not the
acted scenarios) that was used. In an environment which quickly felt real
tutors could safely take the students around the construction site pointing
out details of interest and relating these to issues that had been discussed in
the lecture course. Students quickly engaged with the environment and
through the nature of the questions it was clear that they found the session
illuminating and engaging (this was subsequently confirmed through an
online survey.) The Building simulation centre thus provided a safe and
controllable alternative to a real construction site.

I thought it was a good innovation.. it got them (the students) to see

virtually the construction process and hopefully understand it clearer, it also
The realism is great and allowed to cover some of the site issues when faced with construction .
.very closely enacts being that are not usually covered in technology lecturesThe group size is a
problem to be able to get the students fully engaged in the process. The
present on a live
Q&A process is the main way of getting the students involved in this type of
construction site.
teaching but its not easy to get them all involved. It might be helpful to give
a more detailed outline of the project, maybe using it more in the prior
Shortly after the session students were asked for feedback via an online
lecturers. Steve Austin (Head of Department)
survey. The results were overwhelmingly positive with the 100% of
respondents finding the sessions helpful or very helpful, and all agreeing
Generally the innovation is an excellent idea. It is difficult (due to health
that the technique should be adopted in other years
and safety issues) and time-consuming to arrange for students to visit
construction sites, particularly where high-rise buildings are involved. One
Three suggested improvements emerged from the survey:
improvement might be an introductory lecture on the design and
That the visits be more carefully timed to coincide with the lecture
technology of the Glenn Howells building before their visit. This can
course
illustrate how the construction strategies inform the architects aspirations
That there be more visits focused on different stages in the construction
for the design.
process
It would equally be extremely useful in Year One to help students
That the visits be supported by visits to real construction sites
understand other methods of construction such as masonry and timber
frames Prof Peter Madden (Module Tutor)

Student Feedback

Survey Results:

Did you find the 1st visit helpful in explaining the principles of
concrete frame construction ?

In response to the feedback, a number of improvements are proposed for

future enhancement of the module:

Did you find the 2nd visit helpful in explaining the principles of
curtain wall cladding systems ?

Did you find the visits helpful in clarifying issues that had been
talked about in lectures but you found confusing?

Lesson Plan
There were two visits to the Building Simulation Centre, planned to coincide
with the content of the lecture course. The first visit showed the building
with only the concrete structural frame erected, and the second visit
showed the building while the external walls and glazing were being
installed. Each session occurred with in a programmed two hour lecture
period and was divided in two parts:

Proposed Enhancements
Greater integration between visits and lectures course achieved in 3 ways:
1. Using the simulated building as a case study throughout the lecture
course
2. Increasing the number and frequency of visits to show more stages of
the construction
3. Visiting the actual building on which the simulation is based (and
inviting the architects to talk about their intentions and the challenges
and opportunities of the construction process)
Greater student engagement, interaction, and learning by:
1. Reducing group size from 30 to 15
students (may require staggered visits)
But also go to an actual site
2. Preparing specific material to discuss
to see what we see in the virtual
before, during, and after the visit
site you can understand the
3. Providing further learning material
principles after going to the
(construction documents, photographs
virtual site but in an actual site
etc.) on moodle for students to access
we might be able to see details.
after the visits
close up
4. Supporting visits to the Virtual Site with
more visits to actual building site

How well related were the visits to the lecture series?`

References

Part 1: 30 minute introduction in a lecture room showing photographs of

Beetham, H. & Sharpe, R. (eds) (2013) Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age. 2nd Ed.
Oxford: Routledge.

the finished the (real) building and architects and engineers drawings
relating to the stage of construction that the simulation will show. Q & A

Morgan, M.H. (trans) (1960) Vitruvius. The Ten Books on Architecture. New York: Dover.

10 minute walk to Simulation Centre and putting on PPE (hard hats etc.
- this is important to enhance the sense of reality)

Part 2: 40 50

minute highly interactive tour of the virtual building site

with tutors leading the discussions around specific aspects of construction.
Followed by Q & A

Do you think that it would be helpful to introduce similar visit to

the first year to look at brick construction?

Poikela, E. & Poikela, P. (eds) (2012) Towards Simulation Pedagogy: Developing Nursing Simulation in
a European Network . Rovaniemi University of Applied Sciences Publications.

Do it more often,
as it was extremely
helpful.

Royal Institute of British Architects (2011) RIBA Validation Criteria at part 1

and part 2. Available from: www.architecture.com/files/ribaprofessional
services/education/
Savin-Baden, M. (2010) Students experience of learning in immersive spaces.
Keynote speech, MET Conference, University of Huddersfield, UK, June 2010.