LECTURE 3:

DESIGN ECONOMICS:
EFFECTS ON
DESIGN & SITE
VARIABLES
 INTRODUCTION
 Design is one of the most important factor
that will influence cost of a building.
The main objective of the design team is to
get the best value for money for the client,
not necessarily the lowest but the one that
is economical.
An economical building is a building that
does not only give value at the lowest cost
but also fulfill the design and function
required.
 FACTORS
 An economical design is evaluated based
on 2 (two) factors:-
• Design Factors
• Site Factors
DESIGN FACTORS
 DESIGN FACTORS
 This is evaluated from graphical aspect of
the building such as:
1. Building plan shape
2. Grouping of building
3. Building size
4. Building storey height
5. Building total height
6. Circulation area
 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
General rule is the simpler the shape of
the building the lower will be the unit
cost.
When the building becomes more
complicated and irregular, the perimeter/
floor area ratio will increase and
accompanied by a higher unit cost.
Rectangular shaped building would be
more expensive than a square one with the
same floor area because of smaller
perimeter/ floor area ratio.
 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
(CONT’D)
The building plan shape may influence the
followings:
 Structure
 Environment
 Construction cost
 Management and maintenance cost
DESIGN FACTORS
 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
(CONT’D)
The most economical design of building:-
 Circular in shape
 Bigger volume
 Minimum enclosing wall

But;
 Not practical
 Doesn’t suit most sites which are not
circular in shape
 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
(CONT’D)
The most economical design of
building (cont’d):-
 Square because minimum
enclosing wall, b ut;
 Not quite practical
 Only suitable for stores and
warehouses
 No site that is really square
 Doesn’t look nice
 Not good for natural lighting
requirements
 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
(CONT’D)
Wall/ Floor Area Ratio
Wall/ floor ratio is a means of expressing the
planning efficiency of a building and is
influenced by the plan shape, size and storey
heights.
The ratio is calculated by dividing the
external wall area (inclusive of windows and
doors) by the gross floor area.
The lower the wall/ floor ratio, the more
economical will be the proposal.
 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
(CONT’D)
Definition of term (Wall –to - Floor Ratio) :

• Wall Area: Areas of enclosing wall measured on the outer face to the full
storey height for each floor over all windows, doors, beams, columns, etc.

• Gross Floor Area (GFA): Total of all enclosed space measured to the
internal face of enclosing wall.

GFA Wall Area

 BUILDING PLAN SHAPE
(CONT’D)
EXAMPLE OF CALCULATION

Building A is the most economical design as it has the lowest ratio. The higher the
ratio, the higher the building cost because:
1. Increase in the quantities of foundation, external wall, wall finishes, electrical
wiring, piping, etc.
2. Construction works become more complicated and increase in labor cost.
3. Roofing construction become more complex.
4. Higher maintenance cost : higher electrical usage, higher cleaning cost, more
expose area to weather (more damage), etc.
REVIEW QUESTION 1
 ANSWER 1
Building A Building B Building C
GFA (m2) 100 100 100
Wall area (m2) 40m x 4m = 50m x 4m = 50m x 4m =
160m2 200m2 200m2
Wall/floor area ratio 1.6 2.0 2.0

Building A is the most economical as it has

the lowest ratio compared to building B and
C.
 GROUPING OF BUILDINGS
 If the building are built or grouped
together, there will be generally cost
savings resulting from the combined used
of party walls.

 The cost of the party walls is shared

together by two units of building.
REVIEW QUESTION 2

**ALL BUILDING
HEIGHT : 4m
 ANSWER 2
AREA (m2) A B C D
Party walls _ (30m/3) x 4m (10m/2) x 4m (20m/3) x 4m
= 40m2 = 20m2 = 26.8m2
External walls 50 x 4m 30 x 4m 40 x 4m 36.7 x 4m
= 200m2 = 120m2 = 160m2 = 146.8m2

If cost/m2 brickwall = RM35/m2, the effect on cost as

follow:
COST (RM) A B C D
Party walls _ 40 x 35 = 1,400 20 x 35 = 700 26.8 x 35 = 938
External walls 200 x 35 = 120 x 35 160 x 35 146.8 x 35
7,000 = 4,200 = 5,600 = 5,138
Total Cost RM7,000 RM5,600 RM6,300 RM6,076
 GROUPING OF BUILDINGS
(CONT’D)
The more the buildings are group together, the
lower is the cost of construction.
The cost of narrow fronted buildings is lower
than the broad fronted buildings.
However, the effect of grouping of buildings is
not only on party walls and external walls. By
changing the layout and shape, the span of the
roof structures especially of Building B, C and D
will have to be adjusted. This may affect the
variation in the amount of timber or concrete
used. Installation of rainwater drainage will also
differ.
 BUILDING SIZE
General rule is increases in the size of buildings
will decrease its unit cost i.e. cost/m² of gross
floor area (GFA).
Costs do not rise proportionately with increases
in the plan size of a building because:
Fixed costs i.e. transportation, erection and
dismantling of site building, storage of
materials, temporary water supply
arrangements, provision of temporary roads do
not vary with an extension of the size of the
building.
 BUILDING SIZE
Example:
Total cost for chain-link fencing is RM10,000 for
for all the three building

Building GFA Cost/m2 GFA (RM)

A 100 100.00

B 400 25.00

C 1600 6.25
 BUILDING SIZE (CONT’D)
Costs do not rise proportionately with increases
in the plan size of a building because (cont’d):
Larger project is often less costly (in term of per
unit cost) to build as the wall/floor ratio
reduces.
More economical to construct a big building
than a few small buildings.
Cost advantage of a high-rise building may
accrue due to lifts serving a larger floor area and
greater number of occupants with an increased
plan area.
 REVIEW QUESTION 3
100mm

50mm

Building A

50mm 50mm

50mm 50mm

Building B
Building height for
Building A & B : 4m
 ANSWER 3
Building GFA Wall Area Ratio
(m2) (m2) Wall Area/GFA

A 50 x 100 = 5000 300 x 4 = 1200 1200/5000 = 0.24

B 2500 x 2 = 5000 200 x 4 x 2 = 1600 1600/5000 = 0.32

Building A is the most economical as it has the

lowest ratio compared to building B.
 CIRCULATION AREA
An economic layout will have one of its
main aims of reduction of circulation space
because:
Circulation space such as entrance halls,
staircases and corridors etc. cannot be
used for profitable purposes.
The proportion of floor space allocated
to circulation purposes vary between
different types of building:
CIRCULATION AREA
(CONT’D)
 CIRCULATION AREA
(CONT’D)

The single-storey building is more cost effective

than the double-storey building.

The rationale - The single-storey building having

83% space can be rented out.
 STOREY HEIGHT
The storey heights of buildings are
determined by the client’s requirements. The
constructional items that are affected by the
variation in storey heights would be:
walls, partitions and their associated
finishing works;
Increased volume to be air-conditioning;
Longer length of pipes or cables;
Longer waste pipes to supply sanitary
appliances;
 STOREY HEIGHT (CONT’D)
The storey heights of buildings are
determined by the client’s requirements. The
constructional items that are affected by the
variation in storey heights would be (cont’d):
Possibility of higher roof costs due to
increased in hoisting;
Increased costs of constructing staircases
and lifts;
More costly foundations to support the
increased load.
 BUILDING HEIGHT
 Construction cost will increase with the
increase in total height of building.
 Construction cost of for high structure is
more than low building that provides and
offers the same GFA.
 However, a high rise building is necessary to
be built if the land area is limited and
expensive.
BUILDING HEIGHT (CONT’D)
SITE FACTORS
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON BUILDING SIZE
Smaller sites -> taller buildings
 Limited site -> limit size of building to built
 Example:
 Sites in the Golden Triangle in KL are
large in size, therefore, the building built
are large.
Developer is advised to buy the adjacent
site so that development more economical.
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON BUILDING SIZE

Singapore Housing
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON DESIGN OF BUILDING
Shape of site affects shape of building. For
example;
 Bank Rakyat building has irregular diamond
shape plan due to triangular site
 Wisma Shaw follows the polygonal shape of the
site
 Most buildings will have rectangular floor plan
if not limited by the shape of the site
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON DESIGN OF BUILDING

Bank Rakyat, KL.

 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON PLOT RATIO
The plot ratio is the ratio of the site area with the
total construction area .
 The total construction area is calculated by
totaling the GFA on all levels (total of usable area,
ancillary area, circulation area and internal
division area).

SITE FACTOR
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON PLOT RATIO
Plot ratio varies by location, type, size and density
development.
For example, plot ratio for areas regulated by
MBSA (Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam) commonly
range from 1:3 to 1:5.
Therefore, when the size of the site is limited
there is a tendency to have more floors by
constructing the building upwards or by
constructing more floors below ground level. It is
hoped that this will balance the high cost of the
land.
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE ON PLOT RATIO
When the size of the site is large, there is more
freedom to give more expression to the shape of
the building. In this case, the buildings are built
scattered and horizontally. As the scattered
buildings are large, then its plot ratio is also low
because high buildings are not necessary.
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE CONDITION ON DESIGN
Land that has a safe load bearing capacity of
600kN/m2 may be supported by the pad
foundation.
 Some site have a high water table that will affect
the construction and design – special foundation
and design is needed.
 The contour also will have effect on the
foundation design. Cut and fill works might be
increased.
 SITE FACTOR
EFFECT OF SITE LOCATION ON DESIGN
 If the site is situated at a location with many
high-rise buildings, there is a tendency to
compete with the existing buildings.
 This competitive nature to attract attention may
cause the practical and economical aspect of the
building to be ignored.