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Maples Respite Centre

Harlow, Essex

DQI process

Building DQI into the design brief

The construction group of Essex County Council specified that the Design Quality Indicator (DQI) tool should be used as part of the brief for the Maples Respite Centre.  The council saw the DQI tool as a way to:

  • measure design quality consistently throughout the project
  • manage stakeholder engagement
  • facilitate understanding and consensus between professionals working on the development of the scheme
  • consolidate and test aspirations of both users and professionals
  • develop good practice to feed into other projects.

Involving the architect

The architects Stanley Bragg organised the DQI session and stressed their commitment to the process.  They saw their role as:

  • facilitating understanding of the design
  • answering questions during the DQI session
  • communicating the implications of the process to stakeholders to ensure full engagement. 

“Respondents should feel informed to the extent that they feel comfortable in providing feedback and to discuss their thoughts frankly through DQI, the relationship between the architect and the respondent group is crucial”
Architect

Gathering the stakeholders

The stakeholder group included:

  • quality inspector
  • quantity surveyor
  • project manager (client)
  • programme manager (client)
  • mechanical engineer
  • service manager
  • contractor
  • architect
  • landscape architect

Using the DQI tool

The DQI tool was used once during the design stage and again before the building was occupied. An independent DQI facilitator ran the sessions. 

The stakeholders completed the DQI questionnaire on paper and on their own to express their opinion independently of others.  The results, questions and issues generated were discussed at the end of the session.

The DQI consultation was one of several tools used to ensure the success of the design process including regular client/user/architect design liaison meetings. The results of the DQI sessions highlighted priorities and likes and dislikes from the different user perspectives and acted to consolidate and test user and professional aspirations.