The task distribution of design teams in the Japanese architectural projects comparison with the United Kingdom and the United States

Figures & data

Figure 1. Design organization coordinated for a project in the design phase.

Table 1. Task distribution in Japanese architectural projects

	Design Firm	A		B		C		D		E
	Building Type	Office	Office	Office	School	Office	Theater	Office	School	Residential
	Year of Completion	2002	2004	2009	2014	2013	2008	2016	2016	2011
	Total Floor Area(sqm)	20,000	90,000	3,000	4,000	7,000	7,000	3,000	10,000	10,000
Specialized Profession	Architect	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
	Structural	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
	Mechanical (incl. Plumbing)	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
	Cost	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
	Interior Space Planning, Material Finish	○	○
	Landscape					○	○			○
	Curtain-wall, Building Envelop			○
	Acoustics, Audio, Visual						○
	Sign, Graphic						○
	Fire, Life Safety						○
	Environmental Assessment									○
	Theater						○
Unofficial Design Assist	Vertical Transportation, Elevator	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Curtain-wall, Building Envelope	○	○		○	○	○	○		○
	Acoustics, Audio, Visual	○	○
	Sign, Graphic	○	○					○	○	○
	Security	○	○							○
	Furnishing					○	○	○	○
	Steel Stair	○	○							○
	Multistory Parking	○	○					○		○
	IT	○	○	○
	EXPJ					○	○	○	○
	Vertical damp proof barrier	○	○					○	○
	Furniture				○		○
	Partition	○	○				○	○		○
	Equipments	○		○			○	○		○
	●: in-house ○: outsourced

Table 2. Task distribution in the U.K. architectural projects

	Design Firm	A			B	C	D	E
	Building Type	Council Office	Civic Centre	Hospital	Art Gallery	Opera House	Residential	Office
	Year of Completion	2009	2013	2015	2011	2018	2017	2019
	Total Floor Area(sqm)	1,51,300	40,255	1,300	3,100	5,000	22,000	10,000
Specialized Profession	Architect	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
	Structural	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Mechanical	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Electrical	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Plumbing	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Specification	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	●	〇
	Interior Space Planning, Material Finish	●	●	●	●	●	〇	●
	Building Permit, Planning	●	●	〇	●	〇	〇	〇
	Quantitiy Surveyor (Cost)	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Acoustics, Audio, Visual	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Lighting	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Landscape	〇	〇		〇		〇
	Furniture	●	●		●	〇
	Sign, Graphic	●	●	●	〇	〇
	Vertical Transportation, Elevator	〇	〇	〇	●	〇	〇	〇
	Curtain-wall, Building Envelope			〇	〇		〇
	BIM (Revit, ArchiCAD)					〇		〇
	Communications, IT, Data Cabling Technology	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇		〇
	Environmental Assessment	〇	〇	〇	〇		〇	〇
	Sustainable (LEED, BREEAM, etc)	〇	〇	〇	〇		〇	〇
	Civil, Traffic and Parking	〇	〇		〇	〇	〇	〇
	Security	〇	〇	〇			〇	〇
	Geotechnical	〇	〇	〇				〇
	Fire, Life Safety	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇	〇
	Equipments	〇	〇	〇
	Food Service	〇	〇		〇	〇
	Commissioning	〇	〇	〇
	Townscape, Heritage						〇
	Archaeological						〇	〇
	Party Wall							〇
	Maintenance			〇
	Lab Planner			〇
UDA	Curtain-wall, Building Envelope	○	○
	Hardware	○	○	○

Table 3. Task distribution in the U.S. architectural projects

	Design Firm	A				B		C		D	E
	Building Type	Office	Hospital	School	Residential	OfficeResidential	Laboratory	Hospoital	School	Laboratory	Laboratory
	Year of Completion	2006	2013	2011	2010	2009	2014	2005	2012	2008	2007
	Total Floor Area(sqm)	1,51,300	38,050	56,250	26,930	51,300	17,640	18,900	35,370	23,040	16,920
Specialized Profession	Architect	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
	Structural	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Mechanical	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Electrical	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Plumbing	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Specification	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
	Interior Space Planning, Material Finish		●	●	●	○		○	○		●
	Building Permit	○	○					○	○	○
	Cost				○		○	○	○	○
	Acoustics, Audio, Visual	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Lighting	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Landscape	○	○	○	○	○	○	○		○	○
	Sign, Graphic	○	○	○		○		○	○	○
	Vertical Transportation, Elevator	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Curtain-wall, Building Envelope	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Communications, IT, Data Cabling Technology	○	○	○	○	○	○	○		○	○
	Environmental Assessment						○		○
	Sustainablity (LEED)				○	○	○
	Civil, Traffic, Parking	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Security	○	○		○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Geotechnical	○	○	○		○		○	○	○
	Fire, Life Safety	○				○	○	○	○	○	○
	Equipments	○	○	○
	Facilities Programmer		○				○	○	○
	Hardware						○			○	○
	Building Maintenance								○
	Restoration							○
	Pool Operation				○
	Toxic Materials							○
	Food Service									○
	Commissioning									○
	Water Proofing									○
	Shoring				○
	●: in-house ○: outsourced

Table 4. Cases of unofficial design assist by elevator subcontractors

Building Type		Office	Office	Hospital	Office	Office	Office	Office	School	Residential	Residential	Residential	Residential
Landing Floors		58	35	17	23	18	12	unknown	unknown	15	10	14	5
Number of EV		21	27	10	12	23	5	unknown	unknown	2	unknown	1	1
Custom-made/Ready-made		Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Ready	Ready	Ready	Ready	Ready
New/Refurbishment		New	New	New	New	New	New	New	New	New	Refurbishment	New	Refurbishment
Period of DA	Start	SD	SD	SD	SD	SD	SD	SD	SD	DD	SD	CD	CD
	End	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD	CD
Requirements and Constraintsprovided from Architects		Floor Plan Secion Capacity Height Service	Floor Plan Secion Capacity	Floor Plan Secion Capacity	Site Plan Volume Height	Site Plan Floor Plan Section	Floor Plan Section	Floor PlanSection	Floor Plan Section	Floor Plan Section	Floor Plan Section	Floor Plan Section	Floor PlanSection
DA provided to architects	Drawing	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Specification	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Analysis	○	○	○	○	○	○
	Presentation		○					○
	Cost	○		○
		東芝	三菱	三菱	日立	日立	東芝	フジテック	フジテック	東芝	フジテック	OTIS	OTIS

Table 5. Summary of design assist by elevator subcontractors

Type of Elevator	Custom-made	Minor alteration of ready-made	Ready-made
Uncertainty	high	low	none
DA start	SD	DD	none
DA end	end of CD	end of CD	none
Period of DA	long	short	none
Requirements and Constraints provided from Architects	a lot	few	none
DA provided to Architects	a lot	few	none

Figure 2. Flow of design information and compensation of UDA in Japan.

Figure 3. Flow of design information and compensation in the U.K./U.S.