Shuttleworth warns against 'efficient but nasty' design

Architects need to resist the temptation to design energy efficient buildings that don’t give humans “delight”, Make founder Ken Shuttleworth has said.

Speaking at Ecobuild, Shuttleworth said there was a danger that tools like Building Information Modelling (BIM) could take designers away from designing for people.

“It’s really important the delight side is not forgotten in this drive of efficiency. We can’t have a load of buildings that are very efficient but nasty,” he said.

While Shuttleworth was enthusiastic about BIM’s potential to drive more collaborative working – resulting in better building,  he said: “We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that we are designing for future generations not for now.”

“We need to create amazing places and beautiful buildings and remember that we are crafting light and crafting spaces.”

He said too often professionals assumed BIM programmes would “design the thing for you” when traditional craft methods of modelling and sketching were still essential.