The appraisal and management of multistorey dwelling blocks using large concrete panel systems

This exploratory study is concerned with the integrated appraisal of multi-storey dwelling blocks which incorporate large concrete panel systems (LPS). One hundred of the multi-storey dwelling blocks under the management of Birmingham City Council were built using the large concrete panel system. Thirteen LPS blocks were chosen as case-studies depending mainly on the height and age factors of the block. A new integrated appraisal technique has been created for the LPS dwelling blocks, which takes into account the physical and social factors affecting the condition and acceptability of these blocks. This appraisal technique is built up in a hierarchical form moving from the general approach to particular elements (as a tree model). It comprises two main approaches; physical and social appraisals. In the physical approach, the building is viewed as a series of manageable elements and sub-elements to cover every single physical or environmental factor of the block, in which the condition of the block is analysed. A quality score system has been developed which depends mainly on the qualitative and quantitative conditions of each category in the appraisal tree model, and leads to ranking order of the study blocks. In the social appraisal approach, the residents' satisfaction and attitude toward their multi-storey dwelling block was analysed in relation to biographical and housing related characteristics; and social, physical and environmental factors associated with this sort of dwelling, block and estate in general. The random sample consisted of 268 residents living in the 13 study blocks. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviations, Kendall's tau, r-correlation coefficients, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis. The analysis showed a marginally positive satisfaction and attitude toward living in a multi-storey dwelling block. The five most significant factors associated with the residents' satisfaction and attitude in descending order were: the estate, in general; the service categories in the block, including heating system and lift services; vandalism; the neighbours; and the security system of the block.