A proposal to substitute subdivided units with capsules in industrial buildings
Our Project
At the very beginning, we were given the topic ‘housing crisis in Hong Kong’ and were asked to present our ideas in the final exhibition. The objective of this project is to propose an innovative solution to alleviate housing crisis. The feature of this studio course is the high level of flexibility given. Freedom to choose any topic we like allowed us to conduct in-depth research in the area.
Among the wide array of topics that housing crisis covers, we see several potential subjects that we could work on. To name a few, shortage in land supply, unreasonably long queue time for public housing and notorious illegal sub-divided units. Research are done on all the aforementioned and we reached a consensus on digging into the issue of sub-divided units. We believed this worth paying attention to over the others as safety is concerned. After identifying our focus of study, we conducted brainstorming on viable solutions to tackle the problem of sub-divided units. We came up with a number of possible solutions, including cruise houses, container units, etc. After rounds of discussions with our facilitator – Mr. Wilson, we decided to investigate on capsules in industrial buildings as transitional housings – from there our nutshell begins.
Upon embarking on the nutshell, we have been through struggles and accomplishments. For instance, we tried to work on a sample case study by creating floorplans and vertical diagrams to show spatial arrangement in our proposed plan. Yet, upon in-depth discussion with our facilitator, we soon abandoned the thought as we believe the aim of this project is to formulate a strategic model that is well supported and enforceable. Floorplans would be out of our scope and could do limited contribution to our model.
A documentary and a website are our final deliverable. In the making of the documentary, two interviews were conducted. One with Mr. Wong – founder of GalaxyStars (HK), and one with Mr. Liu – Under Secretary of the Development Bureau. We reached out to them and communicated back and forth in fostering the interviews. Questions are prepared beforehand and sent over for interviewees to skim through. On the days of interview, meaning conversations were carried out and we all learnt a lot from the professionals, which was definitely beyond textbook.
Another milestone of our project is exhibition of capsules in the studio. We were lucky to be sponsored by Mr. Wong with two demo capsules. The process of learning to set up, transporting, building and dismantling were surely a highlight of our work. We were proud to showcase our work and let visitors to experience staying in the capsule on the day of exhibition. Together with our role-play, it marked a completion of this challenging, yet rewarding final year studio.
LEARNING CONTRACT
Summary
There are 5 learning objectives in our learning contract, which are:
1. To understand the root of the emergence of subdivided units and its associated problems.
2. To identify and formulate a research-based solution as an alternative for subdivided units in view of its root cause.
3. To learn different presentation skills through innovative means other than PowerPoint, which are documentary film and role-play.
4. To set up, implement and execute a time management schedule.
5. To manage individual contribution by conducting peer assessment.
Objective 1 is achieved. We have performed a social experiment by living in subdivided units and produced a video recording for our visit. We have also interviewed with the residents and landlords, but due to their strong opposition, video recording was not conducted. These activities help us to identify issues concerning subdivided units, allowing us to formulate our proposal.
Objective 2 is achieved. We have interviewed the Undersecretary of Development and asked for comments for our proposal. He provided feedbacks to us and agreed that our plan is a good way to provide transitional housing. Also, we have calculated the NPV of our proposal and predicted that we can make a profit. The living environment of the residents subdivided units can improve their living environment as well.
Objective 3 is partially achieved. We successfully produced a video including the social experiment for living in subdivided units, animated plans on capsules as well as interviews with different stakeholders. We also produce perform a role-play in the exhibition to as a way to interact with visitors, presenting our ideas to them. However, we failed to distribute questionnaires to the visitors due to tight schedules of visitors during the exhibition.
Objective 4 is partially achieved.timetableble was set up and updated regularly to monitor our progress. All deadlines have been met. However, we cannot achieve a buffer time of 5 days. Also, some of us actually work overtime due to the underestimation of transportation and assemble time for the capsule demo.
Objective 5 is achieved. 3 peer assessments have been made during the project. All of us make improvements, as reflected in the marks given in peer assessment. The result is fair. The one who contribute the most is fairly reflected.
PROGRAMME
Summary
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The programme sets out the time schedule for our entire project. Tasks to be completed are clearly stated at different time points. In such, we are able to track our process and manage our progress. We are also able to monitor the time allocated on the tasks. It also acts as a reminder for us to complete all detailed parts. Milestones are hence able to be achieved on time in avoiding delay of project. The programme includes main stages like research, interview, documentary, website, exhibition, etc.
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PEER ASSESSMENT
Summary
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At the beginning of the project, we were asked to conduct peer assessment for rating individual contribution. To make it effective, we have read some literature review on peer assessment method. We also identified some tools for peer assessment, such as google form, Peergrader and Surveymonkey.
After discussion within groupmates, we decided to use google form as our peer assessment tool due to 2 outstanding features. Firstly, it is easy to keep the record. The results will automatically save in the computer, avoiding loss of record. Secondly, unlike Peergrader and Surveymonkey, google form doesn’t require us to open an account particularly for peer assessment. It is easy to use too.
Concerning the peer assessment methodology, we adopted peer rating. It is because peer rating can quantify individual contribution, providing feedbacks to each other through awarding marks (Love,1979). We have chosen five key areas to be rated, which are attendance, contribution, coordination, leadership and creativity & logic. For each key area, we produce 5 criteria. If all these criteria are met, the person can get a full mark of 5. Therefore, a person can get a maximum of 100 marks in each assessment (5 marks*5 key areas*4 assessing groupmates).
Apart from peer rating, we also require groupmates to give comments to each other. It allows constructive feedback, so that improvements can be made in the future.
We have conducted peer assessment at the end of each month. 3 peer assessments are made throughout the project. The results can be summarized as follow.
Aaron: 91, Gordon: 93, Joyce: 85, Kenneth: 91, Panda: 91 (September)
Aaron: 92, Gordon: 94, Joyce: 90, Kenneth: 91, Panda: 93 (October)
Aaron: 96, Gordon: 95, Joyce: 97, Kenneth: 96, Panda: 96 (November)
In general, we all satisfied the contributions made by our groupmates. We all receive more than 80% of marks in each assessment. The average mark is 92.7.
By comparing the marks given in the first time and the last time of peer assessment, we can see that constant improvements have been achieved. We believed that it was due to the comments provided in each of the peer assessment, helping us to benchmark our performance and improve the works.