DEALING WITH MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AND DEFECTS IN AN INDUSTRIAL BUILDING - A CASE STUDY OF KA CENTRE

Abstract

With the rising demand in industrial space, conventional industrial buildings are gradually losing their competitive edge to Hi-Tech industrial buildings with built-in Mechanical and Electrical facilities such as Air-conditioning, Electrical system, Fire Protection system, Security system, Telecommunications system and Building Automation system. The architectural design of the hi-tech buildings is often unique and majority of the newly built buildings feature the extensive use of tinted glass-panels found in commercial office buildings to attract potential tenants in the industrial field. In a bid to create a sense of high standard office working environment, the common corridors of these buildings are furbished with carpet or raised floor system, instead of the usual concrete finishes, and are fully air-conditioned within the building. The dissertation attempts to examine and analyse a hi-tech industrial building within the MacPherson area and is classified under industrial land usage, with the emphasis on the building defects and the relationship to the management problems in the building; and to propose recommendations to the findings and conclusions. The subject of study, KA Centre, is a factory building designed and built for light industrial usage but furbished and managed like a commercial office building. The conflicts in the building design and approved space usage together with the management methods created an interesting and unique choice for the dissertation study.