Industrial Building Planning and Design

All too often, the design of contemporary industrial structures lacka deeper quality than being just variations on the "big-box" type,preferred for economy and efficiency, but only to a limited extentable to respond to context and the needs of human users. In lightof the current changes in the production sector, where sustainableapproaches in everything from energy supply, material procurementto waste management challenge and redefine the very essence ofthe industrial sector, a similar new approach to industrial architecturaldesign is also a chance to re-invent the way industry and environmentcan interact in a positive way.The examples assembled here touch on different aspects of usingarchitectural quality to go further than the purely functional, byincluding bioclimatic aspects, workplace design and urban andlandscape integration. But they also show the possibilities of simplycreating good design with modest means ż with few exceptions,industrial architecture is created from low budgets and standardizedcomponents. This makes the challenge of the designer all the greater,and proves that architectural quality is not primarily driven byinvestment but by imagination and invention.