INNOVATION IN CONSTRUCTION

Innovation in Construction



Innovation in Construction

Introduction

The advent of globalisation and information technology has made firms, engaged in the construction business to opt for designing sustainable buildings (such as an airport in this case) while using various innovative techniques. Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports, currently handling some 67 million passengers every year (Business Traveller 2010). This is nearly one-third of the passengers at UK airports, the UK national total accounting for around one-fifth of all international air passengers worldwide. Heathrow serves the most economically active regions in Britain, comprising London and the South East. It is Britain's hub airport, where a concentration of activity enables multiple connections between routes. The airport operator, BAA, refers to it as 'the hub of the aviation world'.

It is also very close to full capacity, at an estimated 97 per cent of capacity utilisation. With such pressures in mind, there is a case to be examined for maintaining or enhancing the capacity of such a key element of Britain's communications infrastructure; however, any plan for a major expansion of infrastructure must be assessed in the context of wider policy objectives and pressures. In this case, policy has evolved significantly since the 2003 Air Transport White Paper gave initial backing to proposals to expand Heathrow (DeFillippi, 2005, 14).

Innovation in the organisational environment

No company had previously attempted to build an underground link between five terminals in operation at an airport, while changes in the alignment of the tunnel made it necessary to resort to latest innovations. To reduce the risk of the tunnel is the only road access to three of the terminals, it was necessary to modify the route of the new tunnel in the course of the project.

Organisations can reduce consumers' effort to overcome distances by home- delivery of offerings or delivery to the consumer's place (Wolstenholme 2008). In order to lower this access barrier, spatial consumption behaviour should be analysed that is dependent on individual and collective possibilities of action, like car ownership, alternatives of consumption, home and working location (Wolstenholme 2008). The phenomenon of coupling consumption activities and coupling consumption activities with other spatially relevant activities (leisure, etc.) are playing a crucial role, because they can counteract the perception of distance. In this context Heathrow airport operators kept in mind that the frequency of visiting this shopping location with the perception of distance, and not with the actual measurable distance. The accessibility of the airport and the catchment areas of consumer groups are different, for instance, airport visitors or local residents come from another catchment area than passengers, and may have separate access problems (Wolstenholme 2008). The message that an additional runway is crucial for the UK economy is not, however, supported by any independent analysis of the empirical relationship between a marginal addition to Heathrow and the UK economy.

Theoretical understanding of the pre-existing situation

A project cannot be successful unless it has a sound reason for its formulation and execution. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct an evaluation of ...