Key points
- The technical design should enable the hiring of local labour and children’s participation during the construction phase.
Technical design is the translation of the final design into construction drawings. This step is usually conducted by an architect or engineer working for the building contractor. However, ideally the architect or engineer is part of the same team that conducted the participatory design activities, as this guarantees continuity between these two design phases, and ensures that no major alterations are made during the technical design process. This can also benefit the timeline, as less negotiation is needed between the final and technical designs.
The construction drawings produced should be clear for the people who will build the intervention. As discussed in part B – Procurement, there are benefits to hiring local labour and prioritising the use of local materials and skills, but this can sometimes result in working with individuals who are not highly skilled in interpreting complex construction drawings. The architect or engineer producing the construction drawings should keep this in mind and discuss with the contractor/labourers the best way to represent the drawings.
The same thinking must be applied when producing construction drawings to be used by children during structured building activities. Drawings will need to be produced that are easy to understand, keeping in mind that spatial understanding varies for different age groups.
