Remote Site Design Management

Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop and validate a conceptual design management model for international, collaborative remote site projects. In the last decade or so there has been an increasing number of remotely located and often environmentally sensitive sites becoming the focus for development work involving potential investors/entrepreneurs/stakeholders or government and non-government agencies. There were no previously documented empirical examples, nor theoretical models, for remote site design management. Projects on remote sites are frequently government funded, making the approval processes, and timelines for example, subject to political influence, which means that the projects are potentially more difficult to manage, at all levels of involvement. The conceptual model was developed in association with the development of a typology for remote sites, and an investigation of three previously completed eco-resort and Antarctic science projects located on environmentally sensitive world heritage sites. The model responded to and reflected the perceived need for a well-integrated management approach to remote site projects. The research aimed to also demonstrate the potential portability of the model, in terms of offering a basis for a relevant management framework for built environment projects, international scientific drilling projects and international humanitarian aid projects. Grounded theory and case-study methodology were adopted when developing the typology, the conceptual model and when validating the design management model, as it involved empirical enquiry that afforded investigation of the remote site design management phenomenon within a real-life contexts. Two main case studies were undertaken to test the model, one being an historical Antarctic Science Drilling Project and the other, a current UN Humanitarian Project in Sudan. The findings to date support the conceptual design management model as being relevant for not only non-profit and/or Humanitarian Aid projects in the Post-disaster Reconstruction context, but also for commercially based Antarctic Science projects. Subsequently, the model has also been applied to a Post-disaster Reconstruction project in Aceh managed by the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS).