Purpose The morphology of a building describes its outline and influences its architectural aesthetics and the cost directly. However, the literature on the impact of morphology on the aesthetics and cost of urban detached residential buildings is scarce. Thus, this study is significant because its aim was to identify the critical building morphology factors and the relationship that each of them maintains with the cost and aesthetics of urban detached residential buildings. Design/methodology/approach The multi-method qualitative approach was used to collect the required empirical data through interviews and case studies and to identify the effect of the morphology factors on the aesthetics and construction cost of urban residences in Sri Lanka, respectively. The collected data were analyzed using manual content analysis and descriptive statistics. Findings The study findings revealed that the morphology factors such as the roof and circulation spaces, open spaces and voids have a high impact on both the building cost and aesthetics. These findings will assist building designers in making effective design decisions on building costs and aesthetics so that a successful design outcome satisfying both the clients and design team could be obtained. Originality/value Although morphology has an impact on the cost and aesthetic of buildings, literature on the subject is scarce. Thus, this study is significant in that it aimed at identifying the significant building morphology factors in urban detached residential buildings and identifying their relationship with the cost and aesthetic of those buildings.

The pressing human needs caused due to post-disaster effects may force donors to provide a roof above the heads of the displaced communities than focusing on fulfilling the references of a ‘home,’ which is a step toward restoring a certain sense of stability embedded with social, cultural, economic, and other interactions. And several displaced communities around the world continue to live in their temporary housing on a long-term basis. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating methods to consider a second life for the post-disaster temporary housing which may ensure long-term sustainable performance. A comprehensive literature survey has been carried out in attaining the aim. Many studies have found that the rapid post-disaster housing re-construction strategies through universal working standards have become unsustainable and culturally unacceptable in the long term. Furthermore, in various instances, the real-life post-disaster temporary housing has been simply dismantled or abandoned due to the end of usage and cultural incompatibility, without giving any concern for future disasters. This could be minimised by transforming the donor initiated temporary housing into a permanent basis. To achieve this, scholars have identified the need of considering the socio-cultural and related physical needs through active involvement of affected communities. Therefore, to achieve prolonged use of temporary housing, the findings suggest that the social and cultural needs of communities and associated physical transformations need to be considered by the donors. The findings serve as a way forward to explore a transformational space that can accommodate social and physical transformations in post-disaster housing reconstruction.

The construction industry in a country contributes significantly to the national economy. Developing countries in Asia produce a huge amount of construction waste. Road Construction (RC) projects, which are quite risky, often end up with cost and time overruns. Construction materials account for a major portion of the cost overruns. Thus, the management of material wastage in construction projects is important. Aggregate Base Course (ABC) wastage affects the cost of RC significantly. Thus, this study was on the waste management of ABC in RC projects executed in Sri Lanka. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and the required empirical data were collected by interviewing 13 experts. The interview findings were analysed manually using content analysis. The interviews were conducted based on the findings of a literature review. The interviews findings disclosed that improper material storage in sites, material wastage during transportation, improper material utilization, and professional inefficiency as the major factors that contribute to material wastage in road projects. Material reconciliation and proper documentation were identified as the two most common strategies that can be adopted to manage the material wastage in RC projects.

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