Design
Through 40 years of practice we have had the opportunity to experiment and test the results of numerous methods of design.
Given that each office has between 40 and 100 staff, the strategy we have adopted is a series of self-sufficient ‘mini-offices’ of around 20 people each. Dubbed collaboratives or ‘co-labs’ by the staff, each is led by a director and one or two associates. Experienced and recently graduated designers and documentation architects, and construction phase architects comprise a ‘co-lab’.
This process works positively in a number of ways:
• It ensures close client liaison.
• It maximizes exposure of young staff to all phases of the project.
• It enables staff to choose who they most want to work with.
The process allows for ‘co-labs’ to enlarge or contract as necessary by transfer.
Each ‘co-lab’ is required to regularly review the projects within its commission as a group thereby imparting diversity of knowledge to individuals about different project types, scales and procurement methods.
Above this structure are senior partners who review all projects and maintain the design ethos of the overall practice.
We have found that the process strongly supports the key factor of a rigorous design process, and that it staff motivation.
The tools of design have rapidly progressed over the past decade. Each office has 3-dimensional static and fly-through design communication ability using highly advanced software including 3D Studio Max. This ability facilitates the sequential evolution of projects from concept design through design development to documentation. In addition, each office has dedicated graphic designers who compose design presentations in collaboration with the design teams.