Returning from a very busy week on the “Ask an Expert” panel at Grand Designs Live I was going to write a blog post about the seminars that we attended and the insightful debates that emerged. I was planning to talk about the new products that were on show and some of the new construction techniques that are reducing carbon wastage and making construction methods safer and more efficient.

However, I came away with a much more important message to share, as it kept occurring time and time again.

Setting the Scene

Let me set the scene.

Grand Designs NEC 2015 ASk an expert

Over the period of four days we had appointments with over forty individuals. Mainly home owners excited about the prospect of their very own “Grand Design”.  They ranged from removing a single beam in a house to new build “Grand Designs” in France and Tuscany.

People bounced up to our desk, wide eyed and happy as they eagerly showed us their plans. So much time and thought had got them to this point.

As far as they were concerned they just had a few structural issues that they wanted to discuss before work could start on site (in some cases they wanted a second opinion about a structural solution that had already been proposed).

We sat and listened as they told us how they were so pleased that they now had obtained Planning Permission, they were one step closer to their dream home, just some structural issues to sort out.

Listening

We let them talk .. we listened.

Time and time again we saw their faces drop as we calmly explained that

Yes –  the designs were amazing

Yes – the designer had obviously listened very carefully to what they wanted from the design.

But ….. and it was a big “but”.

The designs weren’t buildable ..

Well what we actually said was;

“anything can be built structurally, but it will cost you a lot of money”

To give you just one example. A young couple had appointed an Architect to design them a new build, detached five bedroomed, three storey house. It looked amazing!

Listened to Their Brief

The Architect had clearly listened to their brief and they were very pleased with the design that had gone through Planning and had obtained full Planning Approval without too many problems.

They had booked an appointment to see us to find out what they needed to do to obtain Building Regulations Approval.

When we looked at the drawings, there were no internal load paths. The walls at first floor did not line up with any load bearing walls, a similar situation on the second floor. There were a few lines where beams needed to be “designed to engineers calculations” however, some were missing altogether.

The design was buildable, but at what cost?

Unfortunately, this seemed to be a common reply to a high number of visitors to our sessions.

So What’s The Answer?

We know this doesn’t apply to all designers, but time and time again this is an issue that we are experiencing.

The Structural Engineer comes to the party too late.

Imagine if the engineer was involved at an earlier stage .. to work up the design with the Architect .. possibly even “collaborating” with them …..

I’ve had this discussion with many Architects and I get the same response

“the Client doesn’t want to pay for the full design at the initial stage as they might not obtain Planning permission”

I make the point that the designer should have a fairly good idea whether or not Planning permission would be granted.

We are not suggesting a full detailed design at an early stage, just some conceptual ideas that would make the design buildable at a later stage.

Collaboration and Communication

The designer’s focus is on;

      function and the aesthetic of the project – how it looks, how the users experience it, how it feels to         be in the space.

Engineers are looking for;

      the most cost effective solution that is the most functional.

I believe that Clients ultimately benefit from a well thought through scheme. What’s s the point of getting planning permission for something that is disproportionately expensive to build?

By working together at an early stage, Architects and Engineers can apply their specialist knowledge and experience to deliver a cost effective solution which meets the Clients brief.

Would your Clients benefit from engaging a Structural Engineer at concept stage? When do you typically engage a Structural Engineer? Would be very interested to hear your thoughts …

This month I’m talking to John Staves, Chartered Structural Engineer and Managing Director at Michael Aubrey Partnership about running an SME and how BIM adoption can benefit construction businesses, no matter how small.

So John, Why Did You Decide To Become A Structural Engineer?

Because I wanted to apply Maths and I wanted to make it do something for real, rather than just be an academic subject, I could see you could apply it and I wanted to be able to create things with it, make use of it.

What Prompted You To Start Your Own Business?

After a few years in industry I could see that things were done as they had always been done. I could see that workflows could be better to improve delivery, so that projects were realised in a better way – there is always room for improvement.

What’s Your Favourite Part Of Your Job?

Actually succeeding in getting somebody into their project. Typically, our projects are building structures. It’s great when a Client gets to use their new facility. To see our Clients realise their vision – I like seeing someone from when they have that initial idea, to getting their vision realised.

What’s The Most Surprising Thing You Have Learnt During Your Time Running Your Own Business?

Structural Engineering isn’t what people actually want.   They want their building – technical excellence isn’t the key thing.

Getting the right solution to peoples issues / problems. For example, Clients don’t want a beam designed, they want a large open plan space. So although structural engineering facilitates what they want … structural engineering is seen as a “distressed purchase”

It is seen as something that you have to have, rather than something that can add value, helping you achieve want you want to achieve with your building.

What Was The Main Reason For Your BIM Adoption In 2009?

Fundamentally it fitted so well with the way we liked to work. Because we are trying to deliver somebody’s project, its allows for better communication, it allows us to make sure our designs are much more buildable than perhaps they would have been traditionally if we hadn’t thought them through in a modelling environment.

It fitted so well with our collaborative approach to working, the way we wanted to work. We saw Revit in 2007 when we were looking for some structural analysis software .. it was an American stand alone business, now of course owned by Autodesk. It seemed to fit with the way we wanted to work.

How Has BIM Changed Your Business?

It has made us more efficient, it’s allowing us to spend more time designing because there is a level of automation within producing the construction information. Some of the laborious steps that have been in the process traditionally, are now much more automated.

BIM allows us to spend the time improving the designs, refining the design, making sure things work better before they ever get to site. Rather spending time on internal communication. eg engineer to draftsman, we now spend more time making sure that design is as good as it can be, and less time producing the actual information because it’s much more automated, the link between engineering and production information is now much closer.

To my mind, it means that the emphasis has now gone back to the engineering and the design quality, not where it had got to … we were spending a lot of time checking and re-checking that internal communication, making sure that the product going out of the door was right.

Inevitable what was happening was, it was taking so much time within the fee, that it meant that the first solution that worked was what was published, whereas now we get chance to refine that design, a much more efficient process. Designs that go out to site are much better and much better thought out.

Are you an SME? Do you use BIM? What’s the biggest benefit you’ve derived from using BIM?

In the second and final part of our interview next week … find out what John would say to convince an Architect or a Contractor to use BIM.