Services

Before design work begins and in parallel with project programming, we work with owners, occupants, architects, and project teams to define a project vision. What might a human-centric, climate-responsive space for this climate and program look like? What sort of carbon and energy targets are achievable? Are there sustainability certifications that should be pursued? We share examples, study the climate, and evaluate benchmarks to arrive at a shared goal.

We often describe the final vision in a custom, outcome-oriented project charter that outlines the goals for the project with far more clarity than generic certification goals.

As design starts, we begin generating ideas for how a project meeting the charter might physically manifest. We sketch ideas and exchange them with the architect, and comment on and share ideas in response to design sketches from the architect. The same process happens with other team members, especially the mechanical engineer for high-level system selection. This exchange of ideas happens continuously throughout the design process, starting with the highest-level decisions (basic architectural massing, façade design) and progressing to more detailed design decisions.

Our driving this process provides a holistic, interdisciplinary viewpoint that pushes toward integrated design solutions unlike ly to be found by traditional architecture and engineering disciplines, who focus on their own area of responsibility.

Emerging design ideas result in the need for diverse types of analysis (daylight, thermal/energy simulation, airflow simulation, and more) to help us and the team understand: What’s the design driver – what decisions are most important? Does a proposed boundary-pushing idea work for this climate and program – and what’s necessary to make it work? What’s the resulting performance (comfort, energy use, carbon emissions). What can be adjusted to get the best possible performance?

We choose what analysis is necessary to explore these questions and iterate the analysis with the team until a decision is made. Our simulation capabilities and our holistic perspective provide clear guidance and answers that are difficult to provide within the focused responsibility and tool sets of traditional design disciplines.

As projects move into final product specification and detailed coordination and documentation of the design, our expert guidance supports the team in successful implementation of the concept. What performance specifications are important, and what products meet them? What key details, controls, or other features are necessary, especially for more unusual or unfamiliar aspects of the design? Are any special tests or mock-ups necessary to test and verify performance of a new design idea? In some cases we even perform testing ourselves. We also review plans to ensure the design is remaining on track to meet the design intent and project charter.

Our expert guidance provides project teams three decades of worldwide experience implementing new or unconventional concepts. Our holistic perspective ensures that gaps between disciplines are addressed and not left unspecified.

We help project teams keep sight of the big picture – why was a certain design chosen and how do different elements work together? We also communicate this to owners – both for their project decision-making and for branding or marketing the project. The same applies to occupants, especially to ensure they make the best use of the building features we designed and can do their part to contribute to building performance.

We excel at making complex design interdependencies understandable, explaining the science behind design drivers, and focusing on what’s important. Our unique perspective allows us to deeply understand technical complexities, while reducing them to their ‘need-to-know essence’ in graphics or words for different audiences.

Even after a building has been commissioned, we remain by your side. Through post-occupancy services, we support the transition from planned to actual operation and ensure that the technical systems are functioning exactly as designed. We analyze operational data, assess comfort levels, compare actual performance with simulation results, and identify potential areas for optimization. Through targeted measurements, user feedback, and systematic evaluations, we help identify discrepancies early on and improve operational quality in the long term.

Our commitment doesn’t end with commissioning—we ensure that every project operates stably, efficiently, and in the best interests of its users over the long term.