Importance of a Collaborative Approach between Architects and Engineers

Importance of a Collaborative Approach between Architects and Engineers

Building design and construction goes hand in hand. As we all know, designing is more easier to accomplish seamlessly than onsite construction. To successfully complete the construction process within budget and without exceeding the turnaround time, it is important for the Architects and Engineers work together in sync with each other. What is call as a “collaborative approach” is the ultimate step to improvise the sync.

For constructing any building successfully, the pre-construction stage needs to be perfectly executed. Ability to follow the right standards and codes, with initial meetings with each party during the design stage helps in accurate drawing creation. Services such as BIM Modelling, Architectural Construction Drawing and developments, shop drawing creation etc. play an important role today in getting it right. With the advancement of construction process, the roles and responsibilities of Architects, Engineers and other professionals have also increased manifolds. Several new techniques such as 4D BIM Scheduling, 5D Cost Estimation and Facility Management have made it easier for Architects and Engineers to collaboratively work with each other.

Roles of Architects and Engineers have considerably undergone a major evolution. Previously Architects generally prepared a conceptual design or a rough drawing to get an idea of the space planning. They annotated and provided room tags, placements etc. within these drawings which ultimately was used by on site construction Engineers. These drawings were detailed and provided a lot of information that could be utilized on site, however these were not complete enough to eradicate design errors, overlapping of building disciplines or components. Lot of these errors were spotted during construction and in turn took a toll on the budget and construction schedules. Hence keeping all these concerns in mind, the process eventually had to get better and the professional requirements of Architects and Engineers also changed.

Role of Architects and Engineers are different yet overlap with each other at some point. Like we have observed the base drawing or design is created by an Architect which further advanced into BIM Modelling, MEP Design, structural Engineering and calculations. The role of Architect is not limited to conceptual designs only as they have to continuously collaborate with Engineers in ensuring that the design aesthetics and space utility is not compromised. The structural design codes or MEP designs are in sync with the Architectural BIM service & planning.  They are the ones who decide how a building will function in terms of its overall utility in terms of sustainability or appearance of overall building structure.

The role of an Engineer is to take the concept design of an Architect and further complete the building design for Structural and MEP discipline. They need to perform Structural design calculation and analysis based on the demography, soil condition etc. Architects already conceptualize a building design based on the culture, type of building, surrounding areas, utilization etc.. Based on these factors Engineers create their plans and make desired improvements to these existing construction designs for making the resulting building safer, stronger as well as more cost and energy efficient. So, the prime responsibilities of Engineers are to ensure that the buildings are strong enough and safe for end users. The Design Engineers should use building codes and design parameters keeping in mind the various safety measures. Construction materials should be of high quality.

Engineers also take decisions on what type of materials should be used, what all materials, as well as other resources like different types of structural members, mechanical tools, electrical components, and plumbing elements, will be needed, etc.

Once the initial work of Engineers and Architects get finished, they proceed to the next steps where Architects and Engineers work together for developing Architectural Construction Drawings, 3D BIM Models and BIM Coordinated Drawings for better construction process. Architects and Engineers can attend collaborative meetings together to ensure that all the design issues are resolved before onsite construction takes place.

Hence, Architects and Engineers working in a synchronized manner is very important for a cost effective construction process. No process can work well if both the parties, work according to individual processes. With the help of evolving newer technologies and tools like virtual construction modeling, BIM coordination, 4D BIM and 5D BIM Modelling, coordination between Architectural and Engineers is not as poor as it used to be. Complex structures like Hospitals, historical monuments, large Government buildings, community centre etc.   More complicated building structures will be developed in the coming days which will require an excellent problem solving approach.

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