Throughout the project, it is crucial to be willing to reframe the initial concepts by subjecting them to critical review. To do so, the process to be implemented is chosen based on the intended benefits. These may be qualitative or quantitative in nature. They may also aim to assess the suitability of the concepts or product to the primary beneficiaries and their appraisal of them.*
How can the project be reviewed and reframed at the conceptual stage so as to optimize the solutions and enhance the quality of the project?
By setting up a prototyping lab
- The prototyping lab, also known as a design lab, emphasizes experimentation with spatial planning and occupancy via prototyping and field observations. Learnings emergent from the lab context are meant to be generic, transferable and adaptable to a variety of implementation contexts.
By setting up a design panel
- A design panel ensures the qualitative monitoring of a project. The panel designates a group of experts from various disciplines (e.g., architecture, design, landscaping, heritage, engineering) to provide support and guidance to the design team assigned to execute the project. It is a consultative body, not a decision-making one, that supports the client. Its role is to contribute a vision, raise questions and make recommendations as to design quality.
By implementing integrated design and value engineering processes
- The integrated design process relies on collaboration between multidisciplinary experts to develop innovative solution avenues in response to complex challenges. Participants attend themed working sessions that explore the project's design and execution challenges.
- The goal of value engineering is to compare various conceptual and financial scenarios so as to optimize the value of the project (through improvements to the capital cost or life-cycle cost). Participants attend themed working sessions that explore the challenges relative to the value/benefits vs. cost relationship.