1 minute read
Long Distance Collaboration: Travelling vs. Technology
By Konstantinos Voulpiotis
Construction projects nowadays involve professionals of multiple disciplines, usually scattered in various locations. Multidisciplinary collaboration, the heart of the success in large projects, is now largely challenged by the physical distance between teams.
Advertisement
Take for example the Sydney Opera House. Without the internet, Jørn Utzon and his team had to move to Australia to design and supervise the project and he was accompanied by Ove Arup’s team. An equivalent modern example is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Athens Opera House, where Architects and Engineers work together from Athens, New York, London, Paris and Dusseldorf. Travelling has been limited radically and BIM has opened new doors in the communication of information across the project.
Technology has took down most of the obstacles when it comes to delivering complex work across the world. Or has it? Two projects from my experience seem in deep contrast when it comes to communication across the team.
so-busy line from London to Bristol, to run quieter and faster electric trains. I was personally involved in the route clearance study, a large scale feasibility study of all overhead structures, such as bridges, tunnels and signal gantries. Work was carried out from the UK and India, and involved the production of hundreds of drawings. I was in touch with my Indian colleagues on a daily basis, via email, phone and video calls. Simple when work could be carried out during UK night time. However reached a certain degree of complexity.
Design for the Battersea Redevelopment in London is split between Bath, London and Los Angeles. I was not personally involved in the project, however I worked in the same structures team. Daily communication via email, phone and video calls was again the norm, however Engineers from Bath and Architects from Los Angeles travelled to work alongside in many occasions; the progress rate of the design multiplied during those workshops. Inperson collaboration is a lot more constructive than what the best money/carbon spent on travelling long distances? Every project is different and has its own budget, requirements and complexity and it seems that the client is the ultimate decision maker. I think such project management aspects should be debated a bit more in the wider design team before a decision is made, as it will would be a lot healthier to keep design teams local, in the interest