Collaboration is key to success of construction projects

Recently we have been looking into how we can better streamline our business to not only work more efficiently but also introduce better collaborative techniques between design disciplines within the industry. As a business our end goal is to have a functioning office which includes all industry disciplines so that the design process can be co-ordinated from one central hub as opposed to out sourcing and relying on this to take place often over email correspondence. This in turn we believe will enable us as a practice to offer our clients the best possible service for their project and try to eliminate on site issues with cost effects to the client. Current processes in the market such as BIM are making the industry a much more collaborative place to work and really helping to advance the on site construction capabilities in today's world which is great, but from our perspective this needs to be seen more at the front end of a project in Stage 0-2 where by design professionals can be grouped as a team early on and really start to identify key design issues before they become a problem or effect a building after Stage 3 has been achieved, when often it is to late and can either cost the designer or the client before ground is even broke. Architectural practices will often take on the role of lead consultant meaning they then become responsible for ensuring the project is correctly co-ordinated. With all the current tools and plugins available today this has become more about the machine than the human to check this, but ultimately this will always require human interaction. People will ultimately make mistakes sometimes because other consultant information is not clear to them or they are unaware that it is an issue if not familiar. This is where we think collaborative working within a common live environment (the office) is imperative moving forward. We have lots to do to realise our company's end goal but we are working daily to ensure this becomes reality in the near future. We would love to know peoples thoughts on this ideology and how you think the industry will move in the next 10 years.