Reflections on IPD and Site Progress

Having all the mechanical parties heavily involved in the design from the get go means there really isn’t much need for little old me out in the trenches. Sure, I can take a trip out to site, snap some pics for our records, and scrawl up a glowing construction report, but at the end of the day I could just as easily have taken a spin through the 3-D model.
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Potholes in the Process

When we started this journey 12 months ago, the entire core team made a promise to each other. We promised that, no matter how ugly it may be or how hard we might fall, we would tell the full story of the Mosaic Centre build (or failure to build). With this post I believe I am the first to record one of the potholes in the process.
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Playing BIG in the Face of Fear

A few weeks ago, Shafraaz (Project Architect) called and asked if he could give me a tour of the Mosaic Centre site. He had caught wind that I hadn’t visited once since construction had begun (we were over two months in!), and thought that was a little weird. Quite frankly, I thought it strange as well, and wasn’t sure myself why I had been procrastinating the first visit.
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Cued Up for Chaos & Transition to a New Phase

We’ve entered into the next phase of the process—how exciting and scary, all at the same time! We went from figuring out HOW to do the work to actually DOING the work, which means our group will be even busier over the next few months! Just as things are getting cued up for chaos, I will be stepping back from the working group and into a whole new world of chaos … motherhood!
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IPD is a Boat Race

Is there a better analogy to Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) than a boat race across a river? Perhaps, but it’s the one that seems most fitting to me. If normal construction is a boat race to the other side of the river, then each trade, consultant, owner and contractor gets their own boat in the race. The boats could range from canoe to speed boat and anywhere in between. As the race progresses, some boats might run into mechanical problems, some might lose an oar, some might run out of gas … and some, just zoom to the other side with no problems. When all of the boats are on the other side, the race (or project) is complete.
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Teamwork Means Saving Money

What happens when you have a functioning team? You save money. From a site perspective, the usual procedure is to get drawings on construction day. You show up and get building. The typical process has been altered on this project and that definitely has its benefits. True teamwork is being defined in this process. I know we all talk about it, but in my experience we are truly learning the meaning. By having the ability to be involved with a project since inception and throughout the design process, all parties have been able to add value to the outcome.
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