A NEW COMMITMENT TO VALUE ENGINEERING – WE WANT YOUR INPUT!
As architects and engineers, it is very easy to believe that there is only one correct solution to a design problem. It is also easy to err on the side of a conservative design because ultimately the primary priority of licensed professionals is to produce a safe and economically-designed structure. In the past, we have received feedback from owners and GCs for overdesigning and being too conservative, especially in structural engineering design. We want your input on these matters! The Base4 values are Humility, Honesty, Respect & Fun. These values are the foundation of our company (and also are the basis of the “4” in Base4). The first of these values is Humility, which means we challenge ourselves and all our team members to listen to the input of others.
In response to the feedback we received regarding overdesign, we made a new commitment to Value Engineering (VE) with a special focus on our structural department. The question we asked ourselves was the following: How can we provide a design approach that provides higher value to our clients in the form of improved function and reduced construction costs that is specific to each unique project conditions? There are always multiple solutions that can be applied to any specific design scenario. We are challenged to find an ideal intersection of both improved function and reduced costs. Significant labor and material price fluctuations in recent years do not make this easy. However, it is our commitment at Base4 to ensure that we ask the right questions, listen to the owners and GCs, and arrive at a design that yields the most value for our client. We are in the process of creating a series on structural value engineering where we dive into the structural VE items identified as major contributors to increasing value in hotel design. Our team has been engineering structures for the past 20 years, and now we are asking for your input as well. What major areas in hotel construction area you seeing potential for VE? What topics would you like us to discuss? Please email me with any comments. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thank you,
Blair Hildahl
Base4 Principal
608.304.5228