![]() |
HOK designers from around the globe are able to collaborate and interact in real time in the fi rm’s new Advanced Collaboration Rooms. The high-tech videoconferencing spaces allow users to display (in high defi nition) and mark up multiple project-related documents simultaneously. |
9. HOK Takes Videoconferencing to A New Level with its Advanced Collaboration Rooms
To help foster collaboration among its 2,212 employees while cutting travel time, expenses, and carbon emissions traveling between its 24 office locations, HOK is fitting out its major offices with prototype videoconferencing rooms that are like no other in the U.S.
HOK's Advanced Collaboration Rooms (ACR) combine Cisco's TelePresence high-resolution, interoperable videoconferencing technology with PolyVision's Thunder Virtual Flipchart System—a sort of digital easel pad that allows HOK designers to sketch ideas and "virtually" hang them in multiple ACRs so the entire team can collaborate in real time.
Thunder allows users to display images, video, documents, and even live views of computer desktops. Using a series of projectors and flat-screen TVs in each ACR, multiple ideas and documents can be displayed at one time, and all meeting notes can be saved, printed, and emailed instantly to participants.
"The ability to bring HOK's best creative minds together in these ACRs is a powerful new tool for our virtual design teams," says HOK CEO Patrick MacLeamy, who led the effort to develop the ACR concept. ACRs are currently installed at seven HOK offices, with six more installations planned this year.10. More AEC Collaboration Solutions
Collaboration tools are big at AEC firms. Architecture firm Perkins Eastman links its 13 offices worldwide through its award-winning proprietary intranet system, ORCHARD, which stands for "Online Resource for the Creative Harvest of Architecturally Relevant Discovery" (catchy, isn't it?). ORCHARD unites the firm's Practice Area Communities to share best design practices, insights, and lessons learned. More on Perkins Eastman's ORCHARD
Over at AEC giant Heery International, "e-communities" enable partnering between the firm's offices around the country. Interior designer Judy Peterson used the e-community to get feedback on whether a project should use LEED-CI alone, or LEED-CI with LEED for Core & Shell. The decision: CI only. More on Heery's e-communities
Engineering firm Walter P Moore created its "Communities of Practice" in 2008 to share expertise across its 13 offices. The "COPs"—in its healthcare, sports, aviation, parking consulting, and tall buildings practices—are staffed on a voluntary basis. The healthcare COP, with 27 volunteers, formed its own Medical Equipment Task Group to inventory medical equipment used in hospital projects. "It's great, because the folks in Houston and Florida who have seen every MRI known to man can pass that along to our new offices in California," says Kurt Young, PE, LEED AP, leader of WPM's healthcare COP. More on Walter P Moore's Communities of Practice
Related Stories
Architects | May 28, 2020
Ghafari joins forces with Eview 360
Global architecture + engineering firm announces investment in experiential design agency.
Coronavirus | May 26, 2020
9 tips for mastering virtual public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic
Mike Aziz, AIA, presents 9 tips for mastering virtual public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Architects | May 26, 2020
AIA honors exceptional designs with its COTE Top Ten Awards
Projects integrate high design with advanced performance in ten key areas.
Coronavirus | May 22, 2020
COVID-19: Healthcare designers look to the future of medical facilities in light of coronavirus pandemic
The American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) has released the key findings of a survey of its members revealing their insights on the future of healthcare architecture and the role of design in the context of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis.
Coronavirus | May 18, 2020
Infection control in office buildings: Preparing for re-occupancy amid the coronavirus
Making workplaces safer will require behavioral resolve nudged by design.
Data Centers | May 8, 2020
Data centers as a service: The next big opportunity for design teams
As data centers compete to process more data with lower latency, the AEC industry is ideally positioned to develop design standards that ensure long-term flexibility.
Coronavirus | Apr 30, 2020
Gilbane shares supply-chain status of products affected by coronavirus
Imported products seem more susceptible to delays
Architects | Apr 23, 2020
Take a virtual tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House
Explore the building with Frank Lloyd Wright Trust curator David Bagnall.
Coronavirus | Apr 21, 2020
COVID-19 update: CallisonRTKL, Patriot, PODS, and USACE collaborate on repurposed containers for ACFs
CallisonRTKL and PODS collaborate on repurposed containers for ACFs
Multifamily Housing | Apr 15, 2020
Related Group picks Stantec to design and engineer Manor Miramar residences in Florida
Related Group picks Stantec to design and engineer Manor Miramar residences in Florida.