flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

HMC Architects sets up a ‘design lab’ to explore new ideas

Architects

HMC Architects sets up a ‘design lab’ to explore new ideas

The goal is for project team members to collaborate earlier to inspire innovation.


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | March 17, 2019

Raymond Pan, an award winning archtect and urban planner, is leading the design lab initiative at HMC Architects. Image: HMC Architects

HMC Architects is creating a new, internal, designing model that pushes for earlier interdisciplinary collaboration and deeper integration of processes, technology, materials and systems.

This “design lab” approach is being launched from HMC’S office in Los Angeles. Heading up this effort is Raymond Pan, AIA, LEED AP, Design Principal. Pan is an architect and urban planner with 20 years’ experience. He is rejoining HMC, having previously spent 10 years with the firm.

Pan says that to keep up with the industry’s rapid changes, big firms like HMC need a more collegial approach. One of his goals is to bring builders into the design process sooner. “Our mentality needs to be extended,” Pan tells BD+C. “And architects need to rethink how they design.”

The L.A. office has already assembled a design team that includes an architect who started out as a contractor, and another architect who Pan says is a specialist in spatial visualization. Pan foresees circumstances where HMC partners with other AEC firms for specific expertise. “I would love to have a builder or a [technologist] on my team.” 

Pan notes that a lot of HMC’s work is for hospitals whose designs are taking on more hospitality and commercial retail features that incorporate signage and branding. He talks about “creating a personality” for such spaces that can sometimes be defined by the types of materials chosen for projects.

However, he does not see the design lab concept as being project-driven, per se. “We’re trying to build a culture, and a new architectural aesthetic” that brings in other things, like prefabrication. (His team hasn’t gotten to the point of selecting prefab manufacturers; what’s important, says Pan, is “to get the builders we partner with thinking that way.”

Image: HMC Architects

 

HMC Architects has six offices in California, and one in Phoenix. Pan couldn’t say yet what the design lab’s rollout strategy would be. “It could start with the next project, or take us a year to find the right partners.” However, he expects that, eventually, the rollout might require some organizational changes within the firm.

“This move will take HMC to a higher level of design and be an undeniable asset to our clients” in the firm’s healthcare, education, and civics practices, says Brian Staton, president and CEO of HMC Architects. Pan is leading this initiative at a time when the firm is capitalizing on significant opportunities in the healthcare sectors in southern California, Oregon, and Arizona.

The design lab is expected to double as an incubation platform for testing new ideas and technologies, he says.

 

Tags

Related Stories

High-rise Construction | Jul 15, 2016

Zaha Hadid designs geometric flower-shaped tower for sustainable Qatar city

The 38-story building will have a mashrabiya latticed facade with hotel and residential space inside.

Building Team | Jul 11, 2016

Design-assist: The way to really fly [AIA course]

Experts explain the benefits of DA, a process where the subcontractors are retained to assist other Building Team members in the development of a design. Earn 1.0 AIA CES learning units by reading and taking the exam.

Building Team | Jul 11, 2016

Addressing client concerns about design-assist

Common concerns about DA include lack of familiarity, obtaining competitive pricing, and design liability.

Sponsored | Building Team | Jul 11, 2016

Construction Disruption at AECX: Technology, hackathons and the promise of change in LA

The lead up to AECX featured a discussion providing insight into the current state of the AEC technological revolution by exploring opportunities, challenges and choices AEC pros face.  

Green | Jul 1, 2016

Perkins Eastman pledges to use EDGE green building system for five upcoming international projects

The firm will partner with the International Finance Corporation to promote sustainable building in emerging markets like India and China.

Healthcare Facilities | Jul 1, 2016

AIA releases summary of the 2016 Design and Health Research Consortium

Consortium members discussed how architects, designers, and health professionals can best apply design and health research in their communities.

Architects | Jun 30, 2016

The year's best small projects include a floating sauna, dental trailer, and smocked porch

AIA chose the 2016 recipients of the Small Project Awards. Every entry cost less than $1.5 million to build, with one as low as $900.

Architects | Jun 29, 2016

AIA: Healthy demand for all building types signaled in Architecture Billings Index

Recent client interest could signal resurgence for institutional market. May's ABI score was the highest mark in nearly a year.

Architects | Jun 28, 2016

5 easy ways architects can increase their profits

Whitehorn Financial Managing Principal Steve Whitehorn offers effective ways to recoup lost revenue, including a few strategies that capitalize on recent changes to the federal tax code.

AEC Tech | Jun 27, 2016

If ‘only the paranoid survive,’ what does it take to thrive?

“Sooner or later, something fundamental in your business world will change.” The late Andrew Grove (1936-2016), Co-founder of tech giant Intel Corp., lived by these words.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Warehouses

California bill would limit where distribution centers can be built

A bill that passed the California legislature would limit where distribution centers can be located and impose other rules aimed at reducing air pollution and traffic. Assembly Bill 98 would tighten building standards for new warehouses and ban heavy diesel truck traffic next to sensitive sites including homes, schools, parks and nursing homes.



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021