London-based design firm Bryden Wood, with offices in Singapore, Barcelona, and Milan, will bolster its presence in the United States when it opens new headquarters in Boston this summer.
Founded in 1995, the firm now specializes in a value-oriented kit-of-parts “Platform” approach to design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA). Bryden Wood’s North American expansion is being led by directors Jaimie Johnstone and Phil Langley, its head of global systems and creative technologies, respectively.
In an interview with BD+C last week, Johnston said that Bryden Wood’s plans to expand into the U.S. in 2020 were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to its moving into Boston, Bryden Wood had done some work in the U.S. for the pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline. Among the AEC and service-provider firms currently teaming with Bryden Wood on industrial projects in the U.S. are The Boldt Company, Amazon Web Services, and DPR Construction.
The timing of its expansion, said Johnston, was motivated by the slow-moving pace in the U.K. toward adopting offsite manufacturing as an element of commercial construction. “There have been pockets of excellence, but also more of a focus on volumetric modular for homebuilding.” The opposite is occurring in the U.S., he observed, where nonresidential developers and their AEC have been embracing prefabrication. Bryden Wood’s goal is to establish a North American supply network for industrial components.
Johnston noted that while “a lot of people” in the U.S. are prefabricating MEP components, that competitive advantage “can be diluted over time.” What Bryden Wood offers, he explained, is a merging of volumetric design with manufacturing for better and quicker results.
Bryden Wood’s Platform approach standardizes manufactured components that are made offsite and assembled onsite, thereby assuring greater certainty about schedules and budgets. Platforms also embed materials reuse and reductions in carbon into early stages of design.
The firm works with tech clients to develop design technologies such as “digital configurators” that rely on genetic algorithms to generate thousands of design and engineering solutions for sites around the world. By developing solutions that allow appropriate levels of repeatability in such building types as data centers, without sacrificing quality, “we’re helping [clients] transform their businesses,” said Johnston in a prepared statement.
THE FORGE SHOWCASES PLATFORM-DRIVEN SAVINGS
The first major commercial project being delivered using the Platform approach to DfMA is The Forge, which topped out last December, and is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of this year. The Forge is comprised of two sustainably focused nine-story commercial buildings—90,000 and 49,000 sf, respectively—in central London, built around an accessible courtyard. Its projected efficiencies include a nearly 20 percent reduction in embodied carbon per square meter, a 36.4 percent reduction in the substructure, and a 20.2 reduction in superstructure and façade materials. Johnston said that the buildings’ façade panels could be installed in just 7½ minutes each, and with greater accuracy.
The Forge’s developer, Landsea, anticipates a 9.5 percent reduction in capital costs from this platform kit-of-parts approach. The Forge is also the U.K’s first net-zero energy project. The building team includes a joint venture between the construction firms Sir Robert McAlpine and Mace, and NG Bailey as the MEP engineer.
Johnston expected Bryden Wood to focus its attention in North American on projects for healthcare, data centers, pharma, and industrial, “wherever there’s a high degree of complexity and repetition.” On its website, Bryden Wood said it has been designing data centers since 1999, and has been delivering 30-40 percent reductions in capital build costs per kilowatt, and an average 40 percent increase in IT yield per square meter.
Scalability via industrialized construction for these building types is where clients are most likely to benefit from improvements in design and delivery, the firm contended. Johnston also foresaw Bryden Wood doing a bit more multifamily design in the U.S. than it does within its home market.
A few years ago, the firm launched a free-to-use and open-source housing design application called PRiSM that, it claims, brings together central and regional government, investors, developers, and manufacturers, with the goal of driving improved productivity and quality. The updated version of PRiSM incorporates Bryden Wood’s Platforms approach to DfMA.
Related Stories
Market Data | Jul 1, 2022
Nonresidential construction spending slightly dips in May, says ABC
National nonresidential construction spending was down by 0.6% in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Building Team | Jul 1, 2022
How to apply WELL for better design outcomes
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) cites attracting top talent, increasing productivity, and improving environmental, social or governance (ESG) performance as key outcomes of leveraging tools like their WELL Building Standard to develop healthier environments.
Building Team | Jul 1, 2022
Less portable potty, more movable restroom
Some contractors are packing up their portable potties and instead using the H3 Wellness Hub.
Market Data | Jun 30, 2022
Yardi Matrix releases new national rent growth forecast
Rents in most American cities continue to rise slightly each month, but are not duplicating the rapid escalation rates exhibited in 2021.
Headquarters | Jun 30, 2022
Lenovo to build its new global headquarters in Beijing
Washington, D.C.-based architecture and design firm CallisonRTKL has announced it will create the new global headquarters in Beijing for Lenovo Group, a Chinese multinational personal technology company.
Mass Timber | Jun 29, 2022
Mass timber competition: building to net-zero winning proposals
The 2022 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero is a design competition to expand the use of mass timber in the United States by demonstrating its versatility across building types and its ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.
Laboratories | Jun 29, 2022
The "collaboratory" brings digital innovation to the classroom
The Collaboratory—a mix of collaboration and laboratory—is a networking center being designed at the University of Denver’s College of Business.
Airports | Jun 29, 2022
BIG and HOK’s winning design for Zurich airport’s new terminal
Two years ago, Zurich Airport, which opened in the 1950s, launched an international design competition to replace the aging Dock A—the airport’s largest dock.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Contractors | Jun 27, 2022
Reverse mentorship: A model for the future of the construction workforce
Reverse mentorship can help seasoned professionals develop new skills, stay connected with younger generations, and gain future-forward insights for life and business.