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
Engineers | Jan 12, 2022
Private equity: An increasingly attractive alternative for AEC firm sellers
Private equity firms active in the AEC sector work quietly in the background to partner with management, hold for longer periods, and build a win-win for investors and the firm. At a minimum, AEC firms contemplating ownership transition should consider private equity as a viable option. Here is why.
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Jan 12, 2022
Total steel project performance
This instructor-led video course discusses actual project scenarios where collaborative steel joist and deck design have reduced total-project costs. In an era when incomplete structural drawings are a growing concern for our industry, the course reveals hidden costs and risks that can be avoided.
University Buildings | Jan 11, 2022
Designing for health sciences education: supporting student well-being
While student and faculty health and well-being should be a top priority in all spaces within educational facilities, this article will highlight some key considerations.
Green | Jan 10, 2022
The future of regenerative building is performance-based
Why measuring performance results is so critical, but also easier said than done.
Senior Living Design | Jan 5, 2022
Top Senior Living Facility Design and Construction Firms
Perkins Eastman, Kimley-Horn, WSP USA, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., and Ryan Companies US top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest senior living sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Jan 3, 2022
2021 Government Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. government buildings sector
Stantec, Jacobs, Turner Construction, and Hensel Phelps top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest government sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Architects | Dec 20, 2021
Digital nomads are influencing design
As our spaces continue to adapt to our future needs, we’ll likely see more collaborative, communal zones where people can relax, shop, and work.
Architects | Dec 17, 2021
What I wish I had learned in architecture school
Bradford Perkins, FAIA, offers a 3-point plan for upgrading architecture education.
Urban Planning | Dec 15, 2021
EV is the bridge to transit’s AV revolution—and now is the time to start building it
Thinking holistically about a technology-enabled customer experience will make transit a mode of choice for more people.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Dec 15, 2021
Trends in sports stadium construction, with Turner Construction's Dewey Newton
Turner Construction's Dewey Newton discusses trends in sports stadium renovation and construction with BD+C's John Caulfield. Newton is a Senior Vice President who heads up Turner Construction’s Sports Group.