WeWork, the New York-based urban workspace designer and redeveloper that’s one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., has acquired Fieldlens, a six-year-old producer of construction management applications that allow for more efficient on-site communications.
Most construction projects “are broken social networks,” says Doug Chambers, Fieldlens’ founder. His company’s app helps make a jobsite environment more like Facebook or a social feed, where everyone on site is communicating in real time, all the time.
An example Chambers gives is a project manager who is walking a site, and using the app on his smartphone to send observations, pictures, confirmations, and directives to other crew members. Chambers says that on one jobsite in Buffalo, N.Y., the Fieldlens app is facilitating 1,000 interactions per day, on average, among the 80 to 100 workers on site.
“Fieldlens lets people get back to work,” and not get bogged down on a lot of administrative and paperwork duties, says Chambers.
For the past two years, WeWork has been one of Fieldlens’ biggest customers. And its use has “ramped up pretty rapidly” over the past six months, says Chambers, as WeWork “has grown like crazy.”
Founded in 2010, WeWork currently has more than 120,000 members globally working out of 149 locations in 45 cities in 13 countries. WeWork so far has redeveloped more than 8 million sf of space to coworker offices. It is about to expand into India and Colombia.
In a recent blog, WeWork’s Chief Product Officer David Fano said the company is opening between five and 10 new locations a month. “And we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of global demand.” The company has also recently expanded into co-living redevelopment.
“WeWork is a train moving at 200 miles per hour,” says Aaron Fritsch, WeWork’s head of product systems and operations. “We’re a mission-driven company, and what we love about Fieldlens is how it’s focused on changing and improving the industry. It saw that there’s a better way that [project management] could be done.”
WeWork had been one of Fieldlens' biggest customers before it acquired the six-year-old company this month. Image: WeWork
Fano said that WeWork is “obsessed by the intersection of technology and the construction industry.” And among the things that Fieldlens’ app brings to the table, says Fristch, is a continuous feedback loop that bridges the communications gap that too often separates not only jobsite personnel, but also designers and facilities managers.
As a single company WeWork and Fieldlens will continue to develop and refine construction tools that are made available to the industry at large. “As part of WeWork, we’ll have more resources to continue to focus on our goal of making the work-lives of construction professionals more efficient,” says Chambers.
Related Stories
| Sep 6, 2022
Demand for flexible workspace reaches all-time high
Demand for flexible workspace including coworking options has never been higher, according to a survey from Yardi Kube, a space management software provider that is part of Yardi Systems.
| Sep 2, 2022
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper, greener than building new
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper and greener than tearing down old office properties and building new residential buildings.
Mass Timber | Aug 30, 2022
Mass timber construction in 2022: From fringe to mainstream
Two Timberlab executives discuss the market for mass timber construction and their company's marketing and manufacturing strategies. Sam Dicke, Business Development Manager, and Erica Spiritos, Director of Preconstruction, Timberlab, speak with BD+C's John Caulfield.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 200 Contractors for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 45 Engineering Architecture Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Burns & McDonnell top the rankings of the nation's largest engineering architecture (EA) firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 80 Engineering Firms for 2022
Kimley-Horn, Tetra Tech, Langan, and NV5 head the rankings of the nation's largest engineering firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
| Aug 22, 2022
For Gen Z, “enhanced communication” won’t cut it
As the fastest-growing generation, Generation Z, loosely defined as those born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s, has become a hot topic in conversations surrounding workplace design.
Giants 400 | Aug 21, 2022
Top 110 Architecture/Engineering Firms for 2022
Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 20, 2022
Top 180 Architecture Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, HKS, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.