DENVER — Managing risk in the design and construction industry has become more prevalent for owners in Colorado as the development of building projects continues to rise. One way to mitigate project risk is to integrate design expertise with constructability to offer clients a more valuable design. K2, a multidisciplinary technology and A/V design firm, has responded to this industry demand by hiring Ben Gleason, CTS-D, CTS-I, as a senior technology consultant, who brings 20 years of systems integration experience to the design of technology systems at K2.
According to the 2018 State of Downtown Denver report released by the Downtown Denver Partnership, there are 35 projects under construction or planned as of mid-2018 that equates to $2.3 billion of investment in downtown Denver alone. This heightened amount of construction activity causes owners as well as design and construction teams to assume more risk as project schedules and budgets are under even greater scrutiny to meet the demand for development.
To alleviate these risks, owners are relying on more formal collaboration among design and construction teams whether contractually through Design/Build or Integrated Project Design or simply through the management of the project teams. Fifty-eight percent of owners reported formal brainstorming among the design and construction team in the early planning stages of projects as the most effective risk evaluation strategy according to the Dodge Data & Analytics Smart Market Report Managing Risk in the Construction Industry. In addition, the second most effective strategy owners reported was relying on the expertise of internal resources within the various design and construction firms.
By bringing both the design and installation expertise of technology systems in-house with their new-hire, K2 has increased the firm’s capability to assess technical solutions with regard to design and constructability which can result in greater savings of both time and money for their clientele. Mr. Gleason brings a wide range of integration experience to the K2 team including a background in installation, system programming and the commissioning and testing of systems in building projects.
Mitigating risk on building projects is dependent on the collaboration among the design and construction teams. The more design expertise and constructability a design firm can offer in the early stages of a project, the greater value they can bring to owners and to the project team as a whole. K2’s team is poised to help owners mitigate risk on their building projects in the design and installation of technology systems.
