OpeningDETAIL helps architecture firms draft & develop their large scale (3″=1’-0″) construction details.
Led by fellow architects Yorik Van Havre and Ryan Schultz, with 23 years of experience each, OpeningDETAIL are not just drafters, but have the hard-won design & construction experience to know the what and why behind the details, as well.
Not that we have all the answers, but we take pride in realizing additional value (less waste) through unique approaches in how we develop your construction details.
Here’s a couple of the core things we do differently:
° Open Source Content...
Although this doesn’t apply to all our projects, we try to encourage our clients to open source their details. In a highly connected world, when the content is free and unencumbered, it can evolve in highly unexpected and innovative ways. And with the share-alike attribute of a typical copyleft license, the originating authors can then in turn benefit from the mindshare of the contributing authors down the line and vice versa. Over time, this reduces the costs associated with having to always reinvent the wheel.
Furthermore, more often than not, the content is the conduit by which other authors (professionals) find each other–and in the end, often team up on future projects.
In addition, project-wise, by open sourcing the content, other parties in the supply chain (engineers, subcontractors, fabricators, etc.) do not have to waste their time redrawing everything from scratch. Less wasted time = more savings.
Lastly, this approach demonstrates our value as architects/engineers is not in the set of construction details we hand over at the end of the day, but instead rests solely on the knowledge and the process it took to get there.
° We work out-in-the-open...
Again this doesn’t happen for all our projects, but we try to encourage our clients to develop the detailing component of their projects publicly and “out-in-the-open”. That is, we encourage the use of digital collaboration platforms such as Github to publicly host all team communication and content.
By hosting these developing detailing projects publicly, OpeningDETAIL is able to tap into our extended network of global design professionals–allowing us to be more agile with our delivery.
From a project’s perspective, since everything is review-able by each member of the team, communication that would be lost behind private emails, can be made privy to those that should have been made aware to begin with–in the end, less details missed.
Also, by reviewing the logs of past communication, new team members, can easily be brought up to speed on how decisions were made, and why they were made.
Another fringe benefit of sharing all the content/communication publicly is our ability to find, network, and work with other interested professionals/consultants that might be following the project out of interest. Very much like what the internet has done for the goods, this way of working allows us to tap into the ‘long tale’ of services, as well.
° Embrace open standards with a vengeance...
We believe the use of proprietary formats(BIM/CAD) only hinders downstream (and upstream) use. Digital content should flow, unimpeded through the duration of a project.
We believe, when you hinder where your content can go, you hinder who you can work with, which ultimately restricts options, and thus realizing possible innovations and efficiencies down the line.
° Work with the latest technologies and those that use them...
Like any industry, productivity gains are largely due to technology adoption. For whatever reason, the construction industry is notoriously slow adopting new technology–on average, 5 to 10 years behind.
To help accelerate the adoption, OpeningDETAIL makes a concentrated effort to seek out contractors/collaborators (no matter where they live in the world) who take priority in pushing the technology envelope.
This allows us to explore the cutting edge approaches to technologies and processes–in the end, benefiting our clients.
