Return of the master builder

Who’d be a design manager? Strung between the contractor’s buildability concerns and the architect’s design aspirations, not to mention the client’s desire for cost control, it’s not a job for the weak willed.

“It’s true, sometimes the construction team thinks we’re siding too much with the designers, sometimes the design team thinks we’re siding too much with the constructors,” says John Eynon, principal design manager with Wates.

One of a clutch of new management roles that have emerged over the past decade or so borne out of new procurement routes the design manager is a curious hybrid in an industry where division lines are still clearly drawn. Nailing the precise nature of this still emerging role is tricky and often depends on the company or individual concerned. “There’s no one type, you can stretch the brief to suit your skills,” explains Steve Bagland a divisional director of ISG Interior Exterior.

Eynon concurs: “The job description is up for grabs. We’re a relatively young discipline. It’s still not universally understood what a design manager does or could do and the value that we can add to the construction process. We still have a long way to go to educate people how to get the best out of design management.”

lynchpin of design

Today, the typical building programme is characterised by overlap and prefabrication with subcontractors designing significant portions of a building. These factors, along with design and build, PFI and frameworks has created a need for management of all the design input, whether from architects, engineers or specialist subs. And because builds often start on site before all the design work has been completed, co-ordination is paramount.

Which is where the design manager comes in. A construction manager’s mindset is not enough for this task because the design and construction processes are fundamentally different according to Eynon. “Construction is a linear process with some interdependencies but the design process is iterative and can lead you up a blind alley. Construction people don’t necessarily understand how this process works.”

Both Bagland and Eynon are first generation design managers. They found their way into the profession in the mid 1990s, after weathering the recession which displaced them from architectural practice and their associate-level day-to-day dealings. “An opportunity to work with Carillion as a design manager came along and I haven’t looked back since,” says Eynon.

He draws parallels with his former life: “They’ll hate me for saying this but I think an office-based architect is insulated from the pressure of building. When you’re in the site cabin actually seeing it happen and there’s a guy who needs information that you don’t have - it becomes more immediate.”

job in the making

Bagland saw an advert for a design manager, thought, “what the hell is that?”, then went along for an interview. He says that, a decade ago, it was up to him to flesh out the role.

It soon became clear: he was tasked with developing a student housing programme, understanding the design guides, the regulations, the means of escape and considering construction techniques that would best fit the proposed designs.

Both point out that a design background is not a pre-requisite to becoming a design manager. Eynon admits it helps to know what’s going on in a designer’s head but adds that his team have a range of professions, from surveying to construction management to people from engineering. “You don’t need a design background. In fact we have some very good design managers from construction backgrounds but they have an appreciation of the design process – that’s the key.”

Jonathan Miller is a case in point. A senior design manger with Bluestone, he started as a QS, progressed through estimating and on to design co-ordination before landing a role as design manager. He too agrees that being design sympathetic is crucial. “It’s not simply a matter of taking the programme and asking for information two months before it’s needed on site. The key is to ask for the right level of information at the right time. It requires a degree of forethought and team working. So you need to be pro-active, a good communicator, persuasive and above all a good team leader.”

Reducing waste in the building process is a key part of the remit, notes Eynon. That means reducing the amount of abortive design work by pinpointing better solutions earlier. “Say by looking at different construction methods, considering forms of MMC to see how that can be incorporated, which in turn can allow for greater cost certainty.”

Sceptics might see this as an attack on the integrity of a designer’s ability. But Bagland doesn’t see it like that. He says harnessing buildability issues that might come out of the architect’s design is essential. “It’s been known for architects to design things that are difficult to build. The question is to make sure there’s value in that difficulty,” he says.

He adds that if a design aspect is difficult but essential to the project and represents good value then everybody busts a gut to make it happen. “But if its complicated, expensive and technically difficult to achieve, and probably won’t look great, then its the role of the design manager to point this out without detracting from the final appearance of the building.”

It’s a complex role which requires particular skills (see box). But it’s not yet clear where designer managers can progress to after a stint at the front end.

Both Miller and Bagland suggest that design management is a stepping stone to project management. Eynon is a little more circumspect. “Over the last few years we’ve evolved a structure that offers some progression,” he says. “Somebody could join us at entry level an information controller or system design manager – progress to design manager, then become a senior, and ultimately a principal. Beyond that, it’s bid managing, or project management.

“Generally we’re pretty sorted at site level and a bit above that but recognition can be quite patchy depending on where you work.”

So what about the future? With contractors showing more interest in the design process and architects hiving themselves off from “construction” and taking a greater interest in say, urban design, can we expect the “master builder” to make a return, where the builder is the designer too?

Eynon makes it clear that his profession does what it says on the tin. “We are not designers. We manage design; manage its integration with cost and construction. Sure, there’s occasions when we pick up the pencil but as a rule we stick to managing design.”

But he hints that there is scope for expansion in the contractor’s remit. Eynon describes a new project where Wates is taking a more active role in design procurement and which perhaps points to the future role of the design manager, as well as the nature of designing and building.

“We’re turning the process around. Recently we’ve approached an architect and expressed clearly what we’re looking for. We said, ‘these are the sort of systems and components the building’s going to be made of, this is the sort of layout we’re looking for, can we have one?’ We’ve been involved in briefing the designers and brought in the fabrication guys early to deliver what we hope will be an efficient solution.”

If such a process becomes commonplace, it will certainly make the construction process less painful and probably reduce costs. But will it make for a better building?

Eynon has a straight answer: “Yes. Why not? I’m very interested in both design quality and process and I feel that contractor-led design can deliver exceptional quality I don’t see why that shouldn’t be possible.”