DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
 
Creating the built environment is complicated in nature, with design expertise required from many different sources. Acousticians, lighting consultants, security consultants, and operations personnel all play an integral role in addition to the client, architects, contractors and engineers during the design of a building.
 
At IBE Consulting Engineers, we believe in the integrated approach to design. This relies on collaborating with consultants who are experts in their own disciplines, as team players with an appreciation of the client's and architect's vision.
 
Most importantly, we realize that each client and architect will have his or her own unique goals. Our aim is to meet these needs throughout the design process and in the final built result.
 
DESIGN PROCESS
 
The process of design is complex, requiring the full attention of all the participants from beginning to end of the job.
 
We believe that it is critical that all of the design and construction issues need to be identified in the early design phases. Every idea raised by the team members is considered in this early design phase and validated before integrated into the building design. Some of the issues may require multiple rounds of design, review, and costing before a final solution is reached. The flow of information and timely resolution of issues is crucial to the successful completion of a project.
 
In each of the early phases of the project the design solutions should be validated. This can continue into the construction document phase; however, the aim should be to have all the design ideas completely validated prior to beginning the production of bid documents.
 
A contractor or construction manager, prior to beginning construction, should validate the design for construction. IBE believes that no person or firm has the market on ‘good ideas' and that each participant's expertise should be fully maximized. The success of the design and construction of any building is dependent on the involvement of all of the team members throughout the whole design process.
 
At each stage of the design, our documents are reviewed within our office as a quality control measure.
 
ENGINEERING EXPERTISE
 
IBE was founded on the principal that the engineering disciplines play an important role in the architectural design of successful buildings. We collaborate with structural engineers, electrical engineers and other consulting disciplines which are recognized to be experts in their own fields to assure that we are fully examining all engineering possibilities.
 
These experienced engineering groups have a wealth of knowledge and experience and have collaborated with numerous engineering groups during their existence.
 
We believe that the success of any project is based on using experienced engineers who collaborate as a team. This approach has proven to be an excellent system for creating and developing designs while controlling costs, thus ensuring effective schedule control.
 
Each of the engineering disciplines we work with contribute fully in the conceptual stage of a project, to ensure that options are properly exposed to the client and architect, and then to ensure that the design can be developed and well coordinated within the project budget and schedule. Our combined goal is to optimize not only the individual engineering systems but the integrated whole, thus helping to produce good total building design.
 
ENGINEERING DESIGN APPROACH
 
We believe our design approach provides the following benefits:
 
*Provides a full evaluation of alternative engineering systems for the project, their impact on one another, on the architectural concept and building performance to produce the most efficient building;

*Present building system alternatives and construction issues early in the design process to prevent future costly design changes;

*Facilitate discussions with users, presenting schematic design ideas in detail to operations and maintenance personnel, and in a more general sense to user groups, to determine appropriate building criteria and recommend flexible, energy and cost efficient systems;

*Work as an integrated team to minimize design changes and coordination conflicts, which can adversely affect project cost and schedule.