Aerospace

In the aerospace industry Boeing design, construct and operate their "buildings". Their "buildings" are huge. They can even fly. A typical 747 will cost around $350 million dollars. They have refined their product over 40 years, producing something of exceptional quality and reliability.

Boeing has a limited range of products which they invest in, allowing only minor internal adjustments or additions. We could learn from this as an industry by considering standard components and limiting our offer, focusing more on products than services.

Automotive

The automotive industry was a trail blazer for standardisation. This approach has allowed them to continually improve their product whilst reducing costs to the consumer. For example, the Mini was designed in the 1960s, and although today's product is still a Mini, it is a totally different product compared to 50 years ago, and, in real terms, costs have been reduced.

At the same time, we still construct the same terraced house with bricks and mortar that we did 50 years ago, with little change or improvement in product. There is much to learn from the automotive industry about how we could change our ways efficiently, particularly when we look at the Toyota way, which considers continual improvement, lean design and manufacture.

IKEA

IKEA revolutionised the furniture market on a global scale. They looked at a self assembly model, hugely reducing the cost of their products. By developing their supply chain and standardising components so they could benefit from volume purchasing they could drive cost down to levels never seen previously. When furniture is designed by IKEA they think about the manufacturing, the components, storage and assembly as one seamless flow.

Total Architecture

At _space group we believe everyone involved in the art of producing buildings is an architect. This includes engineers, builders and surveyors alike. At _space group, architecture is not a profession but a process. We call it Total Architecture. The RIBA, RICS and ICE are stand alone institutions, unlikely to promote merging together an industry such as the BIMI (Building Information Modelling Institute), however we ultimately strive for working practices that would be promoted by such an organisation.

Virtual Building Site (VBS)

At _space we have invested in a Virtual Building Site. We use a sophisticated Media:scape table, provided by ergonomic furniture designers, Steelcase Solutions, which allows everyone involved in the process of Total Architecture to be around a single table sharing electronic data instantly via interconnected laptops. This allows construction to be tested cheaply and safely. This means our time on site is limited and predictable.