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The traditional way in which architecture and engineering firms partner may be transforming.

Article excertp: It is becoming widely understood that interdisciplinary collaboration is critical early in the design process if maximum sustainability is to be achieved. To encourage such novel relationships among owners, architects, consultants, and constructors, the AIA has been promoting “integrated project delivery” and has developed legal documents to support it.

Some architecture firms are responding by shedding traditional relationships with consultants and hiring their own in-house engineers. Some existing AE firms are changing the way they practice by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration earlier in the design process.

Southern California—based architecture firm LPA began hiring engineers in 2005. They now make up about one eighth of LPA’s professional staff. According to firm president Dan Heinfeld, FAIA, the resulting cultural shift was made easier by the fact that the firm has done landscape and interiors in-house for many years. “Our whole practice is based on the idea of collaboration as a design mode,” he explains, “so we know the benefits of having a multidiscipline firm. They make us look at the world a little differently.”

When architects and engineers work together, schematic design can benefit from better energy-related data. For example, LPA recently designed an atrium ventilated by entirely natural means. This would not have been possible without the engineers proving from the outset that it was possible. Heinfeld calls this “informed design,” replacing intuition or guesswork. Another example is LPA’s design of a building that was required, by social function and site configuration, to be transparent and elongated in the north—south dimension. Early solar-shading studies by the engineers informed the architects in their design of louvers that shaded the east-facing glass most efficiently, with the least amount of material. Such collaboration differs from the conventional practice of handing the engineers a completed design idea and asking them to come up with an HVAC system to compensate for the overheated air. Optimizing sustainable design demands passive solutions first, systems later.

Having engineers in the office full-time also benefits the firm through insights that emerge from impromptu meetings and casual conversations. These are less likely to occur if, as with outside consultants, meetings are infrequent and tightly scheduled. Heinfeld reports that LPA engineers experience a different comfort level when the architects are their peers. Engineers working as consultants may be less than candid in their opinions because they don’t want to jeopardize their chances for being rehired.

Understandably, there is always some degree of resistance when people are asked to approach their work in unaccustomed ways. Though Heinfeld acknowledges that LPA has felt some of this, it is less than it might have been without the firm’s long history of in-house collaboration with other disciplines. Also, he says, sustainability is integral with the firm’s design philosophy, and 75 percent of the staff is LEED-accredited; they are highly motivated to make the engineering collaborations work effectively.

The symbiotic advantages also show up in structural collaborations. For the California State University Northridge Student Center, due for completion in June 2011, the structural engineers suggested a V-shaped structural frame to efficiently reduce the spans in a gym. The exposed structure became an important part of the design aesthetic. “Between the angled columns, I was able to put a running track on the second floor,” Heinfeld recalls. “So now, I’m not only reducing the roof span, but literally getting that balcony space for nothing. That kind of design integration makes you design and practice differently, and the work shows it.”

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