Pioneer contributes the most to projects when our Design Team is engaged early in a Design Assist or IPD process. Our Design Assist approach focuses on 3 major areas: 1) Aesthetic Intent, 2) Building Dynamics and Performance, and 3) Budget/GMP.
In the Aesthetic Intent category, we gather information relative to the desired glass types (color, reflectivity, visible light transmittance, solar heat gain), spandrel conditions (ceramic coated glass spandrel or shadow box construction), exterior and interior paint colors, sun control devices (vertical or horizontal sunshades), operable windows and doors (types, orientation and appearances), metal panels (types, colors, projections, textures and construction), fire rated or special construction areas and other curtain wall infill materials (terra cotta, granite, GFRP, phenolic resin panels). During this phase, we rough out details of the various components and illustrate how they interface with each other. We also acquire samples of the various glasses, metal panels, paint coupons and other materials to assist in the definition of the materials to be used. Pioneer’s design assist engineering team engages professional engineering services during this phase of the project to ensure our initial design intent works, and no design changes are needed before the systems are finalized.
The Building Dynamics and Performance phase focuses on engineering how the curtain wall accommodates movement of the building structure, environmental conditions acting on the building, and the thermal requirements of the building envelope. We design the working features of the curtain wall utilizing structural information including live load floor deflections, long term creep, column shortening and seismic sway, and tolerances of the structural components. The anchorage to the structure and the embedded elements can be designed at this point. The sum of the movements and tolerances determines the sizes and locations of the stack joints and will determine the profiles of the stack joints and the clearances around adjacent structural elements.
Our Designers use the latest tools such as AutoCAD 2D, 3D, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Revit to get the most from the Design Assist process.
Pioneer’s partnership orientation maximizes the value of the early collaboration inherent in the Design Assist process. Over the course of many projects, we’ve seen the benefits of using a Design Assist approach to the entire construction team as well as the owner.