Technology Drives Flexible, Cost-Efficient Interior Design

By Kim Hogan

The author discusses the positive impact on interior design made possible by technology in the past five years as well as why designers and their construction partners are concluding that keeping pace with new design and planning tools is well worth their efforts.

Kim Hogan is a principal with Corgan Associates Inc. in Dallas.

Technology is the driving force behind the design and construction industry to create unique work environments that respond to our clients' rapidly changing office needs. Technology has affected not only how we work but also the availability of materials we work with in the architecture and construction industries. With the advancement of technological innovations, uniquely designed corporate interiors are much more affordable and supportive of employees' functional needs. As technology has continued to change and evolve at a rapid pace, so has design.

One of the most instrumental construction technologies is the ability for interior designers to send CAD drawings to contractors electronically, enabling contractors' software to organize this data to do material takeoffs. The construction administration process has been streamlined through the use of this technology. Contractors can now take digital photos of portions of a project they have a question about and send these images to the interior designer with a request for information, or RFI, eliminating unnecessary job-site trips. A large component of the construction process is communicated electronically. This process saves the client, designers and contractor time and money.

Advanced visualization capabilities are another category where technology enables architects and designers to present more true-to-life visual design representations to the client. Through the advances in building information modeling technology, architects and interior designers can work quickly and efficiently to communicate with the client through 3-D imaging. In the past, all designs had to be physically uploaded into a 3-D software program or renderings had to be done by hand, which made the preparation of a detailed, physical mock-up of a building's interior time consuming and often cost-prohibitive.

Innovative technology now equips interior designers to produce precise design mock-ups through a faster, more affordable method. Now, the best way to bring a client's interior vision to life is digitally. Designers can readily provide clients, who are typically non-construction experts, a more accurate representation of materials utilized and space layouts. Designers can even "model" changes as clients respond to what they are seeing and demonstrate how moving one simple wall may impact efficiency of an entire workspace.

Technology advances have also enhanced designers' ability to plan more mobile, functional workspaces. Corporations now view the work environment as a tool that encourages employee interaction. Those same corporations expect their facilities to be cost effective and use space efficiently. With recent technological advances, it is now cost effective to create multi-functional rooms that provide organizations flexibility in how the space is utilized. Companies tend to prefer multi-purpose spaces because sq. footage needs are reduced. Through a combination of software and audio-visual technology -- including wireless technology - it is now possible for designers to configure a series of conference rooms that accommodates 12 to 14 people each into one large meeting room to comfortably and effectively seat a hundred employees. Technology costs to do that are often less than paying for the additional real estate. Just as experimentation with various layouts for such multi-use rooms is made easy, the ability of designers to clearly demonstrate the functionality of such rooms to clients is also simplified.

The drive to create more functional, diversified workspaces has only heightened interest in aesthetic appeal. Clients are not only looking for serviceable rooms - they also expect more "front-of-house" designs that reflect the company vision and culture. Again, technology makes it possible for professionals to produce these designs rapidly and cost effectively.

As a result, interior design is often being elevated from a utilitarian style to incorporate more complex design trends giving more attention to detail. With today's technology, designers can get samples faster (speeding design decisions) because the industry can produce a wide array of options in a shorter amount of time through the use of high-tech machinery. This has also increased the depth and choices designers have in terms of materials and use of material.

In the instance of molded medium density fiberboard, machines can take a large sheet of MDF and create patterns on the top of this surface, which creates a unique product. Prior to the use of this machinery, the only available option for such a unique look was a custom hand-machined product. This takes specialized talent and is expensive to produce. Such was the case with custom carpet product samples. Designers can now freely design custom carpet designs, wall coverings, graphics and the like, at any scale with any pattern repeat at the same or similar costs as standard product offerings.