Here's how you can optimize architecture through collaborative design processes.

Optimizing architecture through collaborative design processes fosters innovation, efficiency, and holistic problem-solving. By bringing together diverse perspectives, skills, and expertise, collaborative design enables architects to tackle complex challenges and create more impactful solutions. Leveraging digital tools and platforms, teams can seamlessly collaborate in real-time, breaking down silos and enhancing communication and coordination. This approach encourages creativity, promotes knowledge sharing, and empowers stakeholders to contribute meaningfully throughout the design process. Ultimately, embracing collaborative design leads to more sustainable, user-centric, and resilient architectural outcomes.

At our architecture practice we have built an ‘academy’ to bring diversity into the practice. And what we mean by diversity is about lived experience and background as well as gander and race. To enrich our design output, we want a wide range of voices that represent a variety of backgrounds when we think about the future of our cities.

Goal-setting in Architectural Design projects is about spending time on the brief. Too many projects start without clear briefs, and this leads to poor collaboration between team members, and expectations that are not met. We find it useful to set a brief that is part written, and part drawn- ideally 3-6 diagrams that try to condense the essence of the strategic brief. It’s important that this brief document is agreed as a starting point, but then kept alive- it needs to evolve and change as the project moves from initial stages to more detailed stages. The brief if the backbone of the project, not just the diving board.

The rate at which technology is developing means that what was standard last year will probably not be in ten years time. AI will start to replace/ assist us as designers at certain stages of the project. So, what is good practice for using these tools as they develop? My opinion is that we need to remember they are tools. We are the designers, and technology is our pen and paper. It’s easy to be allured by AI ‘design solutions’ but as Architects we need to make sure that we are inputting clear intent into the machinery, not allowing it to control the outputs.

To be a great joiner or carpenter, it’s all about careful preparation so that you execute the cut precisely. To be a great designer, sometimes you need to do the opposite. You need to propose things that you know don’t work and don’t be scared if they fail. That’s the best way to iterate. For me, to enter flow state requires constant failure- iterations within the proposal to test solutions. Then you need to test it with other people, other consultants, and the iteration will continue with their input. But again, don’t be scared of their knowledge- it’s likely it will make your proposal fail to start with, but through that failure, the proposal will become stronger

The best collaborations are where everyone learns something. You must be willing to learn from the clients, community, and users. Also, you should facilitate the process in way that they learn about why architecture matters - how it can help solve their problems AND also the big challenges society faces: climate, equity, wellbeing...