Our first 2010 issue of TocciToday features the last installment of our “Cool Architect” series. It has been a pleasure to showcase the groundbreaking new work that architects are doing with Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) today. With so many innovative firms to highlight, we will continue the showcase their work by keeping the Cutting Edge Designers section of our website active, adding firm profiles, case studies, and images in the coming weeks. Without further ado, here is:

Click here for the full issue,

Tocci’s Autodesk IPD project was featured in a cover story of Construction Executive in January. The issue is “IPD and BIM: How six letters are reshaping project risks and rewards.” The article entitled “All for one, and one for all” focused on the collaborative nature of the project, and how all the partners signing the IPD contract acted much like the Three Musketeers. For the full article click here.

Every year Building Design + Construction finds the 40 most accomplished professionals in the AECO industry under the age of 40 and highlights them in a special issue of BD+C magazine. This year we are SO PROUD that our very own Laura Handler, Tocci’s Director of Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) was listed among this elite few – not to mention she is the youngest of the group.

Laura manages the VDC team, including modeling, coordination and optimization for all of Tocci’s projects. She advances Tocci’s use of VDC, through Research & Development efforts. She is very active in the industry. She serves on the leadership committee of the BIMForum as a Leader at Large and participates actively in local organizations, including the Boston Revit Users Group, Boston Society of Architects’ BIM and IPD Committees and the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts. Laura presents frequently, locally and nationally, on VDC and  IPD. Her blog: bimx.blogspot.com is widely regarded as one of the best sources of information regarding VDC and BIM.

We can’t even imagine how many things she will have done by the time she is actually 40! Congratulations Laura!

See BD+C’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2010!

Little known fact about Tocci (ok, it might be well known): We LOVE art and design. So of course we were excited to see this article on Fast Company about construction sites becoming natural exhibit spaces for public art.

We have been dressing up our job sites for years now, and not just because its pretty. Job site graphics help draw a community into the project. We often make custom banners and fence wraps to show what the project will look like when its done, or inform the people on the street about the history of the building or neighborhood. Aside from building relationships to the community and making people feel part of the building process, job site graphics often serve a simple logistical service. Guiding pedestrians around hazardous areas, masking the dusk and mess of construction and defining different areas of the project.

A few examples:

On Capitol Cove, a project in downtown Providence that was completed a few months ago, we designed a special fence wrap to tell the history of the site.

On a Crate and Barrel project in Natick, MA completed this summer we made a special interior banner which showed customers in the mall what the new store would look like when completed. We took images right from our Building Information Model (BIM) as well as material quantities.  We were able to add little “fun facts” such as how much wood paneling there was in the new building.

The AIA just published a study evaluating six of the nation’s most prominent Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) projects by Johnathan Cohen.* The study “attempts to provide a “proof of concept” for this new method of designing and building.”

It is a fascinating study and very easy to read through, so we highly recommend that you do [Read the whole study here]. Here is a teaser:

“In every case these projects met or exceeded the owner’s expectations with respect to budget, schedule, design quality, and sustainability and also met the financial expectations of designers and builders. Every participant interviewed was enthusiastic about IPD and eager to try it again.**

A significant key to IPD’s promise is its ability to manage and mitigate risk for the three principal parties: the owner, the architect/engineer, and the builder. By aligning the goals of these parties around what is best for the project and making each party responsible for the behavior of the others, all three parties gain more control of the overall process.” ~ Jonathan Cohen, AIA

*Jonathan Cohen is an IPD consultant, practicing architect with over 30 years experience, past chair of the AIA California Council on IPD Steering Committee and national AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community.  He is an instructor in the Harvard Design School Executive Education program and author of Communication and Design with the Internet: A guide for Architects, Planners and Building Professionals.

**Not to toot our own horn or anything but our Autodesk project got a perfect score!