The Meat &
Wine Co
Made with
Programa
Programa
Programa2023-12-11
“Programa is giving us more time through efficiency to focus on designing more meaningful work of a higher standard, be noticed globally and win more future clients.”
CALLIE VAN DER MERWE DIRECTOR
Explore our latest ‘Made with Programa’ as the team at COOOP, powered by Design Partnership, discusses The Meat & Wine Co. Detailing the challenges, workflow, and the pivotal role Programa played from concept to completion.
How has using Programa affected your studio’s project management and workflow efficiency?
This was one of our first projects using Programa. Normally, transitioning from one workflow and documentation process comes with challenges due to the learning curve we must adjust to. The transition to using Programa was more of a simple and intuitive experience than anything else. We didn’t experience the typical difficulties that a team would normally face during such a transition.
In this case, we started designing this specific restaurant toward the end of 2021, which is a long time to develop a space for the venue’s opening evening.
From this, we noticed that it has helped create more of a central hub system where we have our specifications, project tasks, and time tracking in one place, collected and accessible online and on the fly. Our time management on projects has greatly improved, from the initial render briefing stage to the second project documentation stage and, finally, the project build phase.
We no longer have to write all the specifications on each technical design drawing, which takes time to add, adjust, and change when working on complicated projects. Having something as simple as finishing with a key code scheduled on a central platform that is accessible to the entire design team and stakeholders involved in the project means we can have quicker approvals on materials, as well as one place where we can implement changes without always adjusting drawings, which takes an extreme amount of time that is neither productive nor billable. We can feel the speed of our work dramatically increasing. It also gives us more time to consider the designs we are currently are working on, which the main core focus of our office.
How did Programa fit into your project workflow? Were any features essential?
The simplicity of the Schedules really does make a difference for us. Our drawing standards are now becoming more simplified and streamlined as well as easier to manage across projects.
Using the Web Clipper Tool to capture the specifications is a major benefit. We have become so used to the speed and efficiency of clipping instead of typing out the specifications that it makes us notice that our render briefs and project documentation stages in the project happen quickly. *if there was only a way to draw quicker, it would be the utopia of the documentation process.
The true test for us will be when we use Programa for our hotel and luxury skyscraper projects…This will be a massive game changer for these builds. We normally submit packs of printed schedules, which are difficult to manage efficiently over large-scale projects. But no more!
As the tool has quite a lot to offer, we are slowly testing the various areas of it so that we can incorporate it into our workflow. This will take some time, but it is making us rethink how to approach the documentation project planning side of our business.
What feedback did you get on Programa? Did its use evolve during the project?
The International teams like the effectiveness of Programa’s Schedules, having the contact information of our suppliers listed as well as direct links to the products on the supplier’s website.
It is also a shift in workflow from our project team and the clients as we also need to educate them on the new workflow we are implementing in our office so they can fall in the slipstream of being efficient with us. This point has been more difficult as, after many years, they are used to one process of receiving information from designers, which we are slowly changing for the better.
“Using the Web Clipper Tool to capture the specifications is a major benefit. We have become so used to the speed and efficiency of clipping instead of typing out the specifications that it makes us notice that our render briefs and project documentation stages in the project happen quickly.”
CALVIN JANSE VAN VUURENASSOCIATE
Can you share any specific examples where Programa has streamlined the specification process in your recent projects?
We have embraced the platform as a crucial link in our office operations. We utilize Programa right from our initial design briefing stages when we begin exploring project materials. Once the renders are complete, we move on to the documentation phase of the projects, during which the specifications often change for various reasons, such as cost, lead time, accessibility, and client preferences, to name a few. This is often where we encounter the most significant challenges, as the materials we require during the building phase may run out of stock or require adjustments along the way. The tool enables us to update the specifications and schedules on the fly, saving substantial time.
In our office, we prioritise transparency and a seamless workflow. Having our contacts accessible through the schedule with direct links to the suppliers we work with provides project teams with immediate access to these suppliers. This also saves significant time, as teams can approach suppliers directly for quotes or additional information without sending us large Request for Information (RFI) lists for standard items. We still receive RFIs for custom items; however, these always require more development and collaboration to get them right. (We can track our time effectively using the time tracking tool, which helps us understand how much time we spend on key tasks.)
“The International teams like the effectiveness of Programa's Schedules, having the contact information of our suppliers listed as well as direct links to the products on the supplier's website”
ROBERTO ZAMBRIASSOCIATE
How critical was Programa to the project’s success?
It definitely was critical. As we use the platform more, we’ll explore its features to improve office efficiency and design production.
The Address book has been critical for us to put all our trusted suppliers in one location for ease of contact and accessibility. This helped us make our database go from spread through multiple business cards, cell phones, and notebooks to online and up-to-date.
“The Address book has been critical for us to put all our trusted suppliers in one location for ease of contact and accessibility.”
ROBERT ZAMBRIASSOCIATE
Did Programa help innovate your design process? Did it bring new methods?
Programa gives us more time and freedom to explore our designs for our projects. The hard truth is that documentation and process are critical for any design company to be efficient and have the ability to do great work, however, even though our clients look at the documentation. The public and future clients look only at the final built product. This is where you win more projects to do with new clients or design awards, being recognised for your design innovation and work.
Programa is giving us more time through efficiency to focus on designing more meaningful work of a higher standard, be noticed globally and win more future clients.
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