Integrated design
Integrated design consists of a multidisciplinary approach to design phases involving multiple professionals. The construction or renovation of a building may require the involvement of a number of technicians including a structural designer, a construction designer, several facility designers, a safety coordinator, a fire designer, an acoustic designer, and an energy designer. The coordination of the professionals involved requires the presence of a Coordinator who, while not strictly specialized in the individual spheres involved, has cross-cutting skills in the various areas with the aim of connecting the totality of the figures involved.
Integrated design requires the scheduling of assiduous meetings for coordination, review, information sharing and planning of project strategy as the project progresses. Integrated design can address public and private contracts and can offer direct structural, building, plant, safety, acoustic and energy design services, as well as coordination services with the professionals involved.
One tool to support integrated design is Building Information Modeling (BIM)-a digital information system that virtually reproduces the building-comprising the integrated three-dimensional model in which dimensional, typological, textural, performance and functional data of the building are reported. BIM makes it possible to prepare a dynamic, multidisciplinary, shared 3D model containing information on the entire life cycle of the work: from design to construction to its demolition and decommissioning.