Coordinating knowledge in building design

The concept of Community of Practice (CoP) represents a promising frame for further exploitation in understanding the handling of knowledge in construction processes. This paper follows this approach and presents a case study of a partnering project and discusses the mechanisms for coordinating knowledge in a complex construction project. As usual, the responsible group for the design counts members from different companies like architects, engineers, and contractors. This constellation is interpreted as a multiple configuration of CoPs, characterized by overlapping practises, multiple memberships and different levels of participation. The diversity of the practices is a condition of possibility of knowledge handling as it enables the synthesis of various forms of knowledge in building construct. Concepts like arenas (e.g.. meetings), brokers (e.g. design manager), and boundary objects (e.g. drawings) are discussed as means for facilitating the coordination of knowledge between practices and thereby enabling a more optimal and flexible flow and use of knowledge.