ICT-enabled collaborative working environment for concurrent conceptual design

Effective concurrent conceptual design (CCD) in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is essential for reducing project lead times and improving the quality of the resulting design. Computer-aided techniques and tools are needed to facilitate concurrent engineering (CE) between geographically distributed project team members during conceptual design (CD). This paper reports on a research project that has both designed the system architecture and developed a Web-based CE tool to improve AEC projects during the CD stage. It describes the applications requirements for construction projects and presents a layered and integrated approach for the integration of multidisciplinary perspectives in concurrent conceptual design. A prototype system (INTEGRA) has been developed to encapsulate this approach. Details of the overall system architecture and software components are included in the paper. The aim of the INTEGRA system is to develop IT-based CE tools that support AEC professionals' collaborative work in a conducive and flexible way. The paper concludes that CCD is an interesting and challenging area, and that many topics remain open for further investigation. In particular, there is a need to ensure the integration of legacy systems used by AEC professionals into new collaborative design systems.