Suffolk Launches Smart Lab Concept in L.A.
The Smart Lab is a tech-forward approach to construction aimed at reducing costs and construction time.
“The construction industry has not had a lot of innovation or productivity change in the last 50 years,” Tom Donohue, president and general manager of Los Angeles at Suffolk, tells GlobeSt.com. “The Smart Lab concept grew organically, and Suffolk encouraged project teams to independently explore innovative ways of leveraging new tools and new technologies. A Smart Lab is an area that allows us to have project teams work side-by-side with architects and consultants to look for new ways to build projects more efficiently and with lower costs.”
Reducing development costs and time are along enough to attract developers. Donohue says that those goals are the one constant in the future of the construction industry. “The one thing that hasn’t changed is that developers want to lower costs and build projects faster,” says Donohue. “If we continue to build projects the way we have built them for the last 20 years, we aren’t going to change. The Smart Lab is really a tool to help us innovate.”
The Smart Lab includes several interactive features. Among the most popular are the huddlewall, which integrates 3D, 4D and 5D models and allows owners to digitally transform projects in the tool. Another popular feature it the virtual reality cave. “This allows owners to be immersed in a 3D model of a project so they can see a point in time in construction or the finished project,” says Donohue. “We did a presentation a few months ago with the VR headset, and the owner saw an element in the unit that they didn’t need. It was a 350-unit building, and that was big savings for them. If we can see that during pre-construction, it is well worth the effort.”
Suffolk focuses on multifamily, hospitality and commercial developments, and Donohue says that these projects are a particularly good fit for the Smart Lab. “This type of technology, especially projects that have repeatable work, like multifamily, really lend themselves to finding efficiencies,” he says.
The expense of these tools is one of the major reasons that commercial real estate has been slow to adopt new technologies. After all, construction is already expensive. However, Suffolk is betting on the future benefits and cost savings of these tools, and is translating that idea to clients. “Suffolk is investing in these technologies because we want to disrupt the construction industries, and we are betting that investment will payoff,” adds Donohue. “Suffolk is benefitting in the technology and it is going to benefit the owner in the long run.”
At this point, Suffolk is still introducing these tools and the benefits to clients and the industry, and it continues to vet new technologies as they roll out, deciding the technologies that will have the biggest benefits on construction. “We will find certain applications that make sense on every project, and those will become standard,” says Donohue. “Then, there will be other tools that we pick and choose. We are certainly vetting all of the different technologies, especially AI. As Smart Labs grow in new markets, like Los Angeles, Suffolk also plans to open an Innovation Lab in its main office on the East Coast. There, the firm can analyze and vet new tools and technologies.