MEP coordination during schematic design establishes the framework that all other coordination work builds on. It's the phase where mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are first organized relative to the building's architecture – establishing equipment spaces, primary routing strategies, and the spatial relationships between building systems that will govern coordination through design development and into the construction documents.
When technology requirements are part of that framework from the start, they get built into the design instead of retrofitted, and that starts with what gets decided at schematic design.
Schematic design is where the primary infrastructure decisions are made. For technology systems, those decisions include:
None of these decisions should be made in isolation. Telecommunications room locations affect the architectural floor plan, equipment room sizing affects the MEP power and mechanical scope, and backbone cabling pathway strategy affects the structural core design and the MEP shaft allocation.
Engaging a technology consultant during SD, before the architectural and MEP decisions are made without them, helps eliminate expensive reworks later.
During schematic design, the technology consultant works alongside the architect and MEP engineers to establish the technology program: what systems the project requires, where they're located, and what physical requirements they have.
The technology consultant's SD deliverables typically include:
Those deliverables feed directly into the SD coordination set, which means any conflicts between technology requirements and other building systems are identified and resolved at the SD level – where they cost a drawing revision rather than a change order.
When technology isn't part of the SD coordination process, the architectural and MEP decisions get made without technology requirements factored in. For example, equipment rooms may get sized for the generic minimum rather than the actual technology load, or riser shafts get allocated to mechanical and electrical without reserving space for low-voltage backbone cabling.
Those decisions become the constraints within which the technology consultant has to operate during design development. Correcting an undersized equipment room at DD means negotiating with the architect for additional floor area. Adding a backbone cabling pathway to a riser shaft that wasn't designed for it means coordinating with structural on new penetrations.
While issues like this aren’t insurmountable, they’re more expensive and time-consuming than establishing the right requirements during SD.
Architectural firms should engage a technology consultant before schematic design begins, so they're part of the design team from the first coordination meeting. An engagement that starts at DD – after the floor plan and primary equipment spaces are established – is starting after the decisions that most affect technology coordination have already been made.
TMC brings vendor-neutral technology expertise to that first coordination meeting, so the architect and MEP engineer have the right requirements in front of them from the start. Reach out today to learn more about how we can support your next technology-intensive building project.