With the downturn of the U.S. economy, many architecture firms started to look abroad. They focused on the rising architectural hot spots in the Middle East and Asia. For some firms, the foray into the international market was recent.
Raymond Pan, AIA, LEED AP, is design principal and director of Asia at HMC Architects, Ontario, Calif., and says, “HMC is new to the international platform; we started out five years ago building schools in the Middle East.” Later, HMC beat 50 firms from 14 countries to design The First People’s Hospital in the Shunde District of Foshan City, Quangdong Province, People’s Republic of China. The hospital was acknowledged as a recipient of the 2011 AIA Healthcare Design Awards.
Other architects entered the international market because existing clients started working internationally. “We go where our clients ask us to be,” notes Lori Top, AIA, LEED AP, associate and commercial section manager with Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, Mo. Sometimes one relationship leads to years of international work. Top is currently working on several projects in Doha, Qatar, and she notes, “One commercial architecture project led to us working for the last seven years with the same developer of that initial project.”
Some firms, though, entered the international market early in the firm’s history. “We entered the international field in 1956,
[when] the father of the company, Max Stanley, was interested in West Africa,” says Rich Stump, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, vice president and international federal marketing leader with Muscatine, Iowa-based Stanley Consultants Inc. “We set up a Liberia office and obtained a design commission for the Executive Mansion for the President of Liberia.” Stanley has worked in 104 countries and maintains 11 international offices.
The International Design Process
According to Top, the international design process consists of three steps: 1. Validate the design material 2. Evaluate jurisdiction and code requirements 3. Consider the region in which you are working
About validating the design material, Top says: “Extensive research goes into looking at a design material. In the case of Doha, we have challenges of availability as only a select number of materials are made within Doha itself. As a result, Doha ends up importing a number of products so we have to vet manufacturers and look at which importers are bringing materials in.”
Finding the right materials and making sure those materials are available can be a challenge depending on the project’s location. “In Guam and Micronesia,” notes Stump, “there are ships that bring in materials only a couple times a week or month.” As a result, metal products may not be chosen for certain design elements because of a lack of availability within the region.
Some firms will not use certain materials unless they meet specific standards. In the case of Stanley Consultants, the firm has a design principle policy to use materials that have been on the market for at least five to seven years. Therefore, the firm has frequently used metal panels from Moon Township, Pa.-based CENTRIA.
However, in large manufacturing countries such as China, Pan notes metal is an ideal product to specify because it is locally available and contributes to sustainable design characteristics.
The second step in the design process is to look at jurisdiction and code requirements, which vary greatly from country to country. “Code requirements in Europe, [specifically Italy], pose challenges because building codes are based on local requirements,” says Stump. “We’ve found it’s very important and often helpful to get a local consultant to help you understand local codes. Local partnerships cannot be overstated.”
The third step-considering the region in which you are working-continues throughout the design process. The region and the purpose of the building have a big part in the building’s aesthetics. Stump notes that in a population-dense coastal area, such as Hawaii, the preferred metal products of choice are pre-engineered metal buildings. Coastal climates impact the type of metal or whether or not metal will even be used. “In the U.S., we use an aluminum clip for metal panels,” says Top. “But in high saline air, aluminum deteriorates over time, so we might use stainless steel. Depending on the material selection, we may also use different coating processes such as fluropolymer over anodotic coating.”
The Question of Skilled Labor
“Besides finding materials, finding skilled labor is also a big factor in the success of a project,” notes Debashis Sarkar, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, chief architect, Stanley Consultants. Skilled labor factored into and proved a challenge during Sarkar’s work in Djibouti. While materials and imports can be a challenge there, the labor force is a bigger one because Djibouti does not have a ready source of skilled labor.
Finding skilled labor also proved a challenge for Top’s work in Doha. “Qatar has an unskilled labor force, and we’re designing to a high set of standards.” The labor force in Qatar has evolved recently, though. Top says: “We used to use concrete blocks for interior partition wall construction and detailing in order to respond to the accepted building practices and available materials. Over time our detailing has evolved to include the use of metal studs as the level of skill in the work force and material quality/ availability increased.”
For firms who serve as the design architect rather than project architect, labor becomes less of an immediate concern. Pan explains: “For the Shunde project, we were not involved on the building portion. We specify our design through performance specs, and a local architecture firm serves as the project architect.”
Seeking Sustainability
The movement for sustainable buildings continues to grow and has as much influence internationally as it does in the U.S. Firms working internationally learn how to make adjustments based on local considerations. Top’s work in Doha meets requirements of LEED Silver, Gold or Platinum. “How it’s approached is modifying [the design process and materials] so certain credits can be maximized,” she says. “We can reach recycled content credits with steel, but we don’t approach credits such as energy modeling the same way.”
“In Djibouti, credits like local materials may not be achievable, but some credits like solar are available,” notes Sarkar. “We should know from day one whether sustainability is achievable or not.”
Some projects are trendsetters for international sustainability programs. “Shunde is the pilot project for China LEED health care systems,” says Pan.
Points of Pride
Different firms working internationally take pride in different aspects of design in specific projects.
For HMC and Pan, the First People’s Hospital is a point of pride due to its sheer size, as well as the project’s use of local materials. “The hospital is more than 2 million square feet with 2,000 beds, which is four times more than the 500 beds found at regular U.S. hospitals,” notes Pan. “You don’t usually see hospitals with more than 1,000 beds.”
In addition to the sheer size of the project, Pan is proud of how the local environment is represented in the design. “The building uses aluminum metal panels manufactured locally,” explains Pan. “The design also engages terra cotta, something Shunde is famous for the past 2,000 years.” These local features are critical, as Pan says, “The [local features] allow us to interact more with the local culture.”
Burns & McDonnell’s point of pride is the 145,000-square-foot General Electric Advanced Technology and Research Center in Doha. The building is located in Qatar’s Science and Technology Park. The firm takes pride in the fact that the building focuses on merging Qatari culture with the scientific purpose of the building. The design features a pearl-shaped structure that holds an auditorium. The pearl shape reflects Qatar’s history of pearl diving. MERO Structures Inc., Atlanta, supplied a stainless steel canopy that reflects the desert region’s heat. Meanwhile, the exterior structure features 581,270 square feet of smooth metal wall panels from 3A Composites USA Inc., Statesville, N.C.
Stanley Consultants’ Sarkar and Stump each have projects that have been points of pride in their careers.
“In 2001, the first project I worked on was an air force base with a total of 95 buildings,” says Sarkar. He is unable to disclose the location due to legal reasons. “It was fascinating designing the entire base, something I personally enjoyed. Designwise, the project took over two years.”
In Stump’s case, being able to help another country’s growth is important. “Our company has the opportunity to be involved all over the world- from Ecuador to the Middle East- we have had the opportunity to design and supervise construction on a wide variety of infrastructure.”
Stump is particularly proud of the difference his works makes in developing countries. Stump’s focus has been the construction management of a road network in Micronesia that is in poor condition. “We are involved in the construction management of a road network that will improve the lives of the people of Chuuk,
[Micronesia]. The new roads will allow people to safely walk to and from work, and not slog through lakes of water that form after rains-the roadway has failed throughout the network. When we finish our work and the contractor completes the road, we will have contributed to something that makes their lives easier. It will be a game changer.”
The future looks bright for international projects. The amount of new construction abroad is increasing, and everyone is entering the fray. Meanwhile, the use of metal in international design depends primarily on the location and availability of metal materials.
As for architects using metal, Top summarizes: “I think that the uniqueness and inherent qualities of metal translate. There are certain instances where only metal will do.”