The management of the design of modern curtain wall cladding systems

The building envelope is responsible for the protection of its internal environment and has a substantial effect on the energy requirements of a building. The need to increase the efficiency of building façades on account of environmental awareness has given further impetus to the growth of innovation in façade technology. With the advent of new technologies, the specialist knowledge of the façade trade is required. Their early involvement is essential to enable interaction with other consultants and facilitate the production of detailed designs. The pressure on all participants of the supply chain to constantly innovate new processes as well as maintain the tight design and construction schedule; created the need to understand the scale of this production task and to plan and manage it accordingly. Design management research usually deals with the processes within the professional design team and yet, in the UK, the volume of the total project information produced by the specialist trade contractors equals or exceeds that produced by the design team. This paper explores the nature of the specialists' information production process with a view to developing an understanding of the process of design within this area of design and information production in order that the scope and scale can be planned as an integral part of the whole design process.