Bowmer + Kirkland and NBS have joined forces to improve the design management process, providing design managers access to NBS Chorus
Bowmer + Kirkland have been announced as the first ‘Contractor Partner’ working with NBS to improve efficiency in the design management process.
The deal aims to allow design managers to better collaborate with their design partners and manufacturer supply chain, speeding up the design process and reducing defects in construction.
The development signals NBS’s move into the contractor market
Since the launch of the Chorus cloud platform in 2019, all of NBS’ specification writing customers have transitioned from the desktop to the cloud and is now used by over 3,600 design practices.
Bowmer + Kirkland is set to make the most of these developments, using NBS Chorus to work more efficiently with design partners and better manage the design and construction phases of projects.
Design managers can then take snapshots of specifications at key work stages to create an archive of ‘big data’ from previous projects, helping to maintain robust digital records in the spirit of the Golden Thread.
The cloud software features will allow contractors to work with their approved suppliers more collaboratively on projects. The NBS plan includes a focus on improving the embodied carbon metrics of projects, supported by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) available from manufacturer product suppliers.
Developing a standardised process across individual projects and entire catalogues
The NBS partnership with Bowmer + Kirkland has been led by framework delivery director, James Vaux-Anderson, who noticed that use of the NBS Chorus platform increased amongst its design partner architects and engineers.
James said: “Discussing required additional functionality with NBS to make it really work for our design managers has now given us the confidence to recommend that this is our process for future projects.
“This approach has benefits on an individual project level, but also aligns with our greater vision, to build a rich set of searchable ‘big-data’ across all of our projects.”
It is hoped that the collaboration on design management processes may benefit both user and creator
Dr Stephen Hamil, innovation director at NBS commented: “When Chorus was initially launched, we focused on the needs of the specification writer. We then became aware of other benefits that came with working in the cloud as architects and engineers invited manufacturers to collaborate on developing complex system specifications.
“We’ve worked hard on improving these collaboration workflows around licencing, audit history and permissions. The next natural step for NBS is to widen the usage of Chorus to the design managers that oversee this process on large contractor-led projects.
“Working alongside Bowmer + Kirkland will allow us to hone our platform to the needs of contractors, improving collaboration on future projects and supply chains but also developing a standardised approach to specification development.”
