LEGOs & Specs

Were LEGOs a part of your holiday season gift-giving or receiving? As the global leader in toy brands in 2023¹, it's highly likely that at some point, LEGO brought a smile to the face of someone you know, regardless of their age or gender. These tiny bricks offer a multitude of incredible experiences for anyone who engages with them. From discovering new possibilities to the thrill of engineering, direction, and construction, there's a growing satisfaction as each page of the model comes together. LEGO also gives individuals the power to unleash their creativity and become their own master builders, constructing sculptures, buildings, vehicles, and more from their own imagination.

The word LEGO is derived from the Danish phrase "leg godt," which translates to "play well." And when things are done well, that's when the magic truly happens. At its core, building with LEGO shares similarities with the process of creating specifications and drawings for a building. Just as LEGOs empower individuals to bring their visions to life, one brick at a time, well-executed specs and drawings bring a successful building to life.

Charlie Dunn of DPR ingeniously employs LEGOs to captivate and educate his audience during workshops and presentations on LEAN principles in design and construction. Drawing inspiration from Charlie, the Conspectus team created our own LEGO instructions to offer a compelling case and fresh perspective on the timing and implementation of specifications throughout a project. This exercise has already made waves at the LCI Congress and is set to become an official AIA Accredited session. Enthusiastically, the entire Conspectus team embarked on the workshop, immersing themselves in the firsthand experience of how various roles within the project team can enhance the process. Most importantly, we honed in on how we, as specifiers, can elevate the outcomes of our projects.

Meet the Project Team (LEGO movie enthusiasts can relate)

Lord Business - Owner/Design Team (Architect, Engineer, Landscape Architect, etc.)

Emmet - Construction Team

Vitruvius - Specifier/Estimator Team

Benny - Facility Operations/Maintenance Team

Participants form project teams and choose the role they would prefer to perform, and the group receives a set of instructions for the workshop. There are two rounds during the exercise.

The first round begins with Step 1- Lord Business (Owner/Design Team) in concept and schematic design, creating a project out of LEGOs. The design is assigned a value, and the model is evaluated on height and aesthetics.

Step 2 - Lord Business meets with Emmet (Contractor Team) and the value engineering begins. Emmet makes suggestions to save time and money and the team experiences the impact the suggested changes make on the design. The measurement for success in this step is days calculated based on the brick color and size.

Step 3 - Lord Business meets with Vitruvius (Specifier and Estimator Team). The specifier makes him aware of discontinued products. The estimator prices the design, and some bricks exceed the budget. Value engineering continues. Costs are calculated based on the value of each brick.

Step 4 - Lord Business puts in a change order request. The design is once again revised.

Step 5 - Benny (Facility Operations/Maintenance Team) joins the project. During the first year of operations FO/M determines that it is less expensive to operate and maintain some of the bricks (systems). Minor renovations take place. The structure is evaluated again on aesthetics and height.

Behind schedule and over budget, the final construction project is significantly different than the original design.

Behind schedule and over budget, the final construction project is significantly different than the original design.

Now for Round 2: The project team's engagement timing is rearranged, the flow of information and decision making was changed and the players saw the immediate transformation of their project. The cost decreased, the time was more efficient and the design was NOT compromised. Of course this is not a surprise to our team, who are experienced in the ways that a shift in process can alter project outcomes in an incredibly positive way. 

Explore beyond the anecdotal 'collaboration cures', and through LEGO exploration, experience how transparency TRANSFORMS.

Get on the schedule for the AIA approved session coming soon. Get on a tour of the tool, Conspectus Cloud, that allows you to implement transparency NOW.

¹ https://www.statista.com/statistics/399131/value-of-the-leading-global-toy-brands/