In this episode of The Future Built Smarter, Abby Coleman discusses IMEG’s use of immersive extended reality experiences, 1,300 of which were provided by the firm to project stakeholders in 2024. “Extended reality is an umbrella term for virtual reality and augmented reality,” says Abby. “I essentially use those technologies to help our clients and engineers visualize their design before anything is even built.”

As IMEG’s Innovation Extended Reality Specialist, Abby also incorporates VR and AR technology into the firm’s engineering workflow to revolutionize the design process and bolster IMEG project team collaboration. “Whether reviewing a critical space or evaluating workflows, both the engineers and clients will be able to make confident and well-deformed decisions,” she says. Overall, she adds, immersive experiences help accelerate the decision-making process, reduce the number of costly revisions, and optimize project outcomes.

IMEG’s immersive experiences are utilized in many markets and for different purposes. Among the 1,300 experiences of the past year, Abby singles out an experience in which IMEG designers “sat” on a hospital bed within a 3D model of a patient room to determine the optimal size and number of footwall digital display screens, based on the patient point of view. In a similar vein, higher education project stakeholders “sat” in various locations of a conference room 3D model to determine the best locations and number of projector screens, again based on the end users’ perspective. And in an augmented reality experience, an engineer inside an existing mechanical room saw how a new chiller and its piping, as designed, would fit in the space.

Floor plans, the AEC industry’s traditional medium for communicating designs to clients, cannot truly represent a space. IMEG’s immersive experiences, however, are created using the firm’s robust 3D models, which provide spatial awareness and understanding. “When we're able to put a client in a headset, some of the feedback is like, ‘Wow, now I understand this design. I know how it feels.’ “

In the future, Abby foresees every engineer having a VR headset on their desk and “essentially just using that on design from start to finish.” She also expects to see “VR more heavily incorporated with our client engagement,” with the annual number of stakeholder immersions exceeding last year’s 1,300 experiences. She bases her predictions on extended reality’s proven ability to bridge the communication gap between designers and clients.

As she says, “I believe that VR is a universal language of design.”

Watch IMEG extended reality experience videos of a patient room, conference room, and job site.

This episode of The Future Built Smarter—one in a series of conversations with IMEG’s market leaders—examines the industrial and manufacturing sector with Mike Walsh, Senior Director of Industrial. The teams under his leadership work on a broad range of projects from aerospace to wastewater treatment facilities. "The diversity of our work is what makes it exciting—every project has its own set of challenges and opportunities," he says.

Challenges currently facing industrial and manufacturing clients include speed to market (proper planning is critical to avoid delays that can cost companies millions); talent shortages (a lack of skilled professionals affects both operations and project execution); and technology integration (AI, automation, and robotics are becoming essential in addressing labor shortages and improving efficiency). "We’re seeing more companies invest in automation, not just to improve efficiency, but to fill the gaps left by labor shortages," Mike says.

Ensuring reliable access to power—a topic Mike examines in an IMEG blog post—also is critical for industrial and manufacturing owners. This is due to several factors affecting the power grid: increased demand due to population growth and electrification; increased power consumption by high-computing AI and data centers; aging infrastructure; severe weather impacts; and long lead times for major electrical equipment. "Securing enough power to support operations is one of the biggest challenges companies face today,” Mike says. “If you’re not thinking about power availability early in your planning process, you could be in for a long and costly wait.” To avoid such delays, he advises clients to evaluate power availability early in their project planning—ideally before purchasing land.

The challenges and opportunities in the rapidly developing industrial market make it imperative for owners to take a proactive approach, Mike says. This will enable them to stay ahead of the curve and build smarter, more sustainable operations. "The companies that succeed will be the ones that embrace change and invest in the right strategies today."

This episode examines the Missouri Botanical Garden’s new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center in St. Louis, winner of ENR’s National 2024 Best of the Best Project Award in the cultural category. The LEED Gold project houses an event center, gift shop, meeting spaces, restaurant, and auditorium, and included the renovation of the historic Linnean House, the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi. Insight into the project is provided by guests Zach Carter of IMEG and Deniz Piskin, Vice President for Facilities and Construction at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The decision to build the new center was largely driven by continual growth in the number of annual visitors; last year 1.3 million people visited the Garden, far more than the previous center could have comfortably accommodated. “The way the original visitor center was constructed, there were a lot of little bottlenecks in getting visitors through the center and into the garden,” Deniz says.

The overall visitor experience was the other focus of the project. In addition to the vastly improved entrance and its accessibility, upon entering the new center, visitors are immersed in natural light as they view the exterior gardens through the facility’s south wall of windows. An architectural lantern, or skylight, in the lobby includes a custom-designed scrim perforated in a pattern inspired by tree canopies. These and many other biophilic elements bring the outdoors in. “Everywhere you look, there's something related to nature,” says Deniz.

Hidden from sight are the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and technology systems designed by IMEG. Key features include a 50,000-gallon rainwater collection cistern to provide water for the plants in the greenhouse (botanical garden staff consider rain “liquid gold”); displacement ventilation/natural stratification in the 50-foot tall lobby to improve occupant comfort; rooftop solar arrays; and a generator devoted to providing backup power to maintain the appropriate climate for the greenhouse, which features a variety of plants from the Mediterranean.

Collaboration among all stakeholders was integral to the design-assist project, which was completed in multiple phases and included the construction of a temporary visitor center to keep the Garden open to visitors throughout construction.

Deniz advises other organizations contemplating such a milestone project to “start with a clear understanding of what your goals and objectives are and check back throughout the design process to ensure you are not deviating from your goals. That's what this team did. We always kept in mind our visitors, always kept in mind the visitor experience.”

See photos of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center and read the IMEG project case study. For further information and photographs, read this feature published by Metropolis.