Commercial Architecture June 2017 - 6

DEPARTMENT

the architects

Good Architecture Makes
The Invisible Visible
The unseen performance of buildings is essential to improved
user experience and successful business outcomes.
Victoria J. Cerami, CEO, Cerami & Associates Inc.

I

s great architecture invisible? Depending on the project type, end-user studies by firms
such as HOK and researchers at Univ. of California, Berkeley, show that at least 50%
of a building's perceived and actual performance is entirely unseen. Whether it's acous-

tics, workplace/learning technology, or security and life-safety systems, key elements that
shape end-user experience can often be difficult to discern at first glance.
When the Wi-Fi signal drops, for example, or a college lecturer's microphone fails,
building occupants notice. They also shift their attention when a security breach causes
financial loss or a meeting room's uncontrolled reverb makes a board-meeting discussion
unintelligible and unpleasant. When events such as those happen, the owner and design
team realize that the "invisible architecture" is the linchpin for better business outcomes,
more effective learning, and enjoyable, graceful occupant experiences.

"Invisible architecture" can be a difference
maker in projects such as New York's 10 and
30 Hudson Yards, a Related-Oxford Venture,
designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates,
New York. (Image courtesy Related)

Yet, even with trial and error, building-project teams often neglect these enabling traits
in early project discussions. It's just assumed that those invisible things will work out fine.

checklist of devices, we have to evaluate the users. Who are these people? What are their

This faith seems unwise. Consider architectural renderings and animations. The

needs, and how do they communicate? What opportunities motivate them and what

often-beautiful project images let people see or walk/fly through their schematic designs.
Owners learn what the new spaces will look like, and they can respond to visual imagery
such as form, texture, and lighting. A few other key senses are missing, however. What
does it sound like inside? Is the air fresh and natural?
Basic performance aspects are omitted from the pretty pictures: Is the building infrastructure suitable and ready for the intended use? Is all functionality supported by the
right systems and assemblies? Most of all, owners should ask, does the rendering show an
adaptable and resilient building, ready for the inevitable (but usually unknown) organiza-

challenges do they seek to overcome?
We contend that's the starting point. The project perspective should be people first:

* What their goals are and what makes them happy and productive.
* What contributes to recruiting, retaining, and rewarding the best of them.
* What makes for a world-class experience-for all of the senses.
The needs that they articulate expose the unmet and maybe even unknown needs.
That's how the invisible starts to shape and support the architecture.
"The details are really where it all comes together," stated my colleague Peter Babigian,
a noted expert in technology and sustainability. "We've shifted our focus from space- and

tional and environmental flux?
As consultants creating integrated building experiences to meet the client mission, our

system-based design to experience-based. This emphasis on diverse user experience helps

goal is to add those invisible functions to project planning. For decades, I've preached

a project team seamlessly meet all expectations for the client group's interaction with those

about how important it is to make the invisible visible during project planning and de-

'invisible yet critical' elements."

sign-or when correcting an existing building's defects. We've created tools such as Cerami

The straightest path to designing for the invisible is to understand and reflect the lan-

Immersive to deliver acoustical visualizations to the project decision-makers (Learn more

guage of the end-users, occupants, and owners. Help them shape the solution around

about acoustical design at wbdg.org/resources/acoustic-comfort). Along the way, we've

the business outcome and the organizational mission. This helps people understand why

learned that those invisible things are vital, from the front-end conceptual design work to

building-system technologists are so fixated on things you can't see, but that often matter

the final punch list-and for the building's lifetime of operations.
A big part of the job for our firm is to raise awareness of the invisible aspects of a facility. For example, people today expect access to data everywhere and all of the time. The
future is wireless everything. Architecture must support that, even through low-e glass,

the most. CA
Victoria J. Cerami is CEO of Cerami & Associates Inc., an innovative, 100-person global provider of outcome-focused building solutions for high-profile projects, operating offices in New York, Philadelphia, and
Washington, recognized for business leadership and technical excellence.

which is a boon to energy savings but a killer for wireless signals. Similarly, communications have to be supported-not just phones, networked computers, and servers, but the
touchpoints of audio and visual components. Also, today we assume that sophisticated
security tools will help solve matters from asset management to criminal activity.
All of this is expected and assumed to be inherent in that gorgeous lifestyle architecture
rendering. But seasoned end-users know to never assume.
That's why visionary technologists are essential to the team. Instead of starting with a
6

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

JUNE 2017

commercialarchitecturemagazine.com

Interview With Victoria Cerami
Learn more about invisible architecture and the impact it can
have on project success in our interview with Victoria Cerami at
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com/architects.
http://www.wbdg.org/resources/acoustic-comfort http://www.commercialarchitecturemagazine.com/architects http://www.commercialarchitecturemagazine.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Architecture June 2017
