IPROconsult in a customer interview with LINEAR

LINEAR: Tell us something about the history of your company and the current service package.

IPROconsult: IPROconsult is a general design company with headquarters in Dresden and 14 branches throughout Germany. The reason for founding the company in 1949 was the reconstruction of the destroyed city, during which we rebuilt the Dresden Frauenkirche as our most outstanding project.

However, our architects, engineers and designer have expertise not only in the field of refurbishment and reconstruction, but in all design fields and disciplines of the three business segments "Architecture and Building Construction", "Infrastructure" and "Environment, Energy and Factory Facilities". We combine over 70 years of experience with modern technologies and methods.

LINEAR: Of all the projects you have implemented, which ones make you particularly proud and what services did your company contribute to them?

IPROconsult: One of our most prestigious projects is the aforementioned reconstruction of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, which was destroyed during World War II. We are also active outside of Saxony in the field of refurbishment of historic buildings and have, for example, been commissioned by the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg to upgrade the building equipment of the Orangery and the New Palace in the famous Sanssouci Palace Park, as well as to build the new central art depot in Potsdam.

We have also planned numerous projects in the field of educational and sports buildings, for example the educational campus at Straßburger Platz, the "Zero-Energy School" elementary school in Wermsdorf and currently the vocational school center for business "Franz Ludwig Gehe" in Dresden.

Of course, our offer as general designer includes much more, from important infrastructure measures (e.g. bus station Berlin-Adlershof or elimination of flood damages in the Weißeritz valley), factory and research buildings (e.g. for Novaled or ZEISS) to promising sustainability projects (e.g. erosion forecasts or long-term energy storage).

LINEAR: What is your opinion on the topic of "digitization" in this industry and what do you consider to be the greatest challenges and opportunities in this context?

IPROconsult: Digitization is becoming increasingly important in the construction industry and presents us with growing challenges. In the course of this, we have to provide a wide range of information and adapt internal design processes. Above all, planning with BIM has a practical impact on our work processes. Task management systems are being introduced, jour fixe appointments are increasingly model-based and are being digitized. New roles (e.g., BIM coordinators) and new tasks (e.g., digitized collision checks) are created. This encourages coordination and cooperation within the company and minimizes sources of error. The greatest advantage is better quality through increased reliability in terms of quantity and costs.

LINEAR: What significant changes could you observe in this industry over the last few years?

IPROconsult: Processing times are becoming shorter, design phases are overlapping and cost pressure is rising. At the same time, requirements are becoming more complex and the demands for sustainability and energy efficiency are in tension with the drive to reduce costs. In addition, as in other sectors, we are facing an increasing shortage of specialists.

LINEAR: What role do sustainability and climate protection play in your projects?

IPROconsult: The topic of sustainability is becoming increasingly important and at the same time it is in conflict with the aspect of economic efficiency, because environmental protection is not available at zero cost. As a general design company, we ultimately have to operate sustainably, and we have to comply with growing legal requirements (e.g. German Building Energy Act).

Many of our projects revolve around the topics of sustainability and energy efficiency. For example, we are developing a long-term energy storage system (regryd), are planning to launch a pilot project for serial renovation based on the Energiesprong principle and are addressing issues such as erosion forecasting in our Ecology & Environment office. At the same time, our landscape design team is involved in the projects from the start of design with the preparation of species protection and environmental expert reports, ecological construction monitoring and other services in environmental issues across our locations and business units.

LINEAR: You have already carried out numerous projects with the LINEAR Solutions. What is your experience with the software so far?

IPROconsult: When it comes to HVAC and MEP design, LINEAR provides us with a well-designed construction and calculation tool. Our experiences with the integrated calculations and extended functions for the basic CAD programs are consistently positive. The integrated calculations save a noticeable amount of work.

Through seamless integration with Revit, LINEAR enables efficient data exchange, improved communication, and a holistic project overview, resulting in optimized BIM workflow processes.

We would also like to highlight the very positive experience with the support. We are excited about our continuing journey with LINEAR!

LINEAR: Thank you very much for the interview.