Collaboration at Verstas

A few years ago, people at Fira realised that there were cases where the parties of a construction project actually never got together around one table during the project. The realisation inspired the Verstas concept, where the client, users, designers and builders got together to combine their skills and plan the project. To date, Fira has organised more than 150 Verstas workshops.

Depending on the project at hand, the scope of Verstas may focus on, for example, evaluations of the need for space, profitability or development potential of the lot; concept development; charting the needs of the users and taking them into account in the design; and improving the customer experience. When the project has been properly founded, the actual construction work can focus on the essentials.

Fira’s experts on estimations and solution design <link to the teams> are the right persons to tell you about the cost of different construction alternatives and how the project best should be put to practice. Fira specialises in using data models for estimates and solution design. They create the building first in digital format, and then for real. This ensures that the smartest solutions are chosen for structures and feasibility. Moreover, it is possible to make an accurate cost estimate for the project.

For example, Fira’s solution design team, the client and the designer collaborated to create the cubic balcony structure for As Oy Helsingin Viuhka. The building received the Concrete Structure of the year award in 2016. Fira’s data modelling competence made it possible to increase the capacity of the Lahden toriparkki parking facility while saving 8 million euros in construction costs.

In the next stage, designers and engineers refine the decisions made in Verstas into concrete plans. At Fira, the planning happens collectively in Big Rooms. It is a great method for reducing overlap and problems in the plans. It also helps to avoid surprises during construction.