The choice
A+A and ZEST were not created to occupy a market niche. They were founded with the ambition of developing a different way of approaching design and project delivery.
After years of experience in structured, international, and complex environments, the founders chose to build upon a professional culture shaped through practice and experience. A culture based on responsibility, dialogue between disciplines, the ability to manage complexity, and the belief that every project should create tangible value.
The Method
The Value of the Method Projects represent the outcome. The method represents the guarantee.
Every assignment begins with listening, analysis, and a thorough understanding of the context. Every decision is evaluated by considering technical, economic, regulatory, environmental, and human factors.
For this reason, the method is the group’s true professional asset. It is what enables the team to address complexity with clarity, coordinate diverse areas of expertise, and support clients throughout every stage of the process.
The value perceived by clients stems not only from the quality of the final project, but also from the ability to build trust throughout the entire journey.
Approach
During the entire design phase and the subsequent construction phase, all activities will be coordinated, controlled, and monitored through the adoption of project management procedures.
Building on the experience gained over more than a decade in similar complex projects, the team will apply the most established and up-to-date working methods to ensure compliance with the “triple constraint,” defined as the adherence to time, cost, and quality requirements of the project.
Within this framework, the project approach is structured into the following phases, described below.
Project Initiation
During the project initiation phase, the following elements will be identified:
- project objectives
- high-level constraints
- milestones
- stakeholders involved
Project Planning
The planning activity is structured into the following phases:
- Analysis and definition of the project scope;
- Development of the WBS: for the two main design phases (detailed design and executive design);
- Preparation of the project schedule (Gantt chart): this represents the “baseline schedule,” with clear identification of milestones and the critical path;
- Definition of the resource plan;
- Risk analysis: a useful tool for the detailed identification of risks, the assessment of their impact during the design and construction phases, and the definition of mitigation or avoidance actions to be implemented.
At the conclusion of the planning phase, a kick-off meeting will be held. During this meeting, the Design Coordinator (Project Manager), together with the project team, presents, discusses, and aligns with the Client the objectives, guidelines, approach, constraints, milestones, exclusions, risks, and critical issues.
Project Execution
During the design development phase, and based on experience gained from similar projects, workshops will be used as the primary means of sharing design decisions and implementing project choices.
The use of workshops, scheduled within the project timeline, allows to:
- proceed with design-related decisions in a step-by-step manner;
- ensure mutual understanding of design choices between the Client and the design team;
- redirect the design process, when necessary, in order to consistently pursue shared and updated objectives;
- monitor compliance with the requirements of each project area and the Client’s expectations;
- maintain control over each scope of work and the relationships between the different project areas.
Project Monitoring and Control
During the course of the project, monitoring and control processes will be implemented to verify the progress of activities, in particular:
- monitoring and control of the progress and consistency of activities within each project area;
- monitoring and control of the project schedule;
- monitoring and control of risks.
Project Closure
The Project Manager (PM), in coordination with the Client interface, verifies that:
- the project objectives have been achieved;
- all required project deliverables have been completed;
- the deliverables have been prepared in accordance with the specified requirements.
Working Group
A+A and ZEST operate in different fields and speak distinct professional languages, yet they share the same vision of design and project development.
On one side, architecture; on the other, engineering and technical consultancy. Two independent identities that maintain their own expertise, approaches, and stakeholders.
What brings them together is not simply being part of the same group.
It is a shared culture founded on rigor, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a commitment to quality.
The strength of the system does not come from the sum of its competencies, but from their ability to work in dialogue with one another.
Multiple locations. One identity.
The different locations represent a widespread presence across the territory and the ability to operate in diverse contexts.
They are not separate entities, but nodes within a network that shares the same principles, the same approach, and the same professional culture.
Each location maintains its own relationships and unique characteristics while contributing to a common vision.