How OpenSpace Helps Tishman Speyer Improve Communications and Tenant Relationships

As a leading owner, developer, operator, and fund manager of first-class real estate around the world, Tishman Speyer is always in search of cutting-edge technology to help improve delivery and operational efficiency. 

When Director of Design and Construction Eleftherios Pittas first came across OpenSpace in early 2019, he was struck by its potential to improve a number of different processes and workflows by letting field teams seamlessly capture 360 imagery. 

Pittas and his team decided to leverage OpenSpace for The Spiral—a 2.8 million-square-foot office building currently under construction in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards—starting in mid-2019. They’ve found that 360º photo documentation ensures that areas are captured from every angle and photos are easy to find. A member of the field team simply straps a 360º camera to their hard hat and walks the site once or twice a week, and imagery is automatically mapped to project plans and stored in the cloud, which makes it simple to locate images from different points in time. 

The utility of robust photo documentation became especially pronounced when the construction team started closing up walls since OpenSpace allowed them to capture the state of the framing, electrical, plumbing, rebar, and more for posterity. 

“If a 2D picture is worth a thousand words and a 3D picture is worth a million words, then an OpenSpace capture is basically priceless,” Pittas said. “Since imagery is automatically mapped to the plan, you have a lot more context and data at your fingertips, and you can easily share it with anyone on the project.” 

OpenSpace has delivered a more detailed history of The Spiral than as-builts or 2D drawings could provide, and this record can be leveraged by Tishman Speyer’s property managers and tenants for decades to come.

“It can be incredibly valuable for a customer’s mechanical engineer, structural engineer, and architect to have a permanent record of the space and how it looked when it was under construction so they’re not relying on memory or a couple of 2D photos,” Pittas said. “It’s a better way of sharing information with customer teams to help accelerate their fit-out.” 

OpenSpace also lets Tishman Speyer see inside walls after they’re closed, helping them be more precise when addressing future issues. 

“We can use OpenSpace as an X-ray to pinpoint where to focus instead of opening up a large section of wall in a large general area—all while minimizing disruption to the existing tenant and systems,” Pittas said. 

Tishman Speyer is proud to be an early customer and investor in OpenSpace, continuing to utilize OpenSpace on a variety of construction projects (ground-up, redevelopment, tenant improvement) across North America, Europe, Brazil, and Asia. The company also recently started using OpenSpace on a 300,000-square-foot, Washington, D.C.-based project for the U.S. General Services Administration on behalf of the Justice Department and the United States Marshals Service. 

To learn more about how Tishman Speyer is leveraging OpenSpace to improve the turnover process, drive savings on rework, and save time in the field, download the case study.