14/10/2020
Getting More Bang for your Buck…
Value Engineering is a process we undergo on most projects. The most critical decision you can make to help us, help you, is to define what ‘value’ means to you.
The majority of projects we work on at Unusual Projects have set budgets, we think it is essential to work closely with design and client teams to ensure that we help you extract the maximum value from that project budget without compromising on content or quality. This can be achieved in numerous ways with a little bit of creative thinking. Financial restraints can encourage a dynamic approach and lead to results often more impressive than the initial concepts and crucially within budget and timeframes.
Value Engineering is a process we undergo on most projects. The most critical decision you can make to help us, help you, is to define what ‘value’ means to you. Is it, cost effectiveness, aesthetic finish, sustainability, visitor experience, longevity, ease of maintenance, durability. We understand all of these things are important to you! But we need to work through them to prioritise and ensure best value for the project. An example of this is – if your priority is longevity of the exhibition, it may add value to your project to use solid surface, which although is initially more expensive, it provides long term solutions in terms of durability and ease of repair, thus saving costs over the life of the exhibition.
Our experience and wide variety of in house skills also enables us to successfully value engineer projects where necessary, again this is a process we undertake on many projects. The aim is to reduce costs without compromising the outcomes or design intentions.
By reviewing / simplifying finishes, materials or mechanisms used in construction we can often suggest savings without losing the creative and interpretive requirements.
A good example of this would be a giant plant pot we were asked to produce recently. Utilising hard coated polystyrene for an external element in place of more traditional materials such as fiberglass can be a great cost saving alternative which does not compromise on looks or durability. 5 axis machining can save on sculpting time and hard coating eliminates multiple laying up processes due to the spray application of this product.
Our team has a wealth of experience of working with designers and client teams to deliver the highest quality product within a set budget.
Having the opportunity to be involved with design development of the exhibits enables us to advise on alternative construction methods, materials and finishes, using samples, mock-up’s and where necessary prototypes.
We want to work with you to ensure that you maximise your budget, effective value engineering can deliver high quality results which do not compromise on aesthetic intent.

Philip Clifton
Production Manager

