“A showstopper”

Clients flocking through the new Solution Center at the Falkbuilt Minneapolis Branch by Meso are loving what they’re seeing—solid walls, doors, different glass walls, integrated technology, and millwork. “We’ve had a variety of different end users, general contractors, architects, and design partners walking through the space and they're impressed with the level of detail and the quality,” says Justin Held, the Branch’s Director of Business Development. “It’s been an absolute showstopper. The biggest thing everyone's talking about is the curved glass.”

During the design process for the space, there was plenty of back and forth and no shortage of changes. But with Echo, any change in Revit is instantly reflected in the engineering accurate model in the cloud, ensuring no detail or change is lost. “I love it,” says Branch designer, Ivan Hoerz. “I love seeing it all in real time and having the ability of making the changes on the fly. Having one smooth process from design to order has been really helpful. It’s been really nice to just keep track of all the stages.”

The project manager and crew that unloaded and installed the space also appreciated Echo, with the QR codes placed on every single digital component that came off the truck. “There were a couple of pieces that we couldn’t find, but because of the QR codes we were able to locate them,” says Ivan. “The install guys hadn’t seen anything like that before. They were like ‘Whoa!’ That was really helpful.”

As the install crew was busy assembling the space, Ivan and other designers at the Branch got a kick out of following along with the Inventor model on their screens. “We were walking around showing what Echo can do and how the Inventor model could explode to zoom in on one particular piece, and then put it all back together. Having the ability to see how it all connects and interacts was really cool.”

It was exciting to be onsite watching the installation happen,” says Natasha Fonville, the Branch’s Director of Brand and Creative. “Now that we’ve experienced a project from the perspective of a client as we designed and installed Falkbuilt, we know our clients will appreciate the simplicity and sophistication found throughout the entire process.”