How Tishman Speyer Uses OpenSpace
to Strengthen Tenant Relationships andImprove Communication
The Real Estate Giant Recently Used 360° Photo Documentation
on a Flagship Project in NYC’s Hudson Yards

Goal: Better Jobsite Documentation toImprove Efficiency

Strategy: Deploy OpenSpace on a
2.8M-Square-Foot Building in Manhattan

As a leading owner, developer, operator and fund manager

Pittas and his team decided to leverage OpenSpace forof first-class real estate around the world, Tishman

The Spiral—a 2.8 million-square-foot office building

Speyer is always in search of cutting-edge technology tocurrently under construction in Manhattan’s Hudson

help improve delivery and operational efficiency.

Yards—starting in mid-2019. They’ve found that 360
photo documentation ensures that areas are captured

WhenNew

York-based

Director

Construction

Eleftherios

Pittasof

first

Designcameandfrom every angle and photos are easy to find.

acrossOpenSpace in early 2019, he was struck by its potential toA member of the field team simply straps a 360 camera

improve a number of different processes and workflows

to their hard hat and walks the site once or twice a week,

by letting field teams seamlessly capture 360 imagery.

and imagery is automatically mapped to project plans
and stored in the cloud, which makes it simple to locate“Using OpenSpace allows us to have complete visibility

images from different points in time.

of the jobsite at any time, from anywhere in the world,”
he said. “It means that I can very quickly recover specificjobsite evidence from one, two, or even five years ago,
whenever requested – which is quite often.”

If a 2D picture is worth athousand words and a 3D
picture is worth a million words,
then an OpenSpace capture isbasically priceless”
Eleftherios Pittas
Director of Design and Construction

The utility of robust photo documentation became

for the U.S. General Services Administration on behalf ofespecially pronounced when the construction teamthe Justice Department and the United States Marshals

started closing up walls, since OpenSpace allowed themService. OpenSpace is being used for design coordination,

to capture the state of the framing, electrical, plumbing,site inspections, reviewing pay applications, answering

rebar and more for posterity.

RFIs, updating the punch list and keeping the 60 projectstakeholders who join weekly calls and can’t all be on site

“If a 2D picture is worth a thousand words and a 3D

up to date on project developments.

picture is worth a million words, then an OpenSpace
capture is basically priceless,” he said. “Since imagery is

Marianne Burkart, a Senior Director at Tishman Speyer who

automatically mapped to the plan, you have a lot moreworked on the GSA project, said the technology helped

context and data at your fingertips, and you can easily

them coordinate when pandemic restrictions prevented

share it with anyone on the project.”them from physically being on site. “OpenSpace proved
invaluable during that COVID-19 time period,” she said.

Tishman Speyer has also utilized OpenSpace’s BIM Viewer“We could be on a design call and quickly reference thefeature, which enables a side-by-side view of actual site

captures of the space regarding site conditions.”

conditions with the model—helping the extended project
they’re in the field or in the office.

Results: Savings on Rework and an Improved
Turnover Process“It’s great that you can see it from an iPad or computer,

OpenSpace has delivered a more detailed history of The

which makes it accessible to less technical people whoSpiral than as-builts or 2D drawings could provide, andaren’t familiar with 3D modeling tools,” he said.

this record can be leveraged by Tishman Speyer’s property

team grasp the current status of the project, whether

managers and tenants for decades to come. Specifically,

It’s a better way of sharing
information with tenant teams tohelp accelerate their fit-out.”
Eleftherios Pittas
Director of Design and Construction

it’s had an impact in the following areas:•A better experience for customers: OpenSpace lets
Tishman Speyer show customers how their officefloors and mechanical spaces are progressing. “It canbe incredibly valuable for a customer’s mechanicalengineer, structural engineer and architect to have

Tishman Speyer is proud to be an early customer anda permanent record of the space and how it looked

investor in OpenSpace, continuing to utilize OpenSpace

when it was under construction so they’re noton a variety of construction projects (ground-up,relying on memory or a couple of 2D photos,” Pittas

redevelopment, tenant improvement) across North

said. “It’s a better way of sharing information withAmerica, Europe, Brazil and Asia.

customer teams to help accelerate their fit-out.”
OpenSpace is also useful in sales conversations forThe company also recently started using OpenSpace on a
300,000-square-foot, Washington, D.C.-based project

showing spaces to prospective customers.

••A single source of truth: ”Having OpenSpace•captures to refer back to helps avoid disputes overSince the jobsite was initially shut down for three

the condition of a space when it was delivered,” said

months after COVID-19 hit and the number ofPittas. “We always do walkthroughs with tenants

people allowed on site was limited after reopening,

before the handover, but having robust digital

OpenSpace was invaluable for keeping project

documentation of site conditions adds another layer

stakeholders aligned. By conducting virtualof protection. It means there won’t be any questions

walkthroughs via OpenSpace captures, a variety of

about what was turned over and it leads to a smootherpeople could experience current site conditions.

transition.”

Specifically, the GC on the project (TurnerConstruction) had the idea to share captures of theA better handoff for facilities teams: Since Tishmanbuilding’s restrooms with architects, engineers andSpeyer plans to operate The Spiral and otherconsultants to get their sign-off before closing up

buildings on a long-term basis, having a detailed

any walls, since it would be “a lot more expensive andhistory is useful for property managers. This became

detrimental to the schedule if we forgot something”

evident when the designs for the bathrooms changedin those areas of the building, according to Pittas.

from having hand dryers to having paper towel
dispensers. Given that the construction team had•Time savings in the field: ”Scheduling in-person

already done the framing and electrical work, they

visits with three or four different people for sign-off

decided to leave the provisions for hand dryers

before closing walls is more complicated and time-buried behind the wall for use in the future. Having

intensive than letting them do a virtual walkthrough

OpenSpace gave them the confidence that it would

on their own time and then coordinating via email,”

be easy for the operations team to pinpoint where

said Pittas. “We’d rather have the design teamdryers should go in the future if they decide toreviewing shop drawings or submittals instead of

remodel the restrooms five or 10 years from now or

traveling back and forth to the site.”

if a particular tenant wants them. “Sometimes those
types of details are on drawings, but it’s much easierto grasp by seeing a photo,” Pittas said.
•Improved collaboration among stakeholder groups:

Avoidance of rework: OpenSpace lets Tishman
Speyer see inside walls after they’re closed, helping
them be more precise when addressing futureissues. “We can use OpenSpace as an x-ray topinpoint where to focus instead of opening up alarge section of wall in a large general area—all
while minimizing disruption to the existing tenantand systems,” Pittas said.