Design Assist Services
What is Design Assist and When Would It Fit into Your Project?
Every project at RESAWN includes consultation for product guidance, technical questions, and coordination.
When project complexity calls for closer collaboration, specialized expertise, and more active support, Design Assist brings RESAWN’s wood and technical experts directly into the process. Through a structured, project-specific engagement, we work proactively with project teams to anticipate challenges, inform critical decisions, and support successful execution.
An Extension of Your Project Team
Throughout the Design Assist process, RESAWN brings deep wood expertise and years of hands-on experience to the project team, adding a specialized perspective. Working alongside architects, owners and their representatives, contractors, and installers, we help align design intent, project priorities, and practical execution by addressing key considerations early:
- Design intent and desired appearance
- Material behavior and long-term performance
- Manufacturing capabilities
- Attachment strategy
- Constructibility and installation requirements
- Cost, budget, and material efficiency
- Long-term maintenance and ownership considerations
Architects and Design Teams
During design, RESAWN partners with project teams to translate architectural intent into a cladding solution grounded in what can be truly manufactured, detailed, priced, and installed.
Design Assist can include:
- Product, species, finish, and profile guidance
- Profile configuration and manufacturability review
- Attachment strategy recommendations
- Review of architectural details and manufacturer-specific detailing recommendations
- Rainscreen and interface coordination
- Material behavior, weathering, and appearance guidance
- Mock-up planning and development
- Specification support
- Pricing, yield, and material-efficiency considerations
The goal is to identify challenges early, remove uncertainty, and develop a cladding solution ready to carry through documentation, bidding, and construction.
Owners and Owner’s Representatives
For owners and their representatives, Design Assist provides specialized wood expertise to help protect their investment, preserve design intent, and support informed decisions throughout design and construction.
We work alongside project teams to identify potential challenges early, evaluate cost and performance considerations, and align material selections with aesthetic expectations, project budgets, and long-term ownership goals.
Design Assist can include:
- Review of proposed wood cladding concepts and assemblies
- Product selection, appearance, weathering, and maintenance guidance
- Review of critical details and installation considerations
- Material optimization and cost-efficiency recommendations
- Mock-up planning and evaluation support
- Pre-construction coordination and installation guidance
- Field technical support and site observations
- Evaluation of alternatives affecting cost, constructability, and long-term performance
Design Assist helps identify and resolve challenges before they become costly field issues, reducing the risk of change orders, material waste, rework, and schedule disruptions. Owners gain greater cost predictability, a clearer understanding of long-term maintenance expectations, and confidence that their investment will deliver the intended architectural result.
General Contractors and Installers
As a project advances toward procurement and construction, the focus shifts from design to field execution.
Material quantities, sequencing, field conditions, attachment strategies, detailing, transitions, mock-ups, and installation all become critical to keeping the design intent intact throughout construction.
We work directly with contractors and installers to plan and coordinate how the specified cladding system will be assembled and installed in the field.
Design Assist can include:
- Constructibility review
- Review of project-specific details and installation conditions
- Attachment and rain-screen coordination
- Mock-up planning and technical support
- Pre-installation coordination
- Material yield and optimization decisions
- Project-specific installation guidance
- Field technical support and site observations
- Review of transitions, terminations, corners, penetrations, and other critical conditions
- Coordination of manufacturer requirements with project conditions
By addressing these conditions before and during installation, our Design Assist Services reduce field modifications and installation conflicts, improve coordination, mitigate risks, and give project teams a clear, confident path from approved design to completed installation.
Product Expertise Applied to the Project
No two wood projects are exactly alike. Species, modification process, profile, finish, exposure, orientation, attachment method, wall assembly, and installation conditions all shape how a project performs and looks over time.
Design Assist puts RESAWN’s product and application knowledge directly at the table — so every decision gets made with the right expertise in the room.
We scope and price services individually based on each project’s specific needs and complexity.
RESAWN Design Assist provides manufacturer-specific advisory technical and design support. Services do not constitute architectural, engineering, delegated design, or design-of-record services, and responsibility for the overall building and wall assembly remains with the applicable design professionals.
