Introduction
Allen Angle, an architect and VDC and facilities-management integration manager at JLL, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to talk about how design, construction and technology connect once a building is finished. Allen works on the owner's side, helping clients turn the models made for design into useful information for operating their buildings.
They discuss his path from a family of electricians to architecture, construction and JLL, how digital twins and asset data work in practice, and what good design means.
About the Episode
Allen grew up in Virginia, where his father was an electrician and he worked on job sites from childhood. He studied architecture with an associate degree first, then at the Catholic University of America, and worked at several firms, including Freelon and Gensler, where he learned Revit. After the recession he spent about two and a half years at a construction company, where he first saw what poor drawings look like and began working in virtual design and construction. He has now been at JLL for nearly 11 years.
He describes the work: creating modeling and asset standards with owners such as UNC Charlotte, naming equipment so that what an engineer puts in the design carries the same name in the owner's system, and connecting Revit models to facility systems. He says a digital twin is a virtual version of a physical building, and that JLL clients have maintained such models for years, with sensors and building systems now adding data. He also warns that some owners may not need to move beyond AutoCAD unless they do many new projects.
In the second half, Jack and Allen talk about design as a problem-solving process, the quality of drawings, why contractors sometimes show virtual reality to owners before architects do, and mixed reality on construction sites. They finish with modular construction, automation, bringing new people into the trades, and how identity and work are connected.
Key Takeaways
- Know what you are executing: a BIM or VDC plan only works when the owner has defined the information it should deliver.
- Start with asset standards: naming equipment consistently from design through handover lets everyone talk about the same asset.
- Educate the owner: teams can help, but owners need enough knowledge to ask for what they need.
- Match the tool to the return: if an owner rarely builds new projects, a full Revit model may not pay off, and well-kept CAD files may be enough.
- A digital twin is a process: it starts with a maintained model of the building and grows with sensors and building systems.
- Design is problem solving: contracts, schedules and project programs are designed too, and they need creativity.
- Keep learning: Allen says professionals who stop learning get stuck in the time they were trained.
Highlights from the Conversation
You can't execute anything until you know what to execute on.
Allen Angle
The owners got to give them the right direction and the owners got to be somewhat educated in that as well.
Allen Angle
I always say that great architecture and great design it's two things, it's functional and it's beautiful.
Jack Ossa
Topics Discussed
- Allen's path from electrical work to architecture and JLL
- Moving from design to construction and the owner's side
- VDC and BIM implementation plans for owners
- Asset naming standards and life-cycle information
- Digital twins, sensors and building systems
- The quality of drawings and architectural practice
- Virtual and mixed reality in design and construction
- Modular construction, automation and people entering the trades
Why This Conversation Matters
A building lasts for decades, and the information created during design affects how it is operated long after it opens. Allen's point that owners must define what they need applies to every architecture and interior architecture project, from tenant fit-outs to building repositioning such as Coliseum Drive and Liberty Plaza. Technical spaces like the Sonitrol Control Room show why function and aesthetics must be designed together.
About the Guest
Allen Angle is an architect and the VDC and facilities-management integration manager at JLL. He spent about 17 years as a project designer and project architect, worked on the construction side, and has been at JLL for nearly 11 years helping owners create asset information and use building models for operations. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
