Prism

• Accurate BIM-to-field floor layouts
• Faster crew coordination, 193 units
• Reduced layout errors, 14-story build

Build Group selected Dusty Robotics' FieldPrinter to bring BIM accuracy directly to the construction floor on Prism, a dense 14-story, 193-unit residential tower in San Francisco's Mid-Market neighborhood. With repetitive unit layouts stacked across so many floors, traditional chalk-lining and manual layout methods risked compounding small errors into costly rework, especially where framing, MEP rough-in, and finish trades all needed to land in the same tight tolerances floor after floor.

The robot's ability to print full-scale layout markings straight from the BIM model gave field crews a consistent, repeatable reference on every level, reducing the coordination burden between trades and speeding up handoffs. That accuracy mattered even more given the building's mix of uses, four ground-floor retail spaces, a rooftop deck and amenity areas, and precast panel construction from Clark Pacific, all of which depended on precise floor-to-floor alignment to come together correctly on a compressed 28-month schedule.

Before adopting FieldPrinter, layout accuracy was the biggest challenge Build Group faced on Prism. Manually marking floor layouts across 14 stories and 193 units, on top of four ground-floor retail spaces, left significant room for human error, and small mistakes in early trades often surfaced later as costly rework once precast panels, MEP systems, and finishes were already underway.

The project's compressed 28-month schedule and dense Mid-Market site added further pressure, leaving little slack to absorb delays caused by layout rework or miscommunication between trades. Coordinating framing, MEP rough-in, and finish crews around a manual layout process that could vary slightly floor to floor made it harder to keep the schedule and budget on track.

Before adopting Dusty Robotics' FieldPrinter, Build Group's crews relied on manual layout methods, hand-measuring points from paper drawings and snapping chalk lines with tape measures and string lines to mark wall locations, MEP penetrations, and other reference points on each floor.

On a 14-story tower with 193 largely repetitive units, this process had to be repeated on every level, and any small measurement error on one floor could compound as work moved upward, adding rework and slowing the pace layout crews could hand off finished floors to framing and MEP trades.

By printing BIM-derived layout lines directly onto each floor, Dusty Robotics' FieldPrinter let Build Group's crews skip the manual measuring and chalk-lining steps that previously slowed the start of every level, giving framing and MEP trades a reliable, repeatable starting point on all 14 floors of Prism's 193 units. That consistency reduced the layout errors and rework that manual methods risked compounding across so many repetitive floors, helping crews move faster from one level to the next.

The efficiency gains mattered directly to the bottom line on a $96 million project built to a tight 28-month schedule in a dense urban site. Precise, repeatable layouts also supported smoother integration of Clark Pacific's precast panels and the building's ground-floor retail and rooftop amenity spaces, contributing to a project that was ultimately recognized with a 2023 McClure Award for craftsmanship.

Prism was designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz with KPFF Consulting Engineers serving as structural engineer, and delivered by general contractor Build Group over a 28-month construction schedule. The tower was completed in 2023 and later received a McClure Award recognizing the quality of its construction.