What was the thinking behind spinning out DMC Design & Engineering last year as a separate entity rather than keeping design in-house at Demaco?
Filip Slabotinský: Design and engineering originally developed within the Demaco group as a support function, not only for development projects but also for assignments related to energy, infrastructure, investment preparation and execution and property management. Over time, though, it became clear that the scope and depth of our expertise went far beyond the needs of a purely internal team.
So, together with Tomáš Budař and Jaroslav Kaizr, we agreed that it made sense to establish DMC Design & Engineering as a separate entity. This gave us the flexibility to develop our technical capabilities further while opening the door to a broader range of projects and clients.
Today, the company has the capacity to deliver value both internally within the group and externally to third-party investors, developers, and end users. Our core focus is still industrial facilities, but we also work on projects in energy, offices, retail, and residential development.
It means DMC D&E is now a fully-fledged design and engineering practice capable of supporting projects across their entire life cycle — from early technical due diligence and feasibility studies, through permitting and detailed design, all the way to execution support and property management.
How does the relationship between DMC Design and Demaco work in practice? At what stage does the DMC Design team get involved?
Our involvement doesn’t depend on whether a project is internal or external. We adapt our role to the specific needs of individual assignments. In some cases, we’re engaged from the very beginning of a project from early technical due diligence through permitting, detailed design, and execution support. In other cases, we step in only for clearly defined parts of the process where our expertise brings the greatest value.
But our objective is always to find the most efficient and straightforward path that allows the project to move forward without unnecessary delays or complexity. Time and cost are critical parameters. We structure all our services to meet the project’s technical, regulatory, and commercial requirements in the shortest feasible timeframe.
How is DMC Design’s workload split today between projects for Demaco and external clients?
External assignments currently account for roughly half of our workload, and the share is growing steadily. A lot of the work is focused on industrial and manufacturing facilities, as well as other technically demanding or non-standard projects. This type of know-how — combining complex technology integration, regulatory constraints, cost sensitivity, and buildability — is relatively scarce in the market. So, these projects tend to naturally attract clients who are looking for a design partner with hands-on experience and a deep understanding of how such facilities actually function.
Alongside this, we also deliver office, retail, and residential projects for external clients. These typologies are generally more standardized in terms of technical solutions and permitting frameworks, which allows us to approach them in a very structured and efficient way.
Eventually, our ambition is to further expand the scope of our external work — both in terms of project typology and client profile. We see strong potential in supporting investors, developers, and operators who value technically robust solutions, efficient permitting processes, and a pragmatic, solution-oriented approach.
The team has deep roots in industrial design, with several members coming from CTP. How does that industrial DNA shape your approach compared to a traditional architectural or engineering studio?
Our team has strong roots in industrial projects, and it’s true that several of our colleagues previously gained valuable experience at CTP. That background shaped our understanding of large-scale developments, technical standardization, and the importance of repeatable, well-structured processes.
DMC Design & Engineering is currently a team of five professionals, but when needed, we can scale further by drawing on additional expertise within the Demaco group. This setup allows us to stay lean and flexible while maintaining access to a broad range of technical know-how.
I think we’re unique, in that we have a systematic approach to design. In the industrial segment, we work with a clearly defined technical standard. We refer to it internally as dmc construct, currently in version 4.2. It provides a cost-efficient baseline while still allowing for client-specific adaptations. We’re developing a similar approach for other typologies, including office, retail, and residential projects. If you do it right, standardization of core solutions combined with controlled flexibility leads to better predictability in both time and cost.
The point is, we don’t treat design and engineering as isolated creative processes, but as structured tools that support investment decisions, efficient permitting, and long-term usability of the buildings.
You’re also working on residential projects now. What prompted that move, and how does designing for residential differ from industrial in practice?
We genuinely enjoy residential projects and we see strong long-term potential there. Our current focus is primarily on Brno and its wider surroundings. Residential is a logical diversification of our portfolio because it offers a wide range of design and engineering opportunities.
Compared to industrial projects, residential design places greater emphasis on layout efficiency, comfort, daylight, acoustics, and the quality of shared and private spaces. At the same time, the underlying principles remain the same: structured design processes, clear standards, cost awareness, and efficient project delivery. We’ll gradually apply the same systematic approach to residential that we already use in industrial projects.
Could you walk me through a recent project that showcases what we’ve been talking about?
A good example of our end-to-end involvement is the DMC 2 facility for Lenzing Biocel within the DMC Paskov industrial park. From the outset, this was a time-critical project with clearly defined operational and technological requirements. This seriously influenced both the design approach and the permitting strategy.
After identifying the site, we carried out a detailed technical due diligence focused specifically on the production process, logistics flows, infrastructure capacities, and future expandability. Early on, we saw that a zoning plan amendment would be required, so close and continuous cooperation with the municipality became a key success factor. The zoning amendment was ultimately approved within approximately twelve months. We managed the environmental screening process in parallel with that, shortening the overall permitting timeline by several months.
While the amendment was still underway, we prepared the full building permit documentation, coordinated it with the authorities, the municipality, and neighboring stakeholders, and pre-consulted key comments in advance. As a result, we were able to submit the building permit application within roughly two months after the zoning change became effective.
At the same time, we were already preparing tender documentation to support the construction phase. This allowed Demaco’s project team to start subcontractor selection early. The project also included a planned railway siding, for which we prepared the initial documentation and coordinated the permitting in separate procedure, with the subsequent engineering later taken over by PKP Cargo who is the operator of the rail cargo terminal next to the DMC Paskov.
You still had more work to do for the client though after the building permit phase, though, didn’t you?
Absolutely. We were continuously involved in managing change documentation as operational requirements evolved, supporting trial operation approvals, and assisting the project manager with the documentation required for smooth commissioning. Our role even extended beyond the occupancy permit, including the completion of easements and other related legal and technical steps important for the senior financing of the project. I think the project really demonstrates how we approach design and engineering. Not as a series of isolated phases, but as a continuous, integrated process.
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