Complex designs in construction projects may lead to various problems in the construction industry. The design process in the earlier part of a construction project can be considered as the most influential phase capable of affecting the performance of the project. An approach of integrating lean thinking into the design process of constructions projects can achieve substantial benefit at the design stage. The research presented in this thesis investigates and demonstrates the adaptation of lean thinking towards performance improvement of the design process. The aim of this research is to develop an innovation of design processes that supports the implementation of lean thinking for building construction projects. The proposed design process provides a systematic approach, which is structured into stages and activities in order to obtain a lean design process. The development of the proposed design process starts with the framework of innovation. The framework comprises of seven knowledge domains: application, design management, design process, people, information flow, performance and measurement, and techniques and tools. The proposed design process was developed based on the principles of ‘Set-Based-Concurrent-Engineering’ as the core enabler. The research makes the following contributions: (1) identification of wastes and enablers in the design process; (2) elimination of the identified wastes in the design process; (3) the applicability of the proposed lean design process in the construction industry; (4) the performance measurement as a tool for design process review.