Knowledge Hub

27 Jul 2022

Interview with Emma Hooper, Bond Bryan Digital

This week we caught up with Associate Director and Head of R&D, Emma Hooper, on her career journey and what she’s got in store next.

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24 Jun 2022

Can the industry deliver on the promise of Better Information Management (BIM)?

It is now over 10 years since the UK government announced their intention for projects to reach ‘BIM Level 2’ maturity from 2016 onwards. Since then, the UK has moved on from ‘BIM Level 2’ to develop a current approach around the UK BIM Framework […]

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16 Mar 2022

BIM Collaboration Format

This page includes useful links to sites that aid the understanding of BCF.

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09 Dec 2021

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 08 – Exporting COBie using an IFC workflow from Autodesk Revit

Introduction By understanding the previous blogs in this series you should now have enough knowledge to export a good quality IFC and understand the importance of doing so. When I started testing these IFC workflows back in 2015 the catalyst was to export asset information as specified by the Construction-Operations Building information exchange (COBie) schema. […]

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03 Sep 2021

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 07 – IFC Exporter Settings and Modelling Workflows in Autodesk Revit

INTRODUCTION Welcome back everyone. It’s been awhile! ☺ The past six blogs were about implementing the structure of IFC within the functionality of Autodesk Revit and talking about IFC in its conceptual data model form. It’s now worth noting that we need to package up the data model so that it can be exchanged. IFC […]

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19 Sep 2019

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 06 – Layers and Classification in Autodesk Revit

INTRODUCTION Welcome back everyone ☺ I hope you’ve all had fun testing the workflows in the previous blog posts. As I’ve explained IFC provides a good basic method of structuring information, we should think of this as the default way which should be used across every project and every information management activity. In addition to […]

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07 Mar 2019

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 05 – IFC Properties in Autodesk Revit

In the last blog post we looked at IFC attributes which allows you to add certain basic information about IFC entities. However, we need to be able to add much more information (such as performance) to entities, to do this we use properties.

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13 Dec 2018

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 04 – IFC Attributes in Autodesk Revit

In blog post 01 we described what Attributes are and listed the four core ones: GlobalId OwnerHistory Name Description

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05 Nov 2018

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 03 – Predefined Types in Autodesk Revit

INTRODUCTION In this blog we are going to skip the main section on Attributes (see the next blog) and focus on one specific Attribute the Predefined Type as this is closely related to Entities. In blog post 01 we explained that Predefined Types were the next level below Entities in determining what something is.

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IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 01

09 Oct 2018

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 02 – Understanding Entities in Autodesk Revit

INTRODUCTION Welcome back! In the last blog I had a bit of moan and we learnt about some basic IFC principles. In this blog we’re going to take what we have learnt and apply it to the world of Revit. Therefore, if you haven’t read it please do so. I wanted to start by giving a […]

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25 Sep 2018

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) – Part 01 – An introduction for Autodesk Revit users

HELLO EVERYONE! After a year at Bond Bryan Digital and to coincide with our new website, it’s time I rolled up my sleeves and finally started blogging. For those who don’t know me my name is Emma and I’m an Autodesk Revit user. I’m a technician by trade and the more I used Revit over […]

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24 Jul 2018

Testing openBIM data exchange for client specific data sets

Introduction As many of you who read this blog regularly know, Bond Bryan Digital promote open standards wherever possible to exchange information between different project stakeholders. The primary methods of exchange we utilise on our projects are PDF, XLSX, IFC, COBie and BCF (and DWG if we really have to!). Many are still sceptical about […]

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28 Dec 2017

Bond Bryan at BIM Show Live 2018

Introduction Last year I decided to take a break from presenting at BIM Show Live. I subsequently won the ‘wooden spoon’ for not being ‘bothered to enter a submission’. Ooopss!! So I thought I better submit something this year!! Instead of just one submission though, Bond Bryan have 3 presentations at BIM Show Live 2018! […]

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10 Jul 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 26: Common Data Environments

Introduction BIM is often misunderstood simply as technology, a deliverable or all about the model. However PROCESS is the most important aspect of any BIM project. A successful BIM project is one that follows a defined process effectively and efficiently, using technology to produce deliverables (these may or may not come from a model). In […]

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12 Jun 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 25: Making Waste Visible

Introduction The posts in this series have been very focussed on the uses of the model that we created at the beginning of this series. These have all been very focussed to date on how technology can be used to support a BIM process. However in this post we look beyond the technology to consider how […]

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30 May 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 24: Mobile Part 2

Introduction In the last post we looked at how the LEGO Architecture meets BIM project could be shared with GRAPHISOFT BIMx. As I said in that post I love BIMx as a mobile application, however it is largely restricted to GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD users. The application of BIM requires many different stakeholders to come together. This […]

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24 Apr 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 23: Mobile Part 1

Introduction As technology advances the need to access information on mobile devices becomes increasingly important. Using mobile phones or tablets to buy products, tickets or book a holiday is common place today and being able to access Building Information Models (BIM) in the same manner is expected by an increasingly technology literate population and with […]

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13 Mar 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 22: 3D Printing

Introduction Over the past couple of years 3D printing has very much been in the main stream media. So the concept of 3D printing is largely understood by even those not involved the construction industry. 3D printing can produce some incredible outputs however this relies of course upon on high quality inputs! Our LEGO Architecture meets BIM project […]

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27 Feb 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 21: Costing

Introduction We have looked in previous posts about how to create and check data. Of course creating reliable data means it can be used for other purposes. In the previous post we saw how the LEGO model data can produce an information takeoff and whilst this can be exported to a cost consultant it makes […]

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13 Feb 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 20: Information takeoff

Introduction In the last few posts in the ‘LEGO Architecture meets BIM‘ series we have focussed on sequencing and 4D. In the next couple of posts we look at how the data within a model can be used for information takeoff and costing.

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31 Jan 2017

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 19: Sequencing Part 3

Introduction In the last two posts of the ‘LEGO Architecture meets BIM‘ series we have seen how we can visualise the building sequence with both GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD and Solibri Model Checker. Both of the methods described rely on having some data related to the sequence. But of course in order to do this the model […]

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12 Dec 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 18: Sequencing Part 2

Introduction In the last post of the LEGO Architecture meets BIM series we looked at how we could create a fairly primitive sequence using GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD. The first post on sequencing can be found here if you haven’t read it yet. Much of this approach required a manual process to setup and configure to get […]

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28 Nov 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 17: Sequencing Part 1

Introduction Being able to both develop the sequence of the build process and visually demonstrate that process is something that is integral to anyone who has ever played with LEGO. In fact I think this ‘project’ is almost the perfect vehicle to explain the concept to a layperson. We all understand that a LEGO model needs to […]

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15 Nov 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 16: Issue Management

Introduction In the last blog post we saw how we can identify issues within the model. Whilst we can share the model along with the issues we need better methods for managing the issues to ensure they are resolved in good time.

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31 Oct 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 15: Quality Assurance

Introduction Model authors do their best to ensure that models are accurate but it is inevitable that even the most diligent of individuals will miss items that will cause issues for themselves or others. It is therefore imperative that information is checked. Information can be checked manually of course and there is always a place for […]

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13 Oct 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 14: Manipulating model geometry in viewing tools

Introduction A building information model (BIM) is a model that is built with a defined structure. This structure means that tools can use this structure to allow users to manipulate geometry in a number of different ways.

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26 Sep 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 13: Visualisation of model data

Introduction In a previous post we looked at how the LEGO Villa Savoye model can be shared in free model viewers. In this post we look at how we can share these models with others but how these models can display the embedded data in the model visually.

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12 Sep 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 12: Federated Models

Introduction Up to this point in the series on ‘LEGO Architecture meets BIM’ we have only discussed a single model. However on real life projects models are split into a number of models. This is normally split by discipline (architectural model, services design model, structures model etc), due to file size or simply to provide […]

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26 Aug 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 11: Geometry exchange

Introduction Models are often exchanged between different stakeholders working on projects. Model authors and those using the models use a variety of software for their own needs. In order for BIM to work it is imperative that geometry and information are exchanged reliably between each software tool.

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15 Aug 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 10: Free desktop model viewing

Introduction We have seen in previous posts specific views of the model. However one difference with a 2D approach is being able to share models with others so that they can view the model geometry and/or data without needing any authoring tools themselves.

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28 Jul 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 09: Schedules

Introduction As designers we are often required to provide data in a schedule format. This is either provided directly on a layout sheet as a PDF, as an excel output or as a model for schedules to be setup and utilised in external tools. I believe this final workflow will become more and more common place as […]

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11 Jul 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 08: Augmented Reality

Introduction In the last post on this series on LEGO Architecture meets BIM we looked at how information can be displayed on drawings. In this post we look at how we can use Augmented Reality (AR for short) to view both the geometry of the model and also data.

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30 Jun 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 07: Data display on drawings

Introduction As we have seen in the previous post we can add data to 3D models to create Building Information Models (BIM). This data is embedded in various locations within the model. These for example are Project, Site, Building, Floor (Building Storey), Space, Zone, Component/Element, Type and System. We will see in other posts how we […]

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17 Jun 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 06: An OPEN BIM data structure

Introduction This is the 6th in a series of posts about “LEGO Architecture meets BIM”. In the previous posts we have focussed on the geometry of the model for the Villa Savoye building. A Building Information Model (BIM) however also involves the important part of BIM, the ‘I’ which stands for INFORMATION. This is a crucial difference from a model that […]

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24 May 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 05: Level of Detail (LOD)

Introduction This blog piece looks at an important concept of Building Information Modelling – Level of Detail (or simply LOD). With both LEGO and construction projects clients will be familiar with what the final constructed ‘building’ looks like. However the final model or building undergoes a series of developments before the design is finalised. This […]

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03 May 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 04: Objects and libraries

Introduction A building information model is typically constructed using two methodologies. The first is to model using tools designed to construct specific types of elements. For example a Wall tool is used to build a Wall or a Roof tool used to build a Roof. These tools are built-in to most authoring tools. The second methodology is to […]

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21 Apr 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 03: Visualisation and animation

Introduction As we saw in the last post we can generate both 2D and 3D views of the models. The 3D model approach offers more than a ‘traditional’ approach as the model can be used to also generate visualisations (some prefer to call these Computer Generated Images (CGI for short) or Renders). Visualisations can be created from a […]

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04 Apr 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 02: Model views

Introduction In the previous blog post we showed images of the 3D model we have created of the Villa Savoye from the Lego Architecture series. A 3D model is easy for all parties to understand what the proposed model will look like once ‘built’. However the industry still requires designers to produce ‘traditional’ information including plans, sections […]

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21 Mar 2016

LEGO Architecture meets BIM – Part 01: The 3D model

Introduction Trying to explain Building Information Modelling (BIM) to a layperson can often be quite difficult without descending into loads of technical detail and a whole host of acronyms. Many of our clients are only involved once in the design and construction process. Some clients of course have much more exposure to multiple projects and ultimately […]

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