The prestigious University of Warwick planned to create a haven for the future of engineering, by building their WMG Degree Apprenticeship Centre. This ambitious plan would require precision and expertise to ensure budgets remained in-line with acquired funding, throughout the lifecycle of the project.
Construction projects demand timely and accurate delivery at each information exchange. With a multitude of contractors working simultaneously, a requirement arose for a BIM Execution Plan. The main contractor for the project, Kier, chose a partner that had the right expertise and experience to handle such a volume of work. Bond Bryan Digital were selected by Kier to assist with the information delivery against the University of Warwick’s information requirements during the crucial RIBA Stage 5 (Manufacturing and Construction) and Stage 6 (Handover).
The project involved the setup and management of the required information management resources (i.e., BIM Execution Plan) and then the subsequent development of mapping template files to support the effective delivery of IFC-SPF (Industry Foundation Classes-STEP Physical File) files from Autodesk Revit (building services and structural engineering). Bond Bryan Digital ensured everyone on the project were equipped with the appropriate knowledge by providing rigorous training and technical support to the model authors using Autodesk Revit. This would be a pivotal step to assist them in delivering information in accordance with the required information requirements. Another measure Bond Bryan Digital took was to support Bond Bryan Architects with information delivery from Graphisoft Archicad.
Bond Bryan Digital federated the available building information models provided by each discipline on the project’s common data environment (CDE), before carrying out quality assurance reviews of the models. The process involved the use of Solibri Office, a market leading model checking technology, to assess the data quality of models using a combination of standard model checking rules as well as rules built specifically for the project. In assessing the models, Bond Bryan Digital reported issues regularly back to model authors for rectification to work towards each information exchange—which eradicated costly rewrites and delays.
At each information exchange we provided a federated model, COBie (Construction-Operations Building information exchange) and COBie QC (Quality Control) reports, demonstrating compliance with the COBie schema.
The final piece of this intricate project was to assist the architectural team in providing a handover of the architectural model in RVT format (an Autodesk Revit format). This required the Bond Bryan Digital team conducting research and development of the processes involved in exchanging the architectural model from Graphisoft Archicad to Autodesk Revit using IFC-SPF as the exchange methodology to meet the client’s information requirements. A comprehensive solution was developed that involved several exports from Archicad to allow the IFC-SPF files to be imported into Autodesk Revit to form a complete RVT file.
The final handover file ensured that imported elements were converted into native editable components, which would allow the client to maintain the file during RIBA Stage 7 (Use) phase.
Our commitment to the use of open standards supported the information delivery team and ensured the client received the information they had requested. This seamless approach ensured the team didn’t need to change their selected software solutions, optimising the strengths of the team to deliver the project – but also allowing the client to use the information during the operational phase in the future.
With our adaptable approach to the tools used and our ability to develop quality processes all relevant parties had the required information and tools to meet deadlines and keep costs efficient.
Our Director, Rob Jackson talked directly to Solibri about our model checking processes for this project in an interview which is available as a case study here.
Bond Bryan Digital were employed for reconfiguration of client information requirements around open standards, mobilisation and training of model authors for information delivery.
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Bond Bryan Digital were employed for information management for McLaughlin & Harvey (lead appointed party).
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