Collaboration par excellence

Example: Hasselt City Hall, Belgium — The building of the new municipal administration center in Hasselt, Belgium, demonstrates how seamless collaboration in building projects can minimize risks and save costs from the design phase all the way to commissioning.
A joint project of several brands of the Nemetschek Group.
Nemetschek brands involved: Allplan, GRAPHISOFT, Solibri

Pioneering planning and project execution with Open BIM

“The end-to-end use of BIM solutions constitutes genuine added value for all stakeholders in the building process
because it enables seamless and efficient collboration”
Steven Hendrickx, Head Architect in Hasselt

Large-scale, highly complex building projects in particular require ongoing, reliable and efficient coodination between all stakeholders – both internal and external – across disciplines and between companies. Therefore, in association with other market players, the Nemetschek Group is promoting the Open BIM data standard. This is a universal, collaborative approach to designing, constructing and operating buildings based on open standards and workflows It makes it possible for project stakeholders to collaborate, even if the type of software varies from user to user. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) interface has established itself as an open standard and is therefore of central significance.

Sharing and evaluating data throughout the entire product life cycle saves time and money and improves quality. The administration of data is key to this digital transformation, for it is only possible to take full advantage of the potential if each stakeholder can access the data that he or she needs at any given time. This begins with a realistic BIM building model, which is an essential prerequisite for a genuine 5D workflo. This model is no longer limited to just 3D construction data; it also includes data concerning the dimensions of time and costs.

Seamless collaboration exemplified by the Hasselt City Hall

Under the management of the architect team comprising Jaspers-Eyers, MASS Architects and Michel Janssen, a new municipal administration center is being built in Hasselt. The complex, consisting of a renovated building section and a new building, provides approx. 17,000 m2 for the city administration and social services as well as offices. The architects and their most important partners are using Open BIM software solutions for the entire construction process. Three Nemetschek solutions are being implemented for this project: Archicad from Graphisoft for the design and planning of the architects, Allplan Engineering for civil engineering, and the Solibri Model Checker for the BIM quality control carried out by the construction company.

From the beginning, all information concerning the building project is contained in the digital building model – from the draft to implementation – including all design details, desired materials, fire protection requirements, acoustic properties, insulation and building structures, and administration. This constitutes considerable added value for all stakeholders compared to the old standard model, which was purely 3D. Thus, this improvement ensures more than just seamless collaboration between all those involved. The complex project can be turned over to the municipality – the proud building owner – with the required quality, on time and within the specified budget.

Hasselt City Hall is groundbreaking – in terms of design, planning and project implementation.

Independent and yet consistent

Steven Hendrickx, the head architect in Hasselt, recognized four decisive factors with Open BIM over the course of the successful project:

  • Individual partners design their model with their preferred BIM software, and with their own templates. Outstanding collaboration is ensured, though, thanks to a common, uniform standard which is specified in advance.
  • The division of labor is defined at the beginning of the project. Data on statics, for instance, have an essential impact on the architecture and structural design. Data on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, on the other hand, are also important but don’t generally flow directly into the architecture. These data, for example, can be sufficiently analyzed with the BIM solution for quality assurance from Solibri.
  • Design changes in one area don’t necessarily affect the plans of all the others involved in the project. The architecture and the building stage are inherently the most closely linked.
  • The expertise of the staff, i.e., extensive holistic knowledge of the various building disciplines, is also critical for the success of the project.

Two examples of the advantage of precise planning

In Hasselt, the construction company was commissioned with excavation, among other tasks. An assessment of the amount of sand that needed to be removed was done based on a cal culation using conventional 2D planning methods, which yielded a result of 800 cubic meters. The engineers used the Solibri Model Checker based on Open BIM and the data provided by the architects and arrived at a figue that was just half this amount, i.e., 400 cubic meters of sand. This shows how exact the work with Open BIM solutions can be.

The steel struts to be installed are another example: With the interface function IFC Exports from Allplan, it was possible to use the BIM model to automatically calculate which steel struts needed fieproofing. All it took was a mouse click to obtain precise results, right down to the running meter. In projects that don’t use Open BIM solutions, these calculations are made by manually entering the data from 2D drawings in Excel or some other software and then recalculating and evaluating the data for use in quotations and planning, a process that is susceptible to error and one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. These errors often go undetected until the actual cost planning is already completed. In the case of the Hasselt City Hall,  it was possible to avoid such errors from the outset.

Converting to Open BIM pays off

As is the case with any change, it takes a certain amount of time for companies and employees to accept BIM as the norm. The best way, according to Steven Hendrickx, is to start out by planning smaller projects using BIM. The experience thereby gained will make it possible to complete successively larger BIM projects. The advantages of collaborating through Open BIM are obvious: The entire workflow is much simpler for all project stakeholders, and building projects are completed within time and cost budgets.

CONCLUSION

Consistent standards and open interfaces in par-ticular are essential for successful building projects. Stakeholders need solutions that can “work together” for all and any individual tasks being performed. Seamless collaboration between humans and machines: This is ensured with Open BIM, and backed by the brands of the Nemetschek Group.

Reference projects on this topic:

Greater freedom and precision in modeling: Allplan launches new version Allplan 2016

Allplan Brand News News Company News

 

Munich, July 8, 2015 - Allplan, the leading European vendor of Building Information Modeling (BIM) solutions, is presenting the new version of its BIM software for architects and engineers today. Equipped with powerful tools, Allplan 2016 increases flexibility in 3D modeling and supports efficient and intuitive workflows. One of the highlights is the integration of the Parasolid® software 3D modeling kernel developed by Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) software business. It gives users greater freedom and precision in creating volume and surface models, as well as in modeling of engineering works. With many improvements to the user interface, the new version also ensures smooth workflows.

“Our customers face the challenge of designing and constructing increasingly sophisticated structures with ever more demanding time and cost pressures. We want to help them realize their creative and innovative concepts” says Dr. Jörg Rahmer, General Manager of Allplan. “With Allplan 2016, we have a powerful piece of technology at our disposal. Integration of the Parasolid modeling kernel from Siemens PLM Software is an important milestone in the consistent further development of Allplan in the areas of modeling and visualization. As the leading vendor of BIM solutions, our efficient workflows allow our customers to implement their BIM projects and help them provide greater transparency and cost security in design,” Rahmer continues.

Highlights of Allplan Architecture 2016:

New 3D kernel for free-form solids

With the integration of the Parasolid 3D modeling kernel from Siemens PLM Software, Allplan is matching the general trend towards increasingly free-form solids in modern architecture. In practice, this means that architects need design software that they can use to create freeform solids down to the last detail and integrate with the design process. The new 3D kernel in Allplan Architecture 2016 provides a new level of flexibility and precision when creating these structures: The new version makes it easier to modify 3D objects and improves the representation quality in the animation window.

Object Navigator for structured model data

To maintain a clear overview, especially when designing complex structures, the data of the virtual building model must be well structured. The new Object Navigator in Allplan Architecture 2016 provides a clear representation of all the components of a model. Elements or element groups can be targeted specifically for display, modification, or resorting. The Object Navigator facilitates both the control and correction of BIM models, as well as collaboration on the BIM model.

Visualization functions for perfect rendering

Allplan Architecture 2016 meets the growing demand for ever more perfect renderings for communication between the architect and the client through enhanced visualization functions. The integrated CineRender from Maxon, that was first brought onto the market within the framework of the Allplan 30-year edition, has been expanded to include Ambient Occlusion. The function represents indirect light and shadow conditions particularly realistically. The white model feature enables users to disable materials and textures with a single click to create an abstract visualization based on a pure white architecture model.

Integrated customer wishes

The wishes of the customers were also of paramount importance during development of the new version: Architectural users benefit from an improved workflow with the option to arrange design windows across multiple screens (multi-display support). Allplan libraries have been improved with regard to ease of use. Other additions include two new SmartPart objects for skylights and lift doors, enabling the creation of more individual and effective models and designs.

Availability

Allplan Architecture 2016 and the free 30-day trial version are now available for download. For further information, see: www.allplan.com/2016architecture

The most important innovations in Allplan Engineering 2016:

New 3D kernel for solid modeleing precision

With the newly integrated Parasolid 3D modeling kernel from Siemens PLM Software, Allplan Engineering 2016 supports engineers in free-form modeling. In the new version, you can now create free-form shapes down to the last detail and integrate them with your design process. Increased accuracy in the 3D model improves the quality of the design. 3D bodies are easier to modify because polygons are no longer created when drawing free-form shapes. The quality of representation in the animation window is also improved, resulting in an improved “look and feel” for 3D modeling.

Object Navigator for an improved overview

The trend towards increasingly complex construction projects means that civil engineers must have a high level of control over the virtual building model. The new Object Navigator in Allplan 2016 enables users to meet this challenge: It provides a compact, clear representation of all components of a virtual building model with targeted visibility control of elements or element groups and easy-to-use modification options for element information. The elements are also easy to restructure. The Object Navigator supports flexible cooperation between all project members.

Improved reinforcement functions

Precision, efficiency and speed are the key factors for success in an engineering office. Direct modification is an efficient way to optimize work processes. Changes are made directly to the model with no need for the user to switch to the corresponding dialog. In Allplan Engineering 2016, direct modification of placements has been improved: Placements can now be easily divided and changed. In this version, parameters such as bar diameter, number of bars or spacing are edited directly in the placement.

User wishes taken into account

With added improvements, Allplan Engineering 2016 meets the wishes of its users: The “Section Along Any Path” function is fully associative in the new version. This means: Upon modification of a component, the already placed section is updated automatically.

Multi-display support in Allplan Engineering 2016 allows users to arrange design viewports on several screens. This allows users to position the model currently being edited on the main screen, while further design viewports such as sections, views and animations are positioned on additional screens.

Feet and inches, the U.S. units of measure, have been integrated in Allplan Engineering 2016. The user interface is also available in Chinese for the first time.

Availability

Allplan Engineering 2016 and the free 30-day trial version are now available for download. For further information, see: www.allplan.com/2016engineering

The whole Press Kit, see: http://www.allplan.com/en/more/press/press-material.html

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