A packed house at CitA’s 2nd breakfast meeting hear professionals report on applying BIM on a high-profile Irish project and welcome the Consultation Process on the Adoption of BIM on Irish Public Works Projects.
The 2nd breakfast meeting of the CitA Smarter Cooperative Building Series took place on March 22nd. The theme was ‘BIM Experience on 1 WML SOBO District’. The meeting was held at the Royal College of Physicians on Dublin’s Kildare Street. The meeting had a large attendance of over 150 delegates, with presentations on the case study of a successful BIM project, a roundtable workshop discussion on the Consultation Process on the Adoption of BIM on Irish Public Works Projects, and an interactive Q&A session.
1 Windmill Lane
1 Windmill Lane (1WML) occupies a strategic location in the South Of Beckett O’Casey (SOBO) District at the point where Dublin’s Docklands connect with the city centre and IFSC. 1WML is a LEED Gold building extending over six floors with a total floor area of approximately 121,287 sq.ft of high performance work space. Scheduled to open in June 2017, 1WML will be a superior quality, mixed-use commercial development that will rank amongst the city’s most desirable workplaces.
The project presented the Client with a new process of assimilating information into an Asset Information Model (AIM) and a new way of operating the building. While this has been a steep learning curve it has presented a number of new opportunities. The 1WML project has helped demystify BIM and has enabled the Client to see first-hand the benefits associated with this process.
The breakfast meeting
Ken Woods of WK Nowlan was the Event Chair and he opened the event. Ralph Montague, Managing Partner of ArcDox, gave an update on the work of the RIAI Practice Subcommittee on BIM. He explained how design is expressed through information. The RIAI is one of the founding members of CitA. On the Subcommittee, there is a balance between large and small practices. He spoke of the group’s work and the documents produced. Ralph talked about the BIM landscape in Ireland.
Ken Woods spoke of his experience of advising clients on BIM, saying BIM is like a sage: “It sets out the rules.” He talked about BIM from the Client’s Representative Perspective. He said to bring BIM forward, your client has to buy into the process. Gerard Doherty, Associate Director of WK Nowlan spoke of the Windmill Lane case study from ‘BIM up to Tender Stage’. The project was started in a traditional way. He spoke of the scope and what the team faced. Gerard told attendees about BIM protocol and the appointments of contractors and subcontractors. He spoke of the lessons learned as project managers.
Ralph Bingham, Director of MOLA Architecture, told attendees about ‘BIM from the Lead Designer’s Perspective’. According to Ralph, there is growing interest in BIM since the pick-up in the industry. He told attendees about the project and his practice. He said seeing the project in 3D was cost effective. He has 40 staff, and a third of these are working in BIM. Next year, most of the staff will be working in BIM. Ralph said BIM is about feeding the contractor information, and finding clashes in BIM early. He spoke about producing information and what his company learned on the project.
Jason Rymer, BIM Co-ordinator for John Paul Construction, did a presentation on BIM through Construction Stage and spoke of the company’s BIM projects. He told us about managing information on this project; saying from design to FM the information gets richer as you build.
Pat Slattery of ArcDox told attendees about ‘Managing the BIM Protocols’. He told us about what the Client wanted on the project and the standards applied. ArcDox offer clients support from design to handover and use. ArcDox deliver a comprehensive range of services and you can read about the company, now celebrating its 8th birthday, in Issue 1 of Irish building magazine. Pat said we are moving away from lever arch files that nobody really maintains.
A Workshop Q&A followed these presentations and a roundtable workshop discussion on the Consultation Process on the Adoption of BIM on Irish Public Works Projects. There was a positive response to the proposed adoption. There was advice on the NBC BIM Roadmap from the attendees.
Dr Barry McAuley, BICP Researcher, gave an update on the BICP research, saying findings show that industry is embracing BIM and digital technology. It was said that something must be done to help SMEs on their BIM Journey.
Dr Alan Hore said Ken Woods and the speakers did great work and thanked the attendees for coming out in big numbers. He said we can be thankful for what the OGP has done with its statement of intent. Ken Woods closed saying “The future is very bright.” “There is much done and there is more to do.” From this event, we learned about using BIM on an Irish project from design to FM, and of the positive response from industry to the plans for using BIM on public projects.
The next meeting is on 17 May. BIMIreland.ie will keep you updated on details as they become available.
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