How BIM technology benefits clients – Part One: Saving time and money

Gemma Design have been appointed as the civil and structural engineering consultants for the restoration of 18^th century barns that form part of the historic grounds of Anstey Hall in Trumpington, Cambridge. The project involves the creation of 12 new bespoke dwellings, including the restoration of eight listed timber and brick barns with new independent internal mezzanine steel frames and new extensions along with four new build contemporary properties.

BIM technology for planning, design and build

The client’s aim is to make use of all available technology and processes in order to deliver the project as close to a full Level 2 project as possible. Many people within the construction industry have come across the use of BIM, but the majority of projects delivered are new-build and do not involve working with historic buildings and particularly timber frames.

The original planning and scheme design for the restoration of our clients’ barns were carried out in 2D by other consultants, but Hill Group took the decision to engage Gemma Design and David Miller Architects to take the project forward within a BIM environment based on their combined expertise in the field. Gemma Design is a forward thinking engineering practice embracing the challenges that working with existing buildings brings. Applying BIM technology to historic buildings is part of our commitment to early engagement of technology on all projects ensures a culture of co-operation and collaboration within our industry.

BIM for collaboration saves time

The first step for the design team was to get together to discuss the employer’s information requirements and put together a project BIM execution plan to ensure a consistent approach. BIM is designed to enable all those who interact with the building to optimise their input and create value from combined efforts. Virtual renovation of the barns will allow for the impact on the structural integrity of the building to be realised before physical construction, thereby reducing uncertainty, improving on-site safety and preventing costly physical changes or fixes.

Everyone was in agreement that we should follow PAS1192:2 for model and document naming and use the AEC UK BIM protocol for content naming. Using this method enabled the design team to incorporate the Uniclass2015 classification system into all content and ensured full collaboration across the team and other systems.

BIM for benefiting the client saves money

The benefit to the client of using BIM over traditional methods for planning is that the clash detection is streamlined, bringing incompatible construction and structural conflicts to light, allowing for fixes to made at the desk and the project to run smoothly once it is under way.  The time taken for measurements of materials and labour required to complete the project is also vastly reduced.

In the next part of this series we will explain how the BIM process is bringing convincing benefits to the new build element of the Anstey Hall development, as well as the historic buildings.