Martin Wilding, Head of BIM and Senior Associate Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), explains the benefits and challenges associated with BIM.
construction industry, revolutionising the way professionals design, construct and manage buildings. By using data-heavy collaborative workflows, BIM can enhance accuracy, efficiency and sustainability, offering a comprehensive approach that streamlines processes across the entire project lifecycle. In this article I’ll outline the many benefits of BIM when used in conjunction with new and emerging technologies, and also address some of the current challenges to be overcome.
Design and construction
The adoption of BIM in the UK has significantly improved project planning. While the 2016 UK BIM mandate was primarily public sector focused, the same contractors are naturally involved in delivering projects for the private sector, driving uptake of BIM generally in the UK and bringing the same benefits to many more construction projects. Now, several years on from the original mandate, an increasingly educated private sector client-base has helped to establish BIM as the default means of project delivery in the UK
For design-focused firms like KPF, maintaining design quality relies on using multiple tools. Rhinoceros 3D (Rhino), is a popular geometry-focused design tool that enables rapid iterations and consequently allows much greater flexibility. Historically, the challenge has been getting tools such as Autodesk Revit and Rhino to work in tandem. Now with recent tools such as Rhino.Inside.Revit or BEAM, designers are able to quickly move geometry or data between the two, allowing them to innovate while ensuring that what they design is actually buildable. This removes any need to re-engineer designs during construction.
Collaboration and communication
BIM plays a crucial role in improving communication and promoting more joined-up approaches to working among all stakeholders — architects, contractors and engineers—throughout the lifecycle of a construction project. BIM360 is now commonly used for model exchange and collaboration, moving the hosting of Revit models from on-premises servers to the cloud. On top of model hosting, Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) offers functionality such as controlled data exchange, change tracking and issue management. Typically, an ACC ‘hub’ or a series of closely linked hubs will host the data for all disciplines collaborating on a project. While for model hosting ACC is increasingly the industry standard, issue management is a much more open market.
Platforms like Revizto and BIMCollab are just two from a wide market of tools of varying capability that are commonly used for issue management, providing a transparent way to document, assign, track and resolve problems. Many contractors and clients now expect these tools to be part of the standard process, ensuring consistent communication across the project team.
Integration with emerging technologies
The integration of AI promises greater efficiencies and levels of understanding in the delivery of construction projects. At the same time, combining asset models and data developed with BIM with the IoT will increasingly enable digital twins to offer a more holistic, data-driven approach to maintaining and operating a completed project. AI, too, is increasingly being integrated into workflows, particularly in architectural and design phases. Tools like MidJourney, an example of Generative AI, can assist in concept creation, while AI-enabled visualisation tools from relatively new players such as D5 Render can help speed up and improve communication with clients.
As AI evolves, it will likely shift toward automating the more repetitive tasks relating more to technical and design documentation, such as optimising layouts and applying historically defined approaches to bespoke designs. But how much should we rely on AI-led solutions to deliver design projects? From what we’ve seen so far, human review and validation is still necessary, and there are potential legal implications in terms of who assumes liability for designs — the ‘designer’, or the software authors.
Sustainable building practices
One major advantage of BIM is that by creating 3D models of existing structures, architects and engineers can more easily assess whether a building is suitable for retrofit or adaptive reuse — preserving embodied carbon, reducing the demand for new materials and minimising construction waste.
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Structural engineers can now visualise how alterations to a building, such as adding or removing parts of the structure, can affect sustainability goals over the longer term. Increasingly, designers and consultants can track key information such as embodied carbon values based on the quantities of materials in the developing design, and measure quantities delivered to site, factoring in wastage for more accurate measurement of total embodied carbon.
By offering insights into material sourcing, assembly processes and overall design, BIM helps designers create buildings that are more environmentally responsible, resource efficient and adaptable. The increasing availability of tools enables a broader range of projects to benefit from these practices, in line with sustainability targets. When it comes to the use of digital twins, in sustainability terms they allow live visualisation of current conditions within the building such as temperature or air quality. This is not only important for on-the-spot understanding of personal comfort levels but can also help to validate (or otherwise) the building’s environmental performance strategy and, potentially with the assistance of AI, fine-tune inhabitant behaviour and system performance to achieve intended targets.
The barriers to overcome
Technology is only useful if it’s accessible. The fast pace of technological advancement, particularly in AI and software tools, creates uncertainty about which tools to invest in. This can be particularly difficult for smaller businesses that lack dedicated technology specialists to look critically at all of the options available. Larger companies may be able to invest in the resources to stay ahead, but still need to tread carefully. Adopting technology might keep them one step ahead of their competitors, but there are risks involved with investing in products that might not quite be fully formed, or may potentially fail if the tool doesn’t find its place in the market.
The current skills gap also presents a significant challenge. Increasingly, coding ability is an essential skill for construction professionals, with those that maintain such skills often highly valued. However, many coming into the industry through traditional routes have not been taught this skill. To address this, some organisations are beginning to hire people from outside of the industry with coding expertise and focus on developing in-house solutions tailored to their workflow. Resistance to change is, of course, a significant obstacle in an industry that has worked with traditional methods for many years. The transition to new systems often requires time, training and proof of success to gain buy-in. However, tools that are easy to use and require minimal training are becoming more common, making adoption easier.
At KPF we realise the importance of investing in the technology that enables us to deliver some of the largest and most complex buildings in the world. We stick to the mantra that technology should enable fantastic design and should not restrict freedom of creativity or design realisation in any way. BIM, for us, is the tool that enables buildings to be documented, coordinated and more efficiently delivered. Looking forward, as AI increasingly exerts its influence, I’m excited to see in what direction technology will take us.
