Keith Andrews organised for Rosemarie Andrews from Bryden Wood to come and talk to us and then give us each individual tutorials on our technology projects.
Bryden Wood are a practice of designers, architects and engineers who have a particular interest and focus on automating construction, but not simply by trying to work within the current, out-dated modes of working that prevail in the construction industry in the UK today. In their own words:
"We’re not automating current industry processes. We’re using our in depth understanding of the design and construction process to define the ideal process, and we’re automating that. We’re leading the way with digital, platform-based design that can create a new Architecture of Automation and deliver manufacturing benefits on-site." ––– www.brydenwood.co.uk
In her lecture, Andrews focused on this subject area, giving us a snapshot of where the current leading edge of this research and innovation is.
A diagram from a Bryden Wood project showing Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) information on which components are client-specific, which are existing products, and which are site-supplied
One of the ideas introduced was of BIM being used to create a 'lake of data', where every stakeholder in the design process can look to see all of the design information and data at any time. Andrews pointed out that the state of play at the moment for many construction jobs is that whilst BIM is being used to model the project, the information is outputted by architects and engineers in a lossy way, such as a PDF or printed drawing. This format means that lines become ambiguous again, which is where mistakes can happen. Bryden Wood are therefore trying to work out the best was to use BIM in a way that makes much more sense to aid everyone in the process.
Another idea raised was that of a 'digital checker' which can constantly check the BIM model for compliance with building regulations and codes. This would look at the model as a whole and constantly be scanning it, which is important, as any small change in a design has knock-on effects around it.
Presentation slide from the lecture, showing a diagram of a more integrated BIM process with automated checking occurring
Despite this, Andrews pointed out that there would always be things that require a human opinion, on qualitative and subjective issues such as matters of conservation and value to the community. Putting it another way, Andrews noted that with regulations there is a sliding scale from things that a project "must" do/comply with, through "should" and "shall" to "may" do/comply with.
Reflection
This talk was great to me to see, as I don't yet have much experience of BIM. This showed me where the future of BIM may be leading, and the exciting opportunities for the industry that it promises. Most importantly, Andrews demonstrated how BIM should become a greater help, asset and friend to the architect, in automating the checking of certain vital things such as fire and accessibility regulations, and thus freeing up the architect's time and energy to focus on design decisions and processes which are influenced by skill, experience and subjective judgement, which a computer cannot carry out.
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