Table Tennis playing robot

First they beat us at chess, now they can beat us at table tennis...

The NBS BIM Ecosystem

This week I spoke at ecobuild about BIM through the RIBA Plan of Work. Our marketing material was around the phrase The NBS BIM Ecosystem. In this blog post I give a summary of what this means and what my presentation demonstrated.

What is the 'NBS BIM eco-system'?

1. Preparation and Brief
Stage 1 of the RIBA Plan of Work is Preparation and Brief. The associated RIBA guidance details a number of key tasks that should be undertaken at this stage prior to the design commencing. One key task is that the ‘Project lead’ begins to develop the ‘Design Responsibility Matrix including Information Exchanges’ with the ‘Lead designer’.

This matrix details WHAT needs to be designed by WHO and WHEN the information is required. In the example below, City Centre Architects have been given the responsibility to design the rooflight systems for a project at RIBA stage 3 ‘Developed Design’. The level of development of this design is defined as a ‘performance specification’ and 1:100 drawings as exported from a model.

User the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 to collaborate and prepare for the project

Developing this matrix across all of the disciplines on the project gives a firm foundation for the design stages of the project to commence. Each party understands what they have responsibility for and how these designs must develop.

Note – The RIBA Plan of Work and associated ‘Toolbox’ may be downloaded for free at:
- http://www.ribaplanofwork.com
The associated guidance publications may be bought from:
- http://www.ribabookshops.com

2. Specification
The NBS Create specification software can then be used to develop your specification through the design stages of a project. It can be used to develop the right level of information as detailed in the Design Responsibility Matrix. For each system the user may specify (a) an outline description, (b) the system in terms of its performance, (c) generic specifications for the products that make up the system and (d) proprietary specifications for the products that make up the system.

Libraries are available for architecture, structural engineering, service engineering and landscape architecture. So all disciplines can work on their specifications and provide information in a constant standard format as described previously in the preparation and brief stage. Some screenshots below demonstrate the development of specification information:

A. A simple description of design intent for a system

B. A specification covering the performance of the system

C. A generic specification covering the products that form the system (no manufacturer specified)

D. A specification where the manufacturer, product reference and product options are specified

Note – For more information on purchasing NBS Create, please see below. Not shown in the screenshots are the clauses for execution, system completion and project management/contract prelims:

- http://www.theNBS.com/Create  

3. Drawings and schedules

When generating coordinated drawings and schedules from a modelling tool the National BIM Library can be used as a free resource of standardised BIM objects.

The National BIM Library objects come with different levels of detail in terms of geometry, standardised property sets (IFC, COBie, etc…) and functional parametric behaviour.

So in parallel to the specification development, the design model can be developed using the appropriate objects for the appropriate stage of the design. Some screenshots below demonstrate this:

Low level of information - but a indication of  typical clearance zones to help with space planning.

Generic objects with empty properties that can be used for scheduling and analysis

Manufacturer objects with properties with values - example shown Assa Abloy

Drag and drop objects directly into the model - examples shown Dyson and Dolphin

Note – to download BIM objects for free please visit:
- http://www.nationalBIMlibrary.com

4. Coordination of project information
Drawings and schedules may be coordinated using a BIM design tool. Between the disciplines, individual models may be federated to eliminate clashes and help programme the work. In addition to this, the specification information and the information in the model may be coordinated using the free NBS plug-ins.

NBS plug-ins are available for ArchiCAD, Revit and Vectorworks. The screenshots below show some of the coordination functionality for the NBS Plug-in for Revit.

Generate an outline specification in NBS Create directly from Autodesk Revit

Annotate and view clauses directly from the linked specification

Generate a report that shows coordination issues and provides support in correcting these

Note – to find out more about the free plug-ins for ArchiCAD, Revit and Vectorworks visit:

- http://www.nationalbimlibrary.com/NBSPlugins

So hopefully that explains a little more about the ‘NBS BIM ecosystem’. For more information see:

- http://www.theNBS.com/Create

- http://www.nationalBIMlibrary.com

...and a more formal article from myself on NBS Create and Level-2 BIM

- https://www.thenbs.com/topics/designSpecification/articles/nbsCreateAndLevel2BIM.asp

The Brits Who Built The Modern World - RIBA Exhibition

Today I was at the RIBA and I took the chance to look around the exhibition 'The Brits Who Built The Modern World'. I include a few photographs below of some of the original protoype design models, Also below is the trailer to the accompanying BBC Four documentary (search on youtube and you will be able to watch the full episodes).

- http://www.architecture.com/Explore/The-Brits-Who-Built-The-Modern-World.aspx

Free entry at 66 Portland Place London W1B 1AD

1. Hotel Lagos, Nigeria
An original visualisation by Seifert + Partners of the hotel..

2. Centre Pompidou
Richard Rogers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Georges_Pompidou

3. Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank
Foster and Partners - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC_Main_Building,_Hong_Kong

4. Reichstag, New German Parliament

Foster and Partners - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(building)

5. Lunar habitation modelling

Fosters and Partners - http://www.fosterandpartners.com/news/foster-+-partners-works-with-european-space-agency-to-3d-print-structures-on-the-moon/

6. Wuxi Shopping Mall

BDP - http://www.bdp.com/en/Projects/By-Name/P-Z/Wuxi-Ikea-Shopping-Mall/

7. MCA Pune Cricket Stadium model 
Hopkins Architects - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtra_Cricket_Association_Cricket_Stadium,_Pune

8. Fisht Olympic Stadium, Russia

Populous - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisht_Olympic_Stadium

9. Torre de Collserola, Spain

Foster and Partners - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_de_Collserola

BIM at ecobuild 2014

NBS will have an advice pod in the "Building Performance and BIM" content zone at ecobuild 2014 this week. Find our stand at N140/239.

@ecobuild_now

We also have speakers each day at the BIM Tech Theatre (N132). The full schedule for the BIM Tech Theatre is on the NBS website.
- BIM Tech Theatre Programme

Glancing through the schedule, three sessions from each day that have caught my eye below...

Tuesday 4th March

• 11.00am - John Tebbit from the Construction Products Association - BIM for the Terrified
• 2.30pm - Drew Wiggett NBS - BIM 2016 and beyond
• 3.00pm - Rob Charlton CEO _space group - Pre-fab housing utilising BIM

Wednesday 5th March

• 3.00pm - Casey Rutland Arup Associates - Project OVE
• 3.30pm - John Gelder NBS - BIM data structures - Uniclass 2
• 4.00pm - Robert Klashka - BIM for small practice

Thursday 6th March

• 11.30am - Stephen Hamil NBS - BIM through the RIBA Plan of Work (edit - time swap to 2.30pm)
• 1.00pm - Lee Townend Kingspan - BIM there done that?
• 1.30pm - Ian Chapman NBS - Integrating building information in the supply chain
• 2.30pm - Stephen Hamil NBS - BIM through the RIBA Plan of Work

I'll be at the NBS stand all day Thursday - please come over and say hello. I'll have my lap top and will be happy to show our latest developments to NBS Create, National BIM Library, RIBA Plan of Work, RIBA Product Selector and any other NBS developments.

- Full BIM Tech Theatre Programme