Worth its weight in gold
The architects at GMP in Hamburg will spare themselves a lot of anxiety, a lot of money and a lot of time by using the Solibri Model Checker for their future projects. The software supplier Mensch und Maschine (MuM) made a major contribution to this upgrade: not only are they providing gmp with CAD software and training, but they're also offering a never-ending supply of good ideas for making gmp's work easier and safer. Shanghai's Oriental Sport Center, Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, Estadio Bernabeu in Madrid, Berlin's Hauptbahnhof, Villa Guna in Jurmala, Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban ... Anyone who wants to visit the construction projects of the gmp architects, Gerkan, Marg and Partners, can look forward to an interesting trip around the world.. With 13 locations from Rio de Janeiro to Shanghai, the agency focuses on diversity, unity and unmistakable uniqueness. As it says on their website, "Our ideal is to make our designs so simple that they will stand the test of time."
BIM, obviously
It's obvious from the global scope of their activities that gmp has been dealing with the issue of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for many years. It's difficult to acquire projects in Asia and the Anglo-Saxon countries without BIM, explains Markus Carlsen, who has been responsible for the systematic development of BIM infrastructure at gmp since he took the position of BIM Manager and Developer a year ago. gmp's BIM team now has 6 employees at their German locations. "Luckily, we've had the right partner from the very beginning: Mensch und Maschine," explains Markus Carlsen. Mensch und Maschine (MuM) has provided the architectural agency with CAD software for a long time, mainly from the Autodesk software corporation, but also with their own tools and interfaces that facilitate design and documentation work. MuM also knew that gmp was interested in Building Information Modeling, so their consultants presented new software, new approaches, new ideas.
A discovery for quality management
The people at MuM were looking at the bigger picture: The software supplier invited its customers to a BIM Day at a Hamburg building services agency. In addition to CAD software, they were also presenting the Solibri Model Checker (SMC). "We needed a quality assurance tool for our designs," recalls Markus Carlsen. "But we didn't have a precise idea yet. After the presentation, we at least knew where to look." Contacts with Solibri and MuM followed; a trial version of SMC was installed. The BIM team at gmp simulated the quasi-ideal sequence of a BIM project.
The project was replicated with the existing tools. They intentionally accepted the kind of errors that occur in the daily work of architects, building services planners and structural engineers. SMC finds errors quickly and reliably Markus Carlsen mentions two examples of typical errors: When designers are marking supports in the floor plan view, all it takes is for the phone to ring at the wrong moment, and suddenly they've clicked the top edge of the floor in the story above as a reference height, instead of the bottom of the finished ceiling. In large building projects, often nobody notices the mistake at first. It's also likely that no opening is provided for some of the many hundreds of ventilation ducts. Such an error may even go under the radar in the 3D view. It's precisely this kind of error that SMC found during reproduction of these projects. Files were periodically exported from Autodesk Revit, the building services and structural engineering software, as IFC data (Industry Foundation Class, a software-neutral model description language), and then imported into SMC and tested. The indicated errors could then be fixed quickly and easily.
A more precise calculation in order to confidently meet deadlines
Solibri Model Checker helps to detect very complex errors early—errors which, in the worst case, wouldn't be visible until construction work had already started. If the model of planning through to construction were to remain the same, errors would be nearly unavoidable. Huge numbers of them can be found quickly and easily using BIM. To be sure, the model has to be present from very early on with a great level of detail. However, this effort in the earliest phase pays off later in a big way. We have to try to avoid changes as much as possible. They result in high costs later in the planing process, even with BIM. Can the savings from the use of SMC be quantified? Markus Carlsen laughs: "I can't express it in terms of numbers. But one thing is for sure: It's A LOT! …GMP will spare themselves a lot of anxiety, a lot of money and a lot of time once the Solibri Model Checker is firmly incorporated into the team's work. "We know that we're on the right track," says Markus Carlsen. "And we're very grateful to the people at MuM that they always keep the easier and safer work of their customers in mind. Their tip about SMC has already proven to be worth its weight in gold."
