London, 24-26 June 2008 - Build London Live was a 48 hours design-fest to create virtual buildings on a real-world site in south-east London. Despite the name, the teams from Asia, the Americas and Europe did not have to roll up their sleeves in London. Their “distance” participation in a virtual environment mirrored the flexibility that BIM allows in real-world projects. Any construction project using BIM can benefit from the collaboration of supply-chain partners wherever they are located.
The event took the form of a competition and the design teams were given a brief for a mixed-use development on the Greenwich peninsula in London. The site context was supplied through Google Earth and a video. Two software platforms were provided: the Asite collaboration system (cBim) and the Onuma Planning System (OPS), used as the BIM model server for early-stage sketch design.
Promoting sustainability
One of the key criteria set by the judges was sustainability and energy use. BIM helps promote sustainability by allowing different scenarios – for energy use, thermal comfort, life-cycle costs and so – to be tested out swiftly so that the most sustainable option can be selected. All the teams were required to create a 3D model and submit it in IFC format.
The winners of Build London Live were announced on 26 June. Team BIM Vikings was named overall winner. The BIM products/MPA team won ‘best design’ and Team Seoul BIM Forum ‘best collaboration’.
But the real winner was IFC/BIM itself. The event demonstrated what IFC can achieve: the speed, flexibility and versatility of the standard, thus achieving better and more sustainable buildings.
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Overall winner BIM Vikings ‘For involving the clients and for the breadth and depth of their design and collaboration’ |
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Best design |
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Best collaboration Seoul BIM ‘Overcoming a steep learning curve to achieve impressive collaboration from Asia to Europe – truly remarkable’ |
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Drama and excitement Team Gravicon ‘A dramatic concept worked through to an impressive finished product’ |
Note: more information at http://www.buildlondonlive.com/, http://www.bimproducts.net/, http://www.asite.com/ and http://www.aec3.com/.