As one of the UK's leading full house construction services providers, HBG couldn't be better placed to benefit from building information modelling (BIM). Its policy has always been to offer an integrated service with the advantages of synergy between the disciplines and a long term outlook which considers the total lifetime cost of a building.
Consequently, HBG was one of the first adopters of Autodesk Revit Building, having invested in the solution when it was first introduced in the UK, and is one of its biggest advocates. All projects are now designed using Autodesk Revit Building and it has just begun to use the newly-launched Autodesk Revit Structure. It sees clearly the potential of having one single building model throughout the entire design/construction process and beyond.
"What could be better than being able to present the end-user with a complete 3D model of their building where they can go into every single room and everything is itemised and contains all the data they need?" asks Paul Burger, HBG design director.
"Working in a multi-disciplinary environment the idea of BIM is paramount to our success," he adds. "We're on the first step of the ladder, but we already see major benefits in co-ordination, efficiency and communicating the design to clients."
End-to-end
HBG is one of the few companies in the industry offering a truly "end-to-end" service including design, construction, property development and facilities management. It is also a major player in the PFI market. As such, its projects rarely have a value of less than 5 million and are often as large as 125 million.
Part of the Royal BAM Group, employing over 27,000 people worldwide, HBG is certainly a huge global operation, employing over 27,000 people worldwide and with seven offices in the UK.
Burger and his colleague, CAD manager Phil Palmer are both part of HBG Design based in St Albans. They explain that they often work in a design/construction role, and are constantly in close liaison with other departments and external contractors.
Their work spans a range of areas both for the public and private sectors but their particular success with PFI projects means that they have a good number of colleges and schools in their portfolio including a £32.5 combined campus for three schools in Dalkeith, Scotland and two large schools in Crawley, Sussex.
Palmer adds that because of this totally multi-disciplinary ethos, they have always seen 3D design as the way forward. To begin with, they ran an old object-based, 3D Sonata system. "We took a leap of faith when Revit first appeared, even before it was acquired by Autodesk. Its ease of use and intuitive nature were deciding factors on their own.
"However, I've always kept an eye on Autodesk products, so it gave us confidence when it became part of their product family," he adds.
As a total solutions provider, the seamless work between disciplines is a big selling point for HBG and Palmer. It's no surprise, therefore, that the promise of better co-ordination with little or no duplication was one of the major attractions.
"We particularly like the centralised database approach rather than the separate file system applications from other software houses," says Palmer. "It's a far more efficient way of working - eliminating the need to co-ordinate different files for different purposes. There's nothing worse than an architect drawing columns, then one engineer drawing the same columns and then another and so on."
He adds that BIM has always been HBG's goal. BIM is a building design and documentation methodology that relies on an internally consistent, co-ordinated and computable representation of a building. The data it holds is always available for well-informed decision-making, planning and performance predictions and ensuring accurate construction document production. It can also be used even further downstream for maintenance and general management of the building.
HBG is now moving further towards its aim with the use of Revit Structure. "We now have a two-way link with the Revit Building model. Our structural engineers include their design and this is used for analysis via our ROBOT Millennium system.
"At the moment this linking, copying and monitoring works well, but ultimately we will run this as one single model," says Palmer.
Helping the bottom line
It is clear that HBG has a vision when it comes to streamlining its processes and making use of its multi-disciplinary nature. In this way, it is moving from using Revit Building as just a design tool to seeing it as a business application too, helping it to cost projects and ensure its facilities management team can ensure its service remains profitable.
This is particularly the case with its work in the PFI schools arena. "We've invested time creating fixtures, fittings and equipment for our library so we can model up classrooms with all their furniture. We now have something in the region of 2,000 actual objects in Revit Building. Eventually, of course, we will be able to import them directly as 3D models from the manufacturers.
"We then apply prices and manufacturing data directly to Revit objects. We've developed a system that sits on top of Revit. We call it Trevit - a combination of Revit and Trevor the developer - and this gives us an accurate price for the costs of the fixtures and fittings.
"We can use this early on in the process at the tender or BFO (best and final offer) stages and know that we can be confident of our pricing - there won't be any nasty surprises for either us or the client. And we also use it throughout the actual design and management process to give the authorities confidence that we've picked up everything they're expecting to be included."
He explains that it also enables them to do comparisons between different types of fittings or layouts and make recommendations on overall impact on costs.
Revit Building's visualisation capabilities also mean they can sit down with end-users such as teachers and show them via a 3D model the entire classroom. "It's as if a teacher can wander into the room and see exactly what it will look like. This way we can check they are happy with it and make changes, if necessary. We're getting excellent feedback as a result," says Palmer.
Burger explains that HBG's Facilities Management team often has responsibility for managing and maintaining these buildings over 25 years - "a cradle to grave solution" as he puts it. "Therefore, from a business point of view, we need to make sure first that there are as few problems as possible - otherwise we will replacing components on a regular basis with a significant impact on profit.
"But also we need to ensure that we have the information to look after the assets as proactively as possible. When reliable data is readily available - having been constantly enhanced from the design stage onwards - then this becomes a straightforward process."
HBG works closely with Autodesk reseller partner Excitech. "HBG is certainly a pioneer, taking a long term view and moving towards a total BIM strategy," says Russ Monrose, Excitech.
"In doing this they will be able to take maximum advantage of their integrated approach, giving them a real head start - especially in areas such as education where they have already streamlined processes and made amazing efficiencies. And, at the same time, they are offering a consultative and responsive service to end-users too, ensuring that ultimately the building will best serve its purpose."
