CC Sep-Oct 2023

Construction 

Computing 

WWW.CONSTRUCTION-COMPUTING.COM 

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 

VOL 19 NO 05 

Delivering power in style 

The Hydro Ness project is powered by 

Tekla's constructible BIM software 

A megabuild marvel in Mayfair 

McGee uses Asta Powerproject to make the 

'impossible' Mayfair Hotel megabuild a reality 

Leaning into learning 

Graphisoft Learn delivers an 

education in Archicad and BIM 

Constructability 

DBM Vircon transforms standard 

structural designer's production models 

@CCMagAndAwards

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CONTENTS 

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 

CONTENTS 

A MEGABUILD MARVEL IN MAYFAIR 10 

Specialist engineering contractor, McGee, uses 

Asta Powerproject to make the 'impossible' 

Mayfair Hotel megabuild a reality 

LIMITLESS CREATIVITY 14 

Vectorworks 2024 introduces significant 

changes and enhancements to design 

workflows and other productivity tools, making 

them more efficient yet simpler to use 

DELIVERING POWER IN STYLE 22 

The Hydro Ness, an architecturally striking 

hydroelectric generation project, has been 

delivered using constructible BIM software 

CONSTRUCTABILITY 30 

DBM Vircon uses its design engineering 

experts and the latest technology to transform 

standard structural designer's production 

models into fully connected LOD 400 models. 

David Chadwick reports 

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS......................SUBCONTRACTOR RELATIONS........................................................................6 

• HOW THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH SUBCONTRACTORS 

NEWS.................................................INDUSTRY NEW.........................................................................................................9 

• UPSKILLING OUR FUTURE CIVIL ENGINEERS • CAN ESG STRATEGIES DRIVE INVESTMENT? 

INDUSTRY FOCUS.............................LEANING INTO LEARNING ..............................................................................16 

• GRAPHISOFT LEARN BRINGS ARCHITECTS UP TO A CERTIFIED LEVEL IN THEIR ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS 

AWARDS............................................THE HAMMERS 2023: THE FINALISTS...............................................................18 

• VOTING IS NOW OPEN TO DETERMINE THE WINNERS OF THE 2023 CONSTRUCTION COMPUTING AWARDS 

CONFERENCE PREVIEW...................THE FIRST NIMA VIRTUAL CONFERENCE.......................................................20 

• THE INAUGURAL NIMA VIRTUAL CONFERENCE IS ALL ABOUT DATA AND MEETING TODAY'S URGENT NEEDS 

CASE STUDY......................................RECOGNISED ON SITE.....................................................................................24 

• SARAH DARVILLE-DOWNS DISCUSSES HOW TAMDOWN REDUCED ADMIN BY ADOPTING BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGY 

EXHIBITION PREVIEW........................THE SMART BUILDINGS SHOW 2023..............................................................26 

• THE UK'S LEADING SMART BUILDINGS EVENT WILL SHOWCASE SMARTER BUILDING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 

INDUSTRY FOCUS.............................WATER MANAGEMENT.....................................................................................28 

• HOW WATER UTILITIES CAN MITIGATE THE CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 

TRAINING MAP...................................AUTODESK TRAINING.......................................................................................32 

• YOUR GUIDE TO AUTODESK TRAINING 

CASE STUDY......................................THE SANDS OF TIME........................................................................................34 

• BLUESKY 3D IMAGERY BRINGS GLOBAL WARMING SEA LEVEL RISES TO LIFE 

September/October 2023 3

COMMENT 

Editor: 

David Chadwick 

(cad.user@btc.co.uk) 

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Comment 

Earth, fire and water 

by David Chadwick 

Forgive me for getting a bit biblical, 

but how many omens do you want? 

From earthquakes in Morocco, to 

record heat levels being recorded on a 

global basis followed by terrifying forest 

fires, alternating with devastating rains and 

catastrophic floods, and culminating in the 

terrible tragedy in Libya, when local dams 

burst, sweeping thousands of inhabitants 

of Derna out to sea, we appear to be in an 

upward spiral of climactic climate events. 

The consequences of climate change are 

not always so dramatic. Lengthy 

heatwaves cause prolonged droughts, 

crops struggle to survive and when the 

rains eventually arrive they are too 

powerful and sweep the arid regions 

clean. Global warming strips the polar 

regions of millennia of accumulated ice, 

and water levels rise slowly but inexorably 

and once fertile coastal regions are 

subsumed by the sea. 

The problem is we are both the culprits 

and the assuagers. I hesitate to use the 

word solution, as there are none, and we 

can merely attempt to mitigate the effects 

of climate change. Our growing 

dependence on IT to drive efficiencies in 

the construction industry and our attempts 

to introduce sustainable power generation 

are countered by the massive and 

increasing demand for processing 

capability to drive data centres running AI, 

bitcoin mining and cloud computing 

services. Many of the data centres using 

scarce water resources to cool the vast 

arrays of processors are based in hot 

urban environments, like California and the 

Southern regions of China and India, and 

alternative air conditioning systems 

consume massive amounts of electricity. 

The processing power of the data 

centres is required to handle the complex 

simulations that are quite clever at 

showing us where we are inexorably 

headed, but can also be used to fine-tune 

the construction of the environment we 

hope to live in. 

Trying to balance the books, then, so that 

we can continue to maintain the lifestyles 

we have grown accustomed to - and to 

support burgeoning population growth 

and urbanisation in the under-resourced 

Third World - the industry is using its 

technology to both educate people and to 

fight back against an inevitable fate. 

In this issue we are taking a closer look at 

water security. It's a vicious circle. The 

rising global temperatures are melting 

polar regions and altering oceanic 

currents, changing water temperatures 

and generating more extreme weather 

events. We cannot reverse the trend until 

we get things like carbon emissions under 

control. In the meantime we must ensure 

that the world's growing population have 

enough water to sustain them and grow 

their crops, and that we can handle an 

increasingly violent events that nature 

throws at us. 

To this end we have Bentley's Sandra 

DiMatteo explaining how the company's 

digital twin technology is being used to 

help municipal organisations in Brazil, 

China, America and the Netherlands to 

improve the efficiency of their water supply 

and management, suggesting a number of 

ways in which in which this can be 

achieved, One of the solutions is 

particularly poignant in the aftermath of the 

Libyan disaster, as it focuses on dam 

management. 

This is complemented by an article from 

Bluesky on the use of Lidar technology to 

measure rising sea levels. The company 

commissioned Sairo Studios, a creative 

agency specialising in content for AR, VR 

and Metaverse to create a 360-degree 

video educational film for students, 'Rising 

Tides: Climate Change in Morecambe 

Bay', which vividly brings the real impact of 

global warming to life. 

4 September/October 2023

FASTER WORKFLOWS 

FROM START TO FINISH. 

Carry your projects through from start to finish with the speed 

and reliability you require. With the latest in Vectorworks, 

you’ll find faster workflows at every stage of design, minimising 

interruptions and maximising productivity. 

Start your free trial at VECTORWORKS.NET/2024 

OYAKI FARM BY IROHADO | COURTESY OF TONO MIRAI ARCHITECTS

TECHNOLOGYfocus 

Subcontractor Relations 

Access Construction explain how the latest technology can be used to improve relationships with 

subcontractors 

Effective subcontractor 

relationships are essential for a 

successful and profitable 

construction business. This article 

discusses how construction technology 

can be used to maintain productive 

relationships with subcontractors. 

The current construction skills gap in 

the UK means that subcontractors can 

be selective about who they work with. 

They can afford to blacklist contractors 

with a reputation for poor 

communication, chaotic project 

management, or an inability to pay on 

time for good work. 

It is more vital than ever for contractors 

to build strong relationships with 

subcontractors, communicate effectively, 

and manage projects efficiently, and 

construction technology can help 

contractors avoid the common pitfalls 

that lead to soured relationships with 

their 'subbies'. 

PREQUALIFICATION 

QUESTIONNAIRES 

Before building relationships with 

subcontractors, it is important to 

prequalify them to ensure that they are 

a good fit for your business and your 

projects. This will save both you and 

your subcontractors time and effort. 

The prequalification process typically 

begins with a questionnaire that is sent 

to potential subcontractors before they 

are invited to tender. This questionnaire 

should cover the subcontractor's work 

history, positive references, relevant 

skills and qualifications, insurance and 

safety policies and availability. 

Bid management software such as 

Access ConQuest can help you write, 

send and track these prequalification 

questionnaires quickly, and track 

responses in a collaborative space so 

team members can quickly review 

responses. By prequalifying 

subcontractors, you can be confident 

that you are choosing the best partners 

for your projects. This will help you to 

build strong relationships and deliver 

successful projects. 

BID MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE 

Invitations to bid are often the first 

contact that subcontractors have with a 

contractor. It is important to make a 

good impression by presenting the 

invitations clearly and concisely. This 

should include: 

Being clear and honest about the 

scope of work involved 

Providing all relevant documentation, 

such as blueprints, specifications, 

and schedules 

Listing the essential criteria that the 

bids must meet 

Dividing the bid into expected phases 

of the project, which can help 

subcontractors produce more accurate 

bids 

There are a number of ways to 

intelligently manage subcontractor bids. 

One option is to use subcontractor bid 

management software, which can help 

contractors to send out and track bids 

more efficiently. 

CLOUD TECHNOLOGY 

COLLABORATION 

Poor or outdated technology can hinder 

collaboration with subcontractors, 

especially when it comes to 

communication and documentation. 

The construction industry is one of the 

least digitised industries in the UK, but 

digitising documents using cloud 

storage can help streamline 

communication processes. 

Cloud-stored documents can be 

easily accessed from anywhere, are 

safely backed up, and help keep 

records immaculate using digital audit 

trails. Cloud technology also includes 

software that can keep subcontractors 

informed of project changes in realtime. 

Construction management 

software can be used to keep all 

parties involved in a construction 

project up-to-date on the status of the 

building project. 

COMMUNICATION IS KEY 

As a contractor, it is important to be 

open and communicative with your 

subcontractors. This will help them to 

give updates, report snags, and share 

6 

September/October 2023

VISIBILITY 

CONTROL 

ACCURACY 

CONSTRUCTION ERP SOFTWARE 

From pre-construction to post construction 

Visibility is everything; trust 

our software to give you control 

and accuracy. 

Access construction management 

software enables you to accurately 

estimate contracts, manage your 

projects with clear visibility and 

control your costs. 

Access Construction ERP Software 

comprises award-winning Enterprise 

Resource Planning (ERP) EasyBuild and 

ConQuest Estimating can help you with: 

• ESTIMATING 

• SITE MANAGEMENT 

• ACCOUNTING 

• HR AND PAYROLL 

• TRAINING 

• COMPLIANCE 

• PROCUREMENT 

• HOSTING AND CYBER SECURITY 

WHY CHOOSE SOFTWARE 

FROM ACCESS CONSTRUCTION? 

• Two core products written for the 

construction industry – ConQuest 

Estimating and EasyBuild ERP 

Software 

CONTACT US AND 

BOOK A DEMO TODAY 

Search: Access Construction 

• Bought alone or as an integrated 

package, we create the right solution 

for your company which can scale 

as you grow 

• Seamless implementation, with 

product training and dedicated 

customer support

TECHNOLOGYfocus 

any concerns they have about the 

project. It is also important to be 

proactive in your communication, and 

not wait for your subcontractors to 

contact you. Regular communication is 

essential for building strong 

relationships with your subcontractors, 

and it can help to prevent delays and 

cost overruns. 

It is best to have a single line of 

communication, such as email or 

project management software, so that 

everyone is on the same page. 

However, it is also important to be 

flexible and use other methods of 

communication, such as phone calls or 

in-person meetings, when needed. 

Quick responses to messages from 

your subcontractors will also help to 

build trust and rapport. 

By communicating effectively with your 

subcontractors, you can create a positive 

and productive working environment. This 

will help to ensure that your projects are 

completed on time and within 

budget. 

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 

SOFTWARE 

Coordinating subcontractor teams is a 

critical part of a construction project 

manager's job. It is important to regularly 

evaluate the coordination process to 

prevent projects from being derailed. Poor 

subcontractor coordination is a major 

contributing factor to project delays. 

With narrow profit margins in construction 

and poor subcontractor coordination being 

a major source of loss, it is worth investing 

in construction management software to 

help project managers plan and track 

subcontractor activity. 

Many construction management 

software solutions also allow 

subcontractors themselves to access 

and update the software. This gives 

project managers visibility into potential 

schedule conflicts, delays, and even the 

availability of equipment. 

TRACKING PROGRESS 

One of the best ways to track project 

progress is using construction 

management software. This software can 

track progress in real time, which helps 

contractors stay on top of the work and 

identify any potential problems early on 

by coordinating multiple data points. 

By using construction management 

software, project 

managers can improve their 

communication with subcontractors, 

identify areas where the project is falling 

behind, and make necessary 

adjustments to keep the project on track. 

This can help to improve relationships 

with subcontractors and ensure that 

projects are completed on time and 

within budget. It also helps construction 

teams to spot and correct snags quickly, 

and identify the best subcontractors to 

work with in the future. 

PAY SUBCONTRACTORS ON TIME 

Slow payments are a major problem in 

the construction industry, and can lead to 

larger issues from bad debt to 

insolvency. While slow payments are at 

times unavoidable, contractors with 

healthy cash flow should make it a 

priority to pay their subcontractors on 

time and in full. This is the best way to 

maintain a trusting and respectful 

relationship with subcontractors. 

Payments should only be withheld for 

poor quality work. Withholding pay for 

minor issues can damage the 

relationship with the subcontractor, 

and ultimately cost more than the 

mistakes made. 

Using financial management software, 

particularly that which has constructionspecific 

functionality such as CVR 

reporting, can help track both cash flow 

and payments on a construction 

scheme. Paying on time for good work 

shows a level of respect that will be 

reciprocated the next time the 

subcontractor is needed. 

Access Construction offers a suite of 

technology developed specifically for 

construction to help you manage your 

subcontractor relationships. 

Access ConQuest estimating software 

includes a bid management module 

which streamlines your processes and 

makes it easier for subcontractors to bid. 

Access COINS ERP is a wide-reaching 

piece of ERP software which helps 

construction project managers 

coordinate subcontractors and track 

project budgets. 

Search Access Construction to find 

out more. 

8 


INDUSTRY news 

UPSKILLING OUR FUTURE CIVIL ENGINEERS 

Bentley Systems has 

announced the finalists of 

the 2023 Going Digital Awards 

in Infrastructure. The annual 

awards program honours the 

extraordinary work of Bentley 

software users advancing 

infrastructure design, construction, 

and operations 

throughout the world. Twelve 

independent jury panels, representing 

12 award categories, 

selected the 36 finalists 

from over 300 nominations 

submitted by 235 organisations 

from 51 countries. 

Engineering consultancy 

Curtins and Symetri Europe 

have collaborated for the third 

consecutive year to deliver 

Curtins’ Civil Engineering and 

Sustainable Infrastructure 

Insight Programme, which aims 

to provide training for civil engineering 

students and equip 

them with skills for the future. 

Since 2020 the five-week summer 

programme has been contributing 

to the uptake of young 

people into civil engineering 

roles. Through exposure to the 

dynamic nature of civils and 

infrastructure projects, Curtins 

hopes the scheme will help to 

reduce the shortfall in civil engineering 

graduates in the long 

term, whilst improving skills in 

this specialism. Students from 

every university in the UK and 

Ireland undertaking a civil engineering 

course were invited to 

participate, resulting in the 

largest cohort to date. 

The students benefitted from 

exposure to real-life projects 

and tutoring, as well as leading 

software and training packages. 

Much of the content delivered 

across the five modules has 

pivoted around sustainability, 

with an emphasis on green 

infrastructure, carbon calculating 

and innovation. Topics also 

included digital delivery, master 

planning, BIM and the cornerstones 

of engineering: People, 

Place, Nature, and Variety. 

In addition to technical learning, 

non-technical modules 

were provided around career 

pathways, marketing, and interview 

skills. The programme is 

set to be repeated in 2024. 

www.curtins.com/careers 

GOING TO THE 2023 GOING DIGITAL AWARDS? 

Representatives from the 

finalists’ organisations will present 

their projects to a panel 

of independent judges to 

determine the winners and 

meet with global press and 

industry executives at the 

2023 Year in Infrastructure and 

Going Digital Awards event, 

which will be held at the Marina 

Bay Sands in Singapore, 

October 11-12, 2023. 

Full details on the 2023 finalists 

are available here: 

www.bentley.com/events/goin 

g-digital-awards/finalists 

CAN ESG STRATEGIES DRIVE INVESTMENT? 

PlanRadar has launched its 

latest whitepaper, ESG in 

the real estate industry, which 

primarily explores how ESG 

strategies are helping to drive 

investment within the construction 

industry across Europe, 

and the role digital tools play in 

securing future finance. 

From the outset, the White 

Paper highlights that Environmental, 

Social and Governance 

practices are more than just 

meeting regulatory guidelines, 

they offer sizeable business 

benefits. This could explain why 

52% of private equity investors 

implement ESG as a strategy 

to boost asset value, and half 

implement an investment policy 

that includes ESG specifically. 

The report draws on existing 

research from leading consultancies, 

including Deloitte, 

highlighting how ESG due diligence 

is making construction 

companies involved in low-carbon 

building and green property 

development attractive to 

investors. Recent estimations 

put global ESG assets at a 

value of more than $23 trillion. 

One of the report’s key findings 

is that property owners 

focused on achieving ESG 

goals often experience higher 

ROI, and goes on to suggest 

the quicker sustainability targets 

are met, the faster the 

return. This has placed growing 

emphasis on integrating 

ESG strategies into the technical 

due diligence of real estate 

assets to reap greater rewards, 

including understanding a 

building’s current condition 

and the potential cost of 

repairs and compliance with 

building regulations. 

However, the report also 

acknowledges that achieving 

this aim is no overnight fix 

since the integration process 

can be lengthy, relying on 

third-party expertise to evaluate 

data, compile reports and 

align objectives. It also comes 

at a substantial upfront cost, 

with evidence-based data, 

which shows processes and 

regulations have been correctly 

followed for safe and habitable 

buildings. ESG data collection 

and reporting is 

demanding, given the breadth 

of continuously emerging standards 

and regulations, coupled 

with maintaining robust 

records of project documentation, 

contracts, plans and protocols 

across fragmented project 

supply chains. 

ESG in the real estate industry 

with PlanRadar is available to 

download now as a free eBook: 

https://www.planradar.com/gb/ 

ebooks/esg-in-the-real-estateindustry-with-planradar/ 


CASE study 

A megabuild marvel in Mayfair 

McGee uses Asta Powerproject 

to make the 'impossible' Mayfair 

Hotel megabuild a reality 

Specialist engineering contractor, 

McGee, used Asta Powerproject 

to sequence and manage a 

ground-breaking five-storey mega 

basement for Claridge's Hotel. The 

cutting-edge planning and project 

management software enabled 

McGee's project managers to 

implement pioneering techniques, 

mitigate structural risk, and coordinate 

material movements on an incredibly 

challenging site. 

The project, which received a Fleming 

Award and a Ground Engineering 

award and was the subject of a BBC 

television documentary, 'The Mayfair 

Hotel Megabuild', enabled Asta 

Powerproject to: 

Sequence the execution of a 

65,000-square-foot basement 

extension underneath a live hotel - 

something other engineering 

companies said was impossible 

Coordinate complex labour 

schedules involving regular 

building contractors and a team of 

mining contractors working around 

the clock 

Synchronise daily material 

deliveries from an offsite holding 

yard due to lack of storage space 

on-site 

Complete the five-storey mega 

basement six months ahead of 

schedule to critical and customer 

acclaim. 

ACCEPTING AN 'IMPOSSIBLE' 

ENGINEERING PROJECT 

McGee has a reputation for accepting 

ambitious projects - from complex 

demolition work to facilitate the UK's 

HS2 high-speed railway line to leading 

Phase 3 earthworks for the 

redevelopment of London's Battersea 

Power Station. 

But these projects seem 

straightforward compared to the 

trailblazing work that McGee completed 

for Claridge's Hotel in 2015/16 when 

they took on a job that no other 

engineering company thought was 

possible. Claridge's wanted to increase 

its capacity by 50%, adding a five-storey 

mega basement underneath the hotel to 

house two swimming pools, a spa, a 

state-of-the-art wine cellar, a kitchen, 

and laundry facilities. 

This plan was ambitious in itself, but 

another layer of complexity existed. The 

hotel needed to remain open 

throughout the build, and construction 

works could not disturb the first-class 

experience that Claridge's Hotel guests 

expect to receive. 

"Every other company invited to 

tender wanted to do a traditional 

project, but the client was adamant that 

they didn't want to close the hotel. But 

whenever someone says something 

can't be done, we say challenge 

accepted!", said Michelle Mackey, 

Project Engineer, McGee. 

10 


CASEstudy 

SEQUENCING A PROGRAMME 

WITH PIONEERING TECHNIQUES 

The hotel's extension plans carried 

significant risks. The new mega 

basement was situated directly 

underneath Claridge's Art Deco 

extension, constructed in the 1920s on a 

single reinforced concrete slab. McGee's 

Project Director, Jim Mackey, developed 

a creative construction plan to be 

executed by Project Engineer Michelle 

Mackey (who is also Jim's daughter). 

"We did some trial works to determine 

what the existing building structure was 

made of and what was and wasn't 

possible, then Jim sat down with our 

technical department and put together a 

3D animation of the sequence." 

With the high-level sequence mapped 

out, Jim handed the project to Michelle, 

who needed to turn a static plan into 

something more dynamic. Michelle 

chose Asta Powerproject planning and 

project management software to rise to 

this challenge. 

"Asta Powerproject enabled me to put 

in the detail we needed and then roll the 

programme up, so we could still present 

a high-level view. We didn't need 

everyone to see tasks hour by hour, but 

going into that level of detail meant we 

could flag any potential issues early on." 

The Claridge's project was divided into 

multiple phases, starting with a team of 

miners hand-digging a network of 

tunnels directly underneath the hotel. 

They dug down 30 metres to create a 

series of shafts that would become the 

hotel's new foundations. 

Concrete was poured into the shafts to 

create the new foundations, and new 

columns were constructed from within 

the shafts for the existing hotel building 

to rest on. Then the team excavated 500 

cubic metres of earth from around the 

columns, using heavy machinery 

assembled underground, to construct 

the new five-story basement. 

"Once I set up the programme in Asta 

Powerproject and tested the first few 

lines, I felt confident that I could 

sequence the project from start to finish 

and there wouldn't be any errors," 

Michelle added. 

MANAGING COMPLEX TIME AND 

MATERIAL SCHEDULES 

It wasn't just construction techniques 

that challenged McGee. Working on a 

landmark building in the middle of 

London also presented logistics 

challenges, as the excavation work 

involved removing 45,000 tonnes of clay 

through one hole just 2.5 metres wide. 

McGee could not store waste material 

on-site due to insufficient space. 

Instead, materials had to be moved to 

and from Claridge's daily from a nearby 

holding yard, with a single loading area 

on-site. Asta Powerproject delivered the 

precision planning needed to ensure 

materials were collected on schedule, 

preventing programme delays. 

"The Claridge's project was very 

complex by nature. We had one space 

to work in, and all our equipment and 

materials came in and out of one 

opening. Asta Powerproject allowed us 

to take just-in-time material planning to 

the extreme." 

The project also involved coordinating 

tradespeople working two different shift 

patterns. While standard building 

contractors worked Monday-Friday, 

8am-6pm, two teams of miners worked 

seven days in alternating 12-hour shifts. 

McGee used Asta Powerproject to 

coordinate site resources with material 

requirements, managing the pace of 

work to synchronise deliveries with their 

progress. "We never wanted to be in a 

situation where teams arrived for their 

shift and the materials that they needed 

weren't available. Or a situation where 

we couldn't get materials in fast enough. 

With Asta Powerproject, we could drop a 

line down the programme to monitor 

and adjust progress on a daily basis," 

said Mackey. 

Some material deliveries were timecritical, 

like the thousands of tonnes of 

concrete needed for the basement 

columns. Michelle's team needed to 

ensure that mining work finished at a 

time when concrete could be delivered 

to fill each shaft as quickly as possible. 

"We used Asta Powerproject to 

coordinate both timings and logistics. 

For example, we couldn't have mining 

teams finishing on a Saturday night and 

then the base of each shaft being left 

open for 30 hours until the concrete 

could arrive." 

COORDINATING CONSTRUCTION IN 

THE PRESENCE OF PAYING GUESTS 

If project logistics weren't challenging 

enough, McGee also had to coordinate 

site activity around what was happening 

in the hotel. In addition to ensuring 


CASE study 

overnight guests 

weren't disturbed, 

Claridge's hosted several 

high-profile events during 

construction, including the 

Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year 

Awards and the hotel's annual Christmas 

tree launch. To minimise disruption, frontof-house 

staff devised a traffic light 

scheme highlighting times of caution and 

complete silence. "When we were 

working directly below the existing 

building, the noise would reverberate up 

through the hotel, but we were able to 

sequence work in Asta Powerproject to 

ensure we met noise schedules." 

While initially, staff would block out whole 

days for important events, this impacted 

the progress of extension works. To avoid 

delays, the front-of-house team worked 

with McGee to determine times when 

work could continue (for example, during 

drinks receptions with a lot of background 

noise) versus critical silent points (such as 

wedding speeches). 

Asta Powerproject's detailed timelines 

meant Michelle and her team could work 

tasks around hotel activities to continue 

as effectively as possible while minimising 

the inconvenience to paying guests. 

A FIVE-STAR FINISH, DELIVERED 

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE 

With significant structural risks, out-ofthe-box 

techniques and the restrictions of 

a live hotel to contend with, a lot could 

have gone wrong with the construction of 

Claridge's Hotel mega basement. But 

meticulous planning and execution 

through Asta 

Powerproject ensured that McGee 

delivered the five-storey extension on 

time and to an exceptionally high 

standard. In fact, McGee delivered the 

agreed programme six months early, so 

Claridge's Hotel could expand the brief to 

add further elements. 

This incredibly ambitious project quickly 

captured the construction industry's 

attention, with the judges of the 2018 

Fleming Award stating that, "it really did 

stand out in terms of rigour, technical 

complexity and innovation that ran 

through the project from start to finish". It 

was also highly commended at the 

Ground Engineering Award in 2019, with 

one judge remarking that "the project was 

undertaken within extraordinary 

operational constraints and with 

exceptional human endeavour." 

Most importantly, the new mega 

basement has been very well received by 

Claridge's Hotel customers, who continue 

to leave five-star reviews. 

MAKING CONFIDENT CUSTOMER 

PROMISES 

Before embarking on the Claridge's Hotel 

project, Michelle described herself as a 

"nervous" Asta Powerproject user, but her 

confidence and expertise have grown 

since then. She has just completed an 

800-line programme for a new 

engineering project, and the 

development of her Asta Powerproject 

skills (and her colleagues' skills) have 

helped shape the way McGee plans and 

executes construction work. 

"Rather than creating an initial high-level 

programme and trying to figure out how 

long a project will take, we can now look 

at how long each task takes, and Asta 

Powerproject will give us the overall 

length of the programme. It's made us 

more confident in our promises to our 

clients." Moreover, Michelle sees the 

value programme management software 

can bring to site operations - particularly 

in cities, where lack of space makes 

logistics challenging. 

"Project management software isn't used 

enough at site level. We're not waiting for 

a planner who doesn't know the ins and 

outs of a project to do a weekly site visit. 

Because we have Asta Powerproject, we 

can share data and discuss the effect of 

doing one thing versus another in realtime. 

I think that's invaluable." 

The power behind successful projects: 

book a free demo to experience Asta 

Powerproject. 

12 


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SOFTWARE focus 

Limitless creativity 

Among a number of new enhancements, Vectorworks 2024 introduces significant changes to design 

workflows and other productivity tools, making them more efficient yet simpler to use 

Doing more with less effort - isn't 

that everybody's aim? 

Vectorworks' latest iteration, 

Vectorworks 2024, shows us one way in 

which that could be achieved. Its 

release coincides with upcoming 

enhancements to other Vectorworks 

applications, besides Architect. They 

include Landmark, Spotlight, Design 

Suite and Fundamentals, along with 

2024 versions of ConnectCAD, 

Braceworks and Vision. 

According to Dr. Biplab Sarkar, 

Vectorworks CEO, "Vectorworks 2024 

represents a significant move forward 

in integrating our tools into specific 

design workflows. By taking a holistic 

and high-level approach, we work hard 

to ensure that our software aligns 

seamlessly with the natural processes 

of designers." Explaining how 

Vectorworks is aiming at enhancing 

users' workflows, he added, "from 

ideation to final execution, this latest 

version has been carefully crafted to 

ensure new tools and existing features 

work together harmoniously to diminish 

disruptions and enhance productivity." 

ENHANCED USER INTERFACE 

The updated and modernised user 

interface really epitomises the latest 

version and makes workflows more 

efficient and easier to customise. The 

reorganised View and Mode bars bring 

a wide range of tools to the forefront, 

allowing users to decide how to 

organise tools and shortcuts for easy 

access. Using the new pop-up view bar 

settings and quick preference options, 

they can also modify the placing and 

look of view bars. Customers can also 

choose between dark and light 

appearance for their overall interface 

for both Windows and macOS 

operating systems. 

Another massive productivity gain is 

the ability to save custom viewport 

settings as "styles", allowing users to 

save them in the Resources Manager, 

making them easily transferable 

between viewports on different sheets 

or project files. It enables them to reuse 

their favourite styles for different design 

or presentation scenarios and cuts out 

the tedium of replicating viewport 

settings and errors creeping in. 

With increased collaboration on larger 

and more complex projects, the ability 

to share real-time model data and 

modifications to a model has become 

more relevant, hence Vectorworks 

rebuilding its Project Sharing feature to 

ensure project data and geometry is 

always current in a project file. Project 

Sharing+ now tracks every change, 

every time. Shared project files, 

available to all authorised users to 

access the project data, will find 

changes to their working files (.vwxw) 

will reliably save to the shared project 

file (.vwxp). The improved update will 

substantially improve the reliability of 

shared 3D models regardless of its size. 

Besides being able to leverage 

preferred styles to speed up designs, 

the new version of Vectorworks 

provides users with high quality realtime 

rendering using the improvements 

to the Shaded rendering mode, which 

now include shadow casting and the 

addition of camera settings to allow 

users to define depth of field, exposure 

and bloom and other real-world 

camera-like effects. 

Improving BIM and other digital 

design workflows is another key aspect 

of Vectorworks 2024. Referencing data 

from native Excel files reduces manual 

steps which usually incorporate the risk 

of user input error, resulting in better 

connectivity to external data and a new 

avenue for designers to enhance their 

14 


SOFTWAREfocus 

collaborative data capabilities. 

IMPROVED GEOMETRY FOR 

ARCHITECTS AND INTERIOR 

DESIGNERS 

Vectorworks 2024 includes more 

specific features for architects and 

interior designers. There is, for 

instance, improved geometry for 

thresholds and sills, providing a better 

fit with wall closures. Similarly, there 

are more options to control interior and 

exterior conditions, gaps around doors 

and windows for each side of the 

opening. Door handing has been 

standardised to allow for more detailed 

geometry and data supporting industry 

standards, and Materials can now be 

assigned to doors and windows, with 

greater accuracy and consistency in 

visual representation and reporting. 

I'm always amazed by the step-bystep 

enhancements to stair design and 

building access. The Railing tool now 

enables users to create new 

parametric handrails and guardrails 

from created from building objects, 

such as stairs, slabs and ramps, and 

more custom configurations. Interior 

designers will also be delighted with 

the ability to create parametric cabinet 

objects for interior projects. This is 

helped by a greater range of cabinet 

configurations and improved 

interactive placement. 

FENCING FOR LANDSCAPE 

ARCHITECTS 

Previewed in one of the recent 

updates, Vectorworks' new, automated, 

Fence tool has been lauded as a 

significant enhancement to 

Vectorworks Landmark. Besides being 

an easy-to-use and graphically very 

satisfying tool, it will save significant 

time while designing enclosed areas in 

both 2D and 3D. It has a bonus, too, in 

that it facilitates accurate material 

reporting as an additional BIM feature 

for landscape architects and garden 

designers. It also enables simplified 

creation of material schedules and 

specifications and can be optimised to 

create simplified or detailed 

representations. 

The Fence tool, naturally, includes 

integrated posts, gates and terrainconforming 

options, and will naturally 

follow the undulation of the terrain 

whether it is sloped or stepped. 

PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON 

OTHER APPLICATIONS 

I must apologise for the simple pun, 

but Vectorworks Spotlight users will 

also benefit from the philosophy 

behind Vectorworks' new version. Used 

widely in the entertainment industry for 

designing and developing live events, 

the demand is for everyday quality and 

performance improvements to speed 

up and manage previously complex 

manual and repetitive tasks. 

Spotlight's Equipment Lists feature 

facilitates this by unifying the equipment 

and inventory tracking processes. It 

streamlines the preproduction process 

by providing the tools to plan and 

document all the equipment needed by 

a show or production. 

Workflows are also enhanced for A/V 

installation, where the upcoming 

ConnectCAD Reports Share command 

lets designers upload design data to 

Vectorworks Cloud Services as a 

configurable worksheet. It can then be 

viewed in a web browser on any 

device, ensuring that all project 

partners and installers are accessing 

the most up-to-date information. 

A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 

PROCESS 

In addition to empowering designers 

with advanced automation and 

problem-solving capabilities, 

Vectorworks 2024 builds on the 

platform's long-standing commitment 

to deliver quality improvements. These 

will be developed further in future 

updates, and Vectorworks can be 

assured of frequent and useful future 

updates to their Vectorworks software. 

This was exemplified by Vectorworks' 

Chief Product Officer Darick DeHart, 

who said "continuing our tradition of 

excellence, Vectorworks 2024 

embodies our quality initiative, 

emphasising solutions to complex 

problems. We believe in the power of 

comprehensive workflows that address 

the challenges faced by designers and 

can't wait to share more on the exciting 

improvements in quality that await our 

users in the new version." 

The English language release of 

Vectorworks 2024 is now available to 

active Vectorworks Service Select 

members and subscription customers. 

vectorworks.net/2024 


INDUSTRY focus 

Leaning into learning 

Graphisoft Learn is 

Graphisoft’s official knowhow 

and training programme 

for anyone interested in 

learning more about Archicad 

and BIM, whether they are 

designers, coordinators or a 

BIM Manager. David 

Chadwick reports 

Panteleimon Ioannidis, Director, Global 

Professional Services at Graphisoft 

How would you fare when presented 

with 20 questions to determine how 

much you know about the software 

you are currently using? Let me give you 

some examples: Which field/button would 

you use to add a new thermal block? You 

are provided with four possible answers 

numbered on the accompanying drawing. 

With more focus on the drawing than the 

design, how do you create pointers for 

dimension texts - with four possible 

solutions provided for you? The 20 

questions are drawn from a large bank, so 

running the test a second time won't raise 

the same questions. 

Graphisoft is serious about its Learn 

programme. It began running it online 

seven years ago and it has since 

developed into a comprehensive set of 

learning programmes that can be aimed at 

individual Archicad users or dedicated 

groups, like a single practice, with a 

programme researched and based on the 

client's industry niche. It also creates 

training courses ranging from basic BIM 

levels teaching architects, trainees and 

students the rudiments of BIM through to 

BIM Authoring, Coordination, and 

Management. 

I spoke to Panteleimon Ioannidis, Director, 

Global Professional Services at Graphisoft, 

who runs the 40-strong team that 

developed and helps run Graphisoft Learn, 

about the motivations and philosophy 

behind the programme. He explained that 

it was always Graphisoft's goal to offer a 

vendor-based training programme, 

initially starting with classroom-based 

courses. Still, with the growth of online 

sessions, accelerated by COVID-19, 

these have naturally expanded into 

a full range of online sessions. 

Graphisoft wanted to do 

something more though, explained 

Panteleimon. Instead of just putting 

somebody in front of a screen and 

running through a company 

PowerPoint, they wanted to make it 

more relevant to their users, offering a 

range of options to suit their requirements, 

age, experience, and need, or otherwise, 

for human interaction. A flexible programme 

was developed to cover all issues. 

FROM MICROLEARNING TO BIM 

MANAGEMENT 

It can all start with Microlearning or 

Foundation training, which are very snappy 

topics with short training curves. There is 

no restriction on the topics being covered, 

but the website or short course-based 

sessions provide either what you need to 

know about a product or a sample to 

encourage you to dig deeper. 

The next, advanced, level, provides users 

with the ability to use the tools more 

efficiently, covering most of the topics in 

greater detail. From there, students can go 

on to expert training, where the focus is 

more on strategies which is more useful for 

project architects or BIM Managers. The 

whole development process is flexible, 

allowing users to progress at their level. 

Each of these courses can be 

approached independently, but putting 

them all together gives students the ability 

to create workflows, which demystifies the 

whole process of building and managing a 

project, and where BIM workflows sit within 

your BIM Authoring tool. 

BIM AUTHOR, COORDINATOR 

AND MANAGER 

Three simple programmes that crystallise 

roles within an architectural practice. 

Graphisoft wanted the training programme 

to reflect the needs of a practice. Pantelis 

used his previous role as a BIM manager in 

one of the large practices in London as his 

blueprint. He explained that an architect's 

role could be defined in three stages - 

creating the model, coordinating the 

model, or managing a project and the 

whole office. He aimed to ensure that the 

training programme reflected people's 

needs, enabling them to relate to 

Graphisoft's architectural solutions. 

The BIM Author module, he said, focuses 

16 



on creating a 3D model and adding 

documentation, handling design options, 

visualising the model, and preparing it for 

submission to planning authorities. 

The BIM Coordinator segment focuses on 

internal and external coordination, 

preparing a model to share within the team 

and with other disciplines. It also looks at 

quality assurance issues and making sure 

that others can read your model in 

whatever software they are using. 

BIM Manager looks at a project 

strategically in the context of current 

international standards, starting from ISO 

19 650, the first international standard for 

BIM. In this segment, Pantelis explained, 

they teach the theory of ISO, how they 

are set up, and what the requirements 

are. The programme shows how these 

can be applied in practice and used 

within Archicad, moving from project 

setup to communications coordination 

with other disciplines. 

COURSES AND CERTIFICATIONS 

I asked how the courses are presented to 

individuals or whole practices. Pantelis said 

that Graphisoft offers levels to suit all users, 

from individual courses that people can use 

at their own pace to online or face-to-face 

sessions or, if requested, to a whole 

architectural practice. 

The most popular are those that are 

global, which usually are attended online by 

40 to 50 users, with a similar number of 

sessions available annually. The 

programmes are structured to allow people 

to start at different times, include 

specialised demos to cover specific 

topics, allow interaction with other 

students or with the trainers, and have an 

online forum. Pantelis said one of the 

beauties of this type of programme is that 

it brings together people from different 

countries, where they can see how the 

whole building design topic is approached 

in different geographies. 

Each of the above modules - BIM Author, 

BIM Coordinator, and BIM Manager - 

provide attendees with full certification 

upon successfully completing the courses. 

Setting up a training programme for a 

practice is different. It becomes a bespoke 

programme where, initially, a Business 

Review is conducted, establishing the 

needs, current skill levels, and resources of 

the practice, building up a programme 

based on their requirements or future 

aspirations. The consultant running the 

programme becomes more closely 

involved with the practice, providing full 

support, clinic sessions, and face-to-face 

reviews looking at the workflows involved. 

Such a programme is, of course, charged 

at a rate to suite the practice, based on the 

numbers of individuals involved in each of 

the segments involved in the course. It is 

not available globally, but in areas where 

Graphisoft offices are situated, such as the 

UK, US, Italy, Hungary and Singapore. In 

some countries this might be set up by 

local distributors. The costs cover the 

development of an implementation plan 

and its execution. 

THE GRAPHISOFT TEAM 

Pantelis currently has 40 or so people 

working on the Learn programme, 

selected from people who have worked in 

the industry either as modellers, 

coordinators or BIM managers, 

supplemented by others who have come 

through Graphisoft's pipeline, working at 

Graphisoft on the technical support side, 

learning what issues people have while 

working on Archicad and other software. 

It's a mixture of different experiences, 

Pantelis explained. 

And then there are the students. Aiming 

at the next generation of architects, 

Graphisoft has run student programmes 

or set up localised user groups within 

universities to introduce students to the 

software and offer a range of free 

solutions to encourage its uptake. 

One exciting aspect of this, Pantelis 

explained, is that broader use of 

Graphisoft's BIMcloud has introduced a 

growing number of students to Archicad 

together with Graphisoft's collaboration 

solution. ''We are finding an amazing 

number of students working on their 

University projects, designing them with 

Archicad and starting collaborating on 

them at home using BIMcloud.'' 

There is plenty of additional information 

online about Graphisoft training, including 

sample files that Archicad customers have 

downloaded, which are freely available, 

set at different levels, and which other 

Archicad users can freely explore. 

https://learn.graphisoft.com 


AWARDS 

Sponsored by: 

The Construction Industry is stirring 

itself again following a couple of years 

spent locked down. The two months 

up to November are packed with industry 

exhibitions, conferences and regional 

activities, and The Hammers this November 

are another exciting date for your diary too, 

where we will find out who the winners in the 

Construction Computing Awards are. 

Voted for by yourselves along with the 

categories that are judged by our panel, the 

list of finalists below represent the finest in 

the industry - the best and latest 

technologies, outstanding projects and 

exciting newcomers, all of whom have 

made a significant impact in the industry 

over the last year - and much more. 

Voting is now open, and you have until the 

1st November to select your favourites. All 

will once again be revealed at the 

The Hammers 2023 - The finalists 

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR 2023 

Judged by Panel 

4PS - Construction Solutions Ltd - 4PS Graphical Resource Planning (GRP) 

Bentley Systems - Bridge and Dam Monitoring Solution, powered by iTwin 

Buildots - Buildots 

BuildMyTalent - The career platform for construction professionals 

Causeway Technologies - A credible, verifiable, efficient, and scalable way to 

measure and report on Scope 3 

emissions 

Elecosoft - Asta Powerproject V17 

Esri UK - Esri ArcGIS Reality 

Fulcro - FULmax VR Hub delivers Projects better, quicker and for less 

hsbcad - IFC Importer from hsbDesign for AutoCAD 

Inoapps Limited - Inoapps MyContractor Experience 

National Green Specification Ltd - Green Retrofit Calculator Design and 

Decision Tool 

Newforma - Newforma Konekt 

Vectorworks - Vectorworks Embodied Carbon Calculator 

Zutec - Zutec: The platform to support Part L photographic evidence 

ONE TO WATCH COMPANY 2023 


AV Unibrak - The one to watch - AV Unibrak 

BuildMyTalent - The career platform for construction professionals 

hsbcad - The one to watch company - hsbcad 

IDEA STATICA UK - IDEA STATICA: Revolutionizing Structural Design of Steel 

Connections 

Inevitech - Powering a new way of working for AEC organisations with 

Inevidesk 

innDex - Building the Future: The innDex Story 

Inoapps Limited - Inoapps Construction Cloud 

Newforma - Newforma Konekt - Embracing interconnectedness and 

collaboration 

NextMinute - Construction Managment Software 

Paperless Construction - The Digital Shift: Redefining Safety Across 1000 

Paperless Projects 

DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2023 


Elecosoft with McGee - Asta Powerproject - McGee uses Asta Powerproject 

to make the 'impossible' Mayfair 

Hotel Megabuild a reality 

Glider Technology - gliderbim - 40 Leadenhall Street 

innDex - The innDex and Procore Integration - Cocoa Works 

Trimble - Tekla Structures Trimble Connect Viewpoint Field View - Connecting 

Britain's Biggest Nuclear Power 

Station 

Hammers Awards ceremony, which will be 

held in central London at the Leonardo City 

Hotel, Coopers Row on November 9th. 

The awards evening will once again offer 

the perfect opportunity to celebrate the 

industry's success stories and catch up 

with old friends and industry colleagues in 

an entertaining and convivial atmosphere. 

We hope to see you there! 

www.constructioncomputingawards.co.uk 

BIM PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2023 


DBM Vircon - Digital Engineering Services - Queens Wharf, Brisbane 


Jonathan Reeves Architects - Vectorworks Architect - The Gym and Leisure 

Annex 

The BIM Engineers - Autodesk Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD, Solibri, Addins 

for Revit - Dublin Airport Central 

Trimble with William Hare - Tekla Structures, Tekla Structural Designer, Tekla 

Model Sharing, Trimble Connect - 

Battersea Power Station 

COLLABORATION PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2023 


ALICE Technologies and SCS - ALICE Technologies - AI-Powered 

Construction Optioneering Solutions 

Cadventure - EKFB with Cadventure and Laminar 

Chetwoods - New collaborative use of technology - A Circular Lifestyle 

DBM Vircon with AECOM - Digital Engineering Services - Hong Kong 

International Airport 

Elecosoft with VolkerFitzpatrick - Asta Powerproject - VolkerFitzpatrick 

improves productivity and adds value 

by planning programmes with Powerproject 

EDF - Esri ArcGIS - Improving collaboration at Hinkley Point C 


innDex and Procore - The innDex and Procore Integration - Cocoa Works 

RIB Software and RUND - RIB CostX Cloud Solution - CostX Collaboration at 

RUND 

Trimble Viewpoint, Balfour Beatty, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust 

- Viewpoint for Projects - 

Connecting Multiple Stakeholders on a High Profile Hospital Build 

CLOUD BASED TECHNOLOGY OF THE YEAR 2023 


4PS Construction Solutions Ltd - 4PS Construct - 4PS Construct 

Access Construction - Access COINS ERP - The Access COINS 

Construction Cloud 

AssetTagz - The AssetTagz platform - Transforming the management, 

performance, safety, security and 

commercial value of active site assets in construction. 

hsbcad - hsbShare 3.0 - hsbcad's hsbShare for onsite assembly 

Newforma - Newforma Konekt - Embracing interconnectedness and 

collaboration. 

OpenSpace with Wates Group - OpenSpace Capture - Wellington Place 

Payapps - Payapps - Streamlining Construction Applications for Payment 

RIB Software - CostX Cloud - The CostX Cloud Solution 

Symetri & Norse Consulting - Cloud licensing, CQFlexMon, Autodesk's BIM 

Collaborate - The Cloud 

18 


AWARDS 

Transformation Experience at Norse Consulting 

AR/VR PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2023 


Bentley Systems - iLab - ITER Nuclear Fusion Project 

Jonathan Reeves Architects & Ground Designs - Vectorworks & Twinmotion - 

Cresta Care Village 

Fulcro - VR CAVE - The Great Ormond Street Hospital Cancer Centre 

XYZ Reality with Mace - Atom - Advancing Data Centre Construction with 

Engineering Grade AR 

SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2023 


Causeway Technologies - The Scope 3 Initiative - A credible, verifiable, 

efficient, and scalable way to measure 

and report on Scope 3 emissions 

Atkins - Esri ArcGIS - Meeting biodiversity net gain legislation 

Trimble - Membership of Responsible Steel 

Zutec - Part L Photographic Evidence - Zutec: The platform to support Part L 

photographic evidence 

TEAM OF THE YEAR 2023 


Cadventure - Cadventure Collaboration Community 

innDex - The innDex App 

Symetri & Scottish Power Energy Network - Symetri & Scottish Power Energy 

Network 

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR 2023 


Access Construction - Access COINS ERP - Access COINS Construction 

Management Software 

4PS Construction Solutions Ltd - 4PS Construct - 4PS Construct 

Elecosoft with MiCim Ltd - Asta BIM, Asta Powerproject, Asta Vision - MiCiM 

Ltd reduces project planning and 

reporting time by 20% using Asta solutions 

Inoapps Limited - Inoapps Outturn Planning - Inoapps Outturn Planning 

NextMinute - NextMinute Construction Management Software - NextMinute 

Construction Management 

Software 

THE HUMAN FACTOR IN FOCUS AWARD 2023 


Causeway Technologies - Donseed - A biometric solution for Tamdown 

Paperless Construction - Paperless Construction App - The Digital Shift: 

Redefining Safety Across 1000 Paperless Projects 

Symetri & Scottish Power Energy Network - Maximising the BIM Opportunity - 

Symetri's Unique Training 

Approach for Scottish Power Energy Networks 

BIM PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 

Autodesk - AEC Collection 

Bentley Systems - OpenBuildings Designer 

Elecosoft - Asta 4D 

Graphisoft - Archicad 


Rendra AS - StreamBIM 

Trimble - Stabicad 

Vectorworks - Vectorworks Architect 

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR 2023 

Bentley Systems - OpenBuildings Designer 

Elecosoft - Framing 


hsbcad - hsbDesign for Autodesk Revit and AutoCAD 

Trimble - SketchUp 


COLLABORATION PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 

Bentley Systems - ProjectWise 

Elecosoft - Asta Vision 

Graphisoft - BIMcloud SaaS 

Inoapps Limited - Inoapps Construction Cloud 

Payapps - Payapps 

RedSky - Project Connect 

Revizto - Revizto 

Trimble - Viewpoint for Projects 

DOCUMENT AND CONTENT PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 

Bentley Systems - BCDE 

Elecosoft - IconSystem 

Newforma - Newforma Project Center 

PlanRadar - PlanRadar 

RedSky - Project Connect 


ERP SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR 2023 

Access Construction - Access COINS ERP 

Eque2 Ltd - EVision ERP 

IFS UK&I - IFS Cloud 

Inoapps Limited - Inoapps Outturn Planning Cloud 

RedSky - RedSky ERP 

Xpedeon - Xpedeon 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR 2023 

Bentley Systems - SYNCHRO Construction 

Elecosoft - Asta Powerproject 


RIB Software - Candy 


CONSTRUCTION ACCOUNTING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 


Eque2 Ltd - Construct 

Integrity Software - Evolution Mx 

RedSky - Summit 

RIB Software - RIB BuildSmart 

ESTIMATION AND VALUATION PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 

Access Construction - Access ConQuest 

Eque2 Ltd - EValuate 

esti-mate - esti-mate 

RedSky - Summit 

RIB Software - CostX 

ASSET MANAGEMENT PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 


Bentley Systems - AssetWise 

Causeway Technologies - Causeway Alloy 

Elecosoft - ShireSystem 

Glider Technolgy - gliderbim 


Trimble - AgileAssets 

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING APPLICATION OF THE YEAR 2023 

Autodesk - AEC Collection 

Bentley Systems - STAAD.Pro 

IDEA STATICA UK - IDEA STATICA 

SCIA - SCIA Engineer 

Trimble - Tekla Structural Designer 

GEOSPATIAL PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 

1Spatial - 1Integrate 

BlueSky - MetroVista 

Esri UK - Esri ArcGIS 

Hexagon - GeoMedia 

Trimble - Trimble Catalyst 

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY OF THE YEAR 2023 

AssetTagz - The AssetTagz platform 

Graphisoft - BIMx 


Revizto - Phone App 

Symetri - Oculo 

Trimble - Viewpoint Field View 

CHANNEL PARTNER OF THE YEAR 2023 

Building Point UK & Ireland 

Cadventure Ltd 

Graitec 

Jonathan Reeves CAD 

Symetri 

CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 

Access Construction - Access COINS 

Bentley Systems - SYNCHRO Construction 

Buildots - Buildots 


Inoapps Limited - Inoapps Outturn Planning Cloud 


OpenSpace - OpenSpace Capture 

Payapps - Payapps 

Trimble - Trimble Connect 

Zutec - Part L Photographic Evidence 

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 


Bentley Systems - SYNCHRO 

Elecosoft - Asta Connect 

Esri UK - Esri ArcGIS 




Revizto - Phone App 

Trimble - Trimble X9 


XYZ Reality - Atom 

Zutec - Part L Photographic Evidence 

COMPANY OF THE YEAR 2023 

Access Construction 

Bentley Systems 

Cadventure 

Elecosoft 

Eque2 Ltd 

Esri UK 

Graphisoft 

Newforma 

Payapps 

Revizto 

Symetri 

Trimble 

Vectorworks 

EDITOR'S CHOICE OF 2023 

Chosen by the Editor of Construction Computing Magazine 

ALICE Technologies 

Autodesk 

Bentley Systems 

Buildots 

DBM Vircon 

Elecosoft 

Payapps 

PlanRadar 

Revizto 

SimScale 


CONFERENCEpreview 

The first nima Virtual Conference 

It's all about data and meeting today's urgent needs. This is what nima will be talking about at its very 

first Virtual Conference in November 

Since rebranding from the UK BIM 

Alliance in October 2022, nima's 

mission has been to help the 

construction industry embrace the 

management of data across the whole 

lifecycle of the built environment. It 

actively engages with key decisionmakers 

and practitioners across 

government and industry to drive best 

practice and data-driven decisions to 

bring about better outcomes. 

After more than a decade of BIM progress, 

government and industry discussion is no 

longer just about BIM - often seen as a 

purely technological change - but about 

wider information management challenges. 

These include building safety, climate 

change and using data to deliver better, 

more valuable outcomes across the life 

cycles of built and managed assets. 

In parallel, a side-effect of the COVID-19 

pandemic has been to encourage wider 

acceptance and use of online 

environments to maintain and improve 

communication, with corresponding 

benefits in terms of reduced travel and CO2 

emissions and more efficient and flexible 

working practices. 

GOING VIRTUAL 

Accordingly, as part of its relaunch, nima 

wanted to refresh how it engaged with 

people on information management issues. 

That's why it has launched its inaugural 

nima Virtual Conference 2023 for Thursday 

2 November. 

nima has so much to say and wanted to 

gather the AEC community in one place, 

with no constraints on how many can join, 

to share knowledge, best practice and 

future actions. It will take place in an 

environment where everyone can ask as 

many questions as they need to enable a 

better understanding of how to unlock the 

value of data. 

The conference will offer live keynote talks 

and panel discussions on topics shaping 

the industry, with nima promising exclusive 

content, with actionable take-aways. This is 

not just another conference, it is a unique 

opportunity to witness first-hand success 

stories from those winning with data. And 

content from the day will remain shareable 

for 12 months beyond the conference, 

providing an invaluable resource to industry. 

nima chair, Anne Kemp said "The nima 

Virtual Conference will bring together 

inspirational strategists and real-world 

practitioners, to help turn theory into 

practice. The value lies in how data is 

used rather than simply how much data 

is available." 

The nima Virtual Conference will be held in 

an immersive environment, where the 

audience, speakers and exhibitors interact 

through a virtual platform. There will be four 

keynote speakers and four practical 

learning sessions, all focused on unlocking 

the value of data and how to use data to 

20 


CONFERENCEpreview 

meet today's urgent information 

management needs. 

FOUR CONTENT STREAMS 

The four content streams will cover 

building safety and the 'Golden Thread', 

residential and social housing, diversity of 

thought, and technology, innovation and 

artificial intelligence (AI) - and not 

excluding ChatGPT! 

The keynote speaker for the building 

safety stream will be Dame Judith Hackitt, 

author of the Building a Safer Future 

Report which was produced as a result of 

the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Dame Judith 

will look at the Building Safety Act, 

compliance challenges for building owners 

and how best to approach delivery on the 

requirements of the Act - all in accordance 

with the appropriate use of technology. 

Leading the diversity of thought stream 

will be Dr Mark McBride Wright MBE, 

founder and managing director of 

EqualEngineers. When people with 

different backgrounds and experiences 

work together, they bring unique 

perspectives and allow a wider, more 

expansive thought process. Diversity of 

thought ensures better thinking, better 

choices and better outcomes. Mark will 

explore what this thinking really looks 

like and how to apply it to the 

construction industry. 

For the social housing stream, Charlotte 

Bates of Expert Citizens CIC, will talk about 

why we need to provide and manage 

"good" social housing, the pitfalls and 

challenges linked to mismanagement and 

how efficient use of data could help to 

overcome such challenges. Plus this 

stream will focus on how to identify the 

needs of the residents through people and 

data management. 

The final stream will concentrate on the 

critical element of technology, how 

technology is driving construction and 

what is the digital dream. The digital dream 

keynote will be delivered by Dr Jennifer 

Schooling OBE, director of the Cambridge 

Centre for Smart Infrastructure and 

Construction (CSIC), at the University of 

Cambridge and former chair of the 

Research Strategy Advisory Group and 

director of the Centre for Smart 

Infrastructure and Construction at the 

Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB). 

Following each keynote talk, there will be 

a panel discussion continuing the 

conversation and looking at how each of 

the four critical areas are supported by 

data and information management. In the 

virtual environment, there will also be six 

networking rooms, each with their own 

topic area for insight, predictions and realworld 

projects that will demonstration the 

digital progression of the built environment. 

LOOKING FORWARD 

While planning its Virtual Conference, nima 

has been reviewing how it can both 

maintain and expand ongoing 

development of best practices in datadriven 

information management. 

Engagement with individuals, communities 

and with industry-leading organisations is 

critical here. 

The conference will reflect the ongoing 

involvement in nima of hundreds of 

individual volunteers, some of them also 

active in buildingSMART UK & Ireland 

(nima is the UK and Ireland chapter of 

buildingSMART International) and in the 

continued upkeep of the free guidance 

and resources in the UK BIM Framework. 

This forward-thinking event will also give a 

platform for exhibitors and sponsors - 

many of whom are existing nima patrons, 

including over 20 technology providers - to 

showcase their progress in the digital built 

environment in support of better 

information management, particularly in 

areas such as building safety and 

sustainability. 

ABOUT NIMA 

nima is, however, also looking to expand. 

It particularly wants to attract new patrons 

and for other businesses - clients, 

contractors, consultants, manufacturers, 

facilities managers and other supply chain 

members - to join with nima in advancing 

the industry's digital capabilities and 

whole-life information best practices. 

It also aims to extend the reach of its 

network of communities, which spans 

groups in areas such as rail, healthcare 

and education estates, housing 

associations, building safety, academia 

and facilities management, to name a few. 

And it also has a growing affiliates network, 

already bringing together over 20 

professional and trade associations, to 

help coordinate consistent messaging and 

approaches to information management 

across industry. 

In short, nima's first Virtual Conference will 

mark its first year in its new guise and will 

celebrate the expansion beyond BIM to 

include information management concepts 

such as AI, robotics, Internet of Things, 

smart buildings and digital twins, and it will 

help to deliver its mission: "to inspire, 

influence, connect and support everyone 

active in the built environment and enable 

them to better manage information vital to 

the needs of our times." 

ATTENDING THE FREE NIMA VIRTUAL 

CONFERENCE 

Registration is free for the nima Virtual 

Conference and you can find out more here: 

https://wearenima.im/events-calendar/nimavirtual-conference-2023/ 

nima - formerly the UK BIM Alliance - is leading efforts to embed digital ways 

of working into how we deliver tomorrow's buildings and infrastructure. 

October 2023 will mark the first anniversary of the rebranding of the UK BIM 

Alliance to 'nima' - a volunteer-led organisation, originally founded in 2016. 

The name nima is also the Greek word for 'thread' and is not an abbreviation. 

It was selected to help give the body an identity, sense of purpose and a set 

of behaviours that are better aligned with current and anticipated future UK 

thinking about what we used to call 'digital construction'. 

The new name reflects an ongoing evolution. nima supports the purposeful 

use of information across the whole built environment, from the inception 

stages of projects, through design and construction, and then - most 

importantly - to support for efficient operation, maintenance and use of 

assets through to their end of life. 


CASE study 

Delivering power in style 

The Hydro Ness, an 

architecturally striking 

hydroelectric generation 

project, has been delivered 

using constructible BIM 

software from Tekla 

Featuring a striking canopy 

structure, the River Ness 

Hydroelectric generation project 

is both a geometrically complex build 

and also a key part of the local 

infrastructure. With a project as 

intricate as this requiring a high level of 

attention to detail, Trimble's 

constructible BIM software was a key 

part of bringing the artistic vision to life. 

Located on the banks of the River 

Ness in Scotland, the Hydro Ness - as 

its name suggests - is a hydroelectric 

generation project, designed to 

generate a clean source of energy for 

the Highland Council. The structure 

itself houses a 93 kW hydroelectric 

power twin turbine, which will generate 

an estimated 550,000 kWh every year. 

To suit the location, an architecturally 

striking steel canopy structure was 

designed to house the generators, 

with the initial design concept created 

by local artist Claire Maclean, before 

being developed further by Inverness 

architect, Les Hutt. Working on behalf 

of project developer and main 

contractor, Hydro NI - Bradley & 

Company JV, the canopy geometry 

definition, structural design, detailing, 

and fabrication model development 

was completed by Hasson 

Engineering Solutions. 

The roof canopy design was inspired 

by the shape of a diving salmon, a fish 

commonly found in the River Ness. As 

such, some form of texture was 

needed to create the illusion of 

'scales'. It was decided to achieve this 

through the use of thousands of 

circular perforations and polished 

swirls in the 386 faceted stainless steel 

cladding panels that made up the 

canopy structure. 

Speaking about the project, Michael 

Hasson, Director at Hasson 

Engineering Solutions, said: "The 

Hydro Ness project had a high 

architectural value, requiring an 

integrated approach to the structural 

22 


CASEstudy 

and architectural design. Geometrically 

complex, the roof canopy structure 

curved on different axes. For us, it was 

all about finding the balance between 

being respectful of Claire's original 

design concept and delivering a highimpact 

look, worthy of its location 

beside the banks of the beautiful River 

Ness; all while being capable of safe 

and efficient fabrication and erection - 

quite the challenge!" 

When it came to detailing each of the 

unique faceted cladding panels and 

the thousands of perforations that were 

required to achieve the design brief, it 

became clear that this would have 

been an extremely time-consuming 

process, if done manually. 

Michael explained further: "As a 

result, we decided that it would be a 

more efficient use of our time and 

resources to create custom 

components within the Tekla Structures 

software, specifically written to 

automate the definition and execution 

of countless perforations in the 

cladding panels. This was a process of 

using a defined algorithm to consider, 

analyse and interrogate each facet and 

proportions with a rule set; allowing for 

parametric definition of the 

perforations and full control of their 

size, number, and distribution within 

every panel. 

"This unsurprisingly saved us a huge 

amount of time. The Tekla Structures 

software really is limitless in terms of 

its geometric capabilities - while it's 

great for routine detailing jobs, the 

software is very powerful indeed when 

you need to go up a few gears." 

BIM software was also fundamental to 

the success of the detailing and 

fabrication of the steel frame and 

stainless steel cladding panels, with 

four major openings and the roof 

canopy's curved form all having to be 

rationalised in Tekla Structures. The 

complex geometry was achieved by 

modelling the curved 'ribs' on a curved 

grid pattern, with each unique prismshaped 

cladding panel then fixing to 

the primary roof structure. The ability to 

define blended circular and elliptical 

forms was absolutely essential, thanks 

to the geometric capabilities of the 3D 

modelling software. 

Given the complexity of the Hydro 

Ness project, it was important that 

there was a high level of 

communication maintained between all 

parties involved at all times. 

Michael explained: "Trimble Connect is 

a software tool that's going from 

strength-to-strength and is ideal for 

facilitating effective coordination and 

collaboration. No matter where 

everyone was, it was as if we were all in 

the same room together. More 

specifically, as an engineer and detailer, 

the transparency enabled by the 

software is especially powerful. It made 

it possible for me to easily and visually 

present all my reasoning and the 

decision-making process behind each 

choice, as well as showing a great level 

of detail - right down to the individual 

fixings and fabrication details. 

"At the end of the day, someone has 

to fabricate the structure that we've 

designed and engineered, and so 

communicating and providing a clear 

design intent is critical. As engineers, 

we have to take and deliver true 

responsibility in giving fabricators a 

finished product. Tekla Structures 

enables you to create and deliver a 

fabrication-ready model; a model that 

the fabricator can then work off of with 

minimal further input or tweaking." 

Michael concluded: "When it comes 

to architecturally and geometrically 

complex projects, such as the Hydro 

Ness, BIM is essential. You are able to 

clearly express your design intent in a 

visual and highly detailed manner, as 

well as demonstrate the buildability of 

the structure. Not having to wrestle 

with 2D drawings to achieve such a 

complex 3D form, and making use of 

parametric capabilities and custom 

components, frees up more of your 

time and thinking for other things; 

being able to focus more on how to 

make the structure as easy as possible 

to fabricate and as safe as possible to 

erect on site." 

The Hydro Ness is now completed 

and is generating clean energy for the 

Highland Council, as well as providing 

a striking architectural landmark for 

the region. The project has won 

numerous awards, including Small 

Project in the UK Tekla Awards, Small 

Project of the Year in the British 

Construction Industry Awards (BCIA 

2022), Scottish Highlands & Islands 

Renewable Energy Award for Best 

Onshore Renewable Energy Project 

2022 and was also commended with a 

Merit at the Structural Steel Design 

Awards 2022 

www.tekla.com/uk 


CASEstudy 

Recognised on site 

Sarah Darville-Downs, Finance Director at Tamdown, discusses how Tamdown reduced admin by 

adopting biometric technology 

An innovative facial recognition 

tool has helped infrastructure and 

groundworks provider Tamdown 

to significantly reduce administration 

time on its sites. The business has been 

using Causeway Donseed - a cloudbased 

biometric labour management 

solution from Causeway Technologies - 

since spring 2021. It was one of the first 

customers to benefit from the facial 

recognition functionality within the 

platform and now holds over 800 

active records across direct 

labour, agency labour and 

subcontractors. 

KEEPING TRACK 

Tamdown works on 

around 40 sites in the 

UK at any one time, 

and as a result of 

using a mix of staff 

and subcontractors, 

they were finding it 

challenging to keep 

track. 

"We use lots of 

agency staff, and 

we had some 

concerns that we 

might miss 

something," Sarah 

said. "For example, 

what if someone had 

been red carded on 

one site and then 

turned up to start 

working on 

another?" 

Sarah and her 

team wanted to 

update their 

processes. She 

said: "We 

decided we needed to find a more 

accurate way of recording workers and 

their hours. "We were relying on a mix 

of paper-based reports and timesheets, 

spreadsheets, and manual checks, 

which wasn't robust enough. We 

realised that something needed to 

change so that we could better 

manage our site teams." 

FINDING THE RIGHT SOLUTION 

Tamdown started by auditing the 

available labour management tools on 

the market and asking their supply 

chain for advice. One of their main 

criteria was to find a supplier that 

would work closely with them. Sarah 

said: "It was important to choose a 

provider with a good track record of 

helping companies introduce new 

software. We shortlisted Causeway 

Technologies because we already used 

their estimating tool and our experience 

had been positive When you are buying 

new technology, you don't want your 

company to be a guinea pig. You want 

to know that it has been used 

elsewhere successfully - you need a 

stable product that is supported by a 

good aftersales process." 

Causeway's Donseed software 

solution helps contractors gather data 

about who has visited a site, how long 

they have worked for, and what their 

credentials are. It can be used via a 

shared tablet or via an app installed on 

personal devices. As a biometric 

solution, it offers more security than 

other methods because it is linked to a 

user's unique profile. 

Causeway helped to develop the 

business case with Sarah and offered 

Tamdown a one-month trial - something 

that she said made a big difference. 

24 


CASEstudy 

She added: "The trial was an 

opportunity to stress test both the app 

and the hardware. Allowing people to 

feel the kit and see it in use was an 

important part of convincing the site 

managers and senior team to embrace 

the change." 

AN AUTOMATED EXPERIENCE 

One of the main benefits of the 

software has been the automatic alerts 

and dashboard reporting. "Because 

information is in real-time, we have a 

much better view of what is happening 

on site and can remain agile," 

explained Sarah. 

"For example, we can now identify 

quickly whether we're overspending on 

site, and if a site slows down we can 

easily assess what labour we've got 

and how we can move things around 

to speed things back up again. 

"We can access the right information 

in a timely manner and inform the 

construction and commercial teams 

what their labour costs are for each 

day. This enables them to really drill 

down into the detail and review their 

workforce costs and numbers. We also 

get new starter alerts the moment they 

are added to the system. It means that 

payroll can set them up straight away 

without having to wait for paperwork - 

speeding things up significantly. 

"We have removed a large manual 

element of our processes, freeing up 

time and reducing the potential for 

data input errors. It has significantly 

sped up the payroll process and 

alleviated pressure on those 

responsible for it, saving a day's worth 

of time having to input the information 

manually. There are inevitably always 

some tweaks that have to be made 

manually, say if someone forgets to sign 

out, for example, but the information is 

gathered and updated automatically. 

"That gives our team at head office 

capacity for more strategic tasks. And 

on site, our managers can spend more 

time managing projects, building 

relationships with their teams, and 

ensuring that quality standards are met." 

An additional benefit of Causeway 

Donseed is that it can also be used to 

manage training and accreditation. As 

Sarah explained: "Our training records 

had information stored across multiple 

spreadsheets. We had to manually 

check our records to see which 

courses and accreditations were 

expiring, but this is now automated, 

making it easier to book courses as 

and when required. 

"You can upload the relevant 

documents and certificates to people's 

profiles too, keeping everything in one 

place. This helps with workforce 

planning and is one less thing for site 

managers to worry about, as the 

software does it for them." 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 

OTHER FIRMS 

When asked what recommendations 

she would give to other companies like 

Tamdown when trying to digitise their 

processes, Sarah said she would 

encourage them to take advantage of 

all the expertise available to them from 

their chosen provider. 

"The training and ongoing support 

we've had from Causeway have been 

invaluable to us as we've adapted to a 

new way of working," she said. "Being 

such an early adopter of this 

technology meant there were inevitably 

some minor hiccups we had to iron out 

in the initial stages, but the Causeway 

team was always on hand to help us 

navigate these." 

ACHIEVING COMPANY BUY-IN 

In terms of securing buy-in from all 

levels of the organisation, Sarah said it 

hasn't always been a smooth journey, 

particularly in terms of cultures and 

dealing with lots of different site 

managers with different opinions. 

But now, her colleagues can see that 

her and her team want to work 

alongside them, not against them. She 

said: "We've had some great feedback, 

particularly from people that joined 

Tamdown from a more traditional 

construction company. They have 

given praise in terms of how we're 

pushing to move towards that real-time 

reporting and that reduction in 

administration - allowing our site 

managers to do what they do best and 

not be in an office dealing with 

paperwork all the time. 

"It can be hard to implement new 

systems, as people can 

understandably have doubts; change 

can be scary, but I think the key thing 

is to be confident in pushing through 

that cultural barrier." 

www.causeway.com 


EXHIBITION preview 

Smart Buildings Show 2023 

The UK's leading smart buildings event will showcase smarter buildings for a sustainable future 

Taking place at ExCeL London on 

18th - 19th October, the Smart 

Buildings Show 2023 will connect 

visitors to the latest information and 

technology in the smart buildings industry. 

WHY VISIT? 

As the UK races to meet its net zero 

targets numerous industries are under 

the spotlight to ensure they are doing 

what is required to create a greener 

future for our planet. It is no secret that 

the building and construction sector 

accounts for a high proportion of 

carbon dioxide emissions, meaning 

plans for any new building project are 

scrutinised heavily to assess its 

environmental impact and its 

sustainability. It is here that smart 

technology and smart buildings have a 

crucial role to play. 

This is the ideal event for you to get 

the information that you need to make 

your buildings more economic and 

functional. Taking part will be 

companies and forward thinkers 

demonstrating the latest technologies 

and you will be able to share their 

experience, and that of other 

organisations. You will get to see what's 

new in the industry and bring yourself 

up to date with the latest innovations 

and ideas. You will also get the 

opportunity to learn from case studies 

from companies with similar situations 

and concerns to yours. 

You should also be able to catch up 

with your current suppliers and to meet 

new ones, or to find new partners and 

business opportunities, and to network 

with your peers from other 

organisations. And it's also a way of 

saving money by visiting the exhibition 

of leading vendors and having the 

opportunity to evaluate their solutions. 

SUSTAINABILITY 

Of all the key issues facing the industry, 

Sustainability always appears at the top 

of the agenda. Many companies are 

simply paying lip service to the 

concept, however, perhaps because of 

the perceived cost, the difficulties 

associated with its implementation, or a 

misconception of its definition and role. 

So, what exactly is sustainability? 

The accepted definition is that 

sustainability consists of fulfilling the 

needs of current generations without 

compromising those of future ones, 

while ensuring a balance between 

economic growth, environmental care 

and social wellbeing. Put more simply, 

we need to safeguard the environment 

for the future without unduly 

jeopardising current needs. 

Adopting more sustainable practices 

within the industry is becoming more 

urgent, but at a recent Smart Buildings 

Magazine panel debate it was clear 

that whilst sustainability is a goal from 

whichever perspective you are looking 

at it, the means of getting there are not 

clear at all. 

The organisers of the Smart Buildings 

Show 2023 believe that buildings can 

deliver services that make occupants 

productive at the lowest cost and 

environmental impact over a building's 

lifecycle. To do this requires adding 

intelligence from the design phase 

through to the end of the building's 

useful life. Smart buildings use 

information technology during their 

operation to connect subsystems, 

which typically operate independently, 

so that these systems can share 

information to optimise total building 

performance. 

Being able to proactively monitor and 

regulate the performance of a building 

and its facilities during seasonal 

weather conditions, fluctuating 

occupancy and other factors enables 

owners to save on energy costs and 

reduce CO2 emissions whist improving 

26 


EXHIBITION preview 

the comfort and experience of its 

occupants. 

Event Director Ian Garmeson said: 

"The biggest names leading the way in 

smart technology will be joining us at 

this year's Smart Buildings Show and it 

promises to be another exciting and 

highly informative event. Whether it's 

knowledge of a new piece of 

technology or some useful advice from 

industry experts, you'll find it at Smart 

Buildings Show 2023." 

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME 

Give yourself plenty of time to attend 

the event as it will be hosting a busy 

conference programme, providing a 

vast range of thought-provoking 

thought-leadership sessions, industry 

updates and panel discussions, across 

four theatres, covering Management, a 

Controls & Networks Theatre, an 

Energy Management Theatre, and a 

Residential Developers Theatre. 

MANAGEMENT 

This theatre will look at how a smart 

building is managed, and will include 

facilities management, software, 

security, sector analysis and market 

information, integration of data and its 

analysis and other services. 

CONTROLS & NETWORKS 

THEATRE 

A treat for technology enthusiasts, as 

this theatre will look at the wide range 

of physical devices being deployed in 

smart buildings including building 

controls, energy efficiency monitors, 

BEMS, sensors, wireless devices, 

networking and last, but not least, 

lighting - although we've come a long 

way from 'will the last one to leave 

please switch off the light'! 

ENERGY MANAGEMENT THEATRE 

The Energy Management Theatre looks 

at the importance of the data collected 

by smart devices and shows how it can 

be used to reduce costs, emissions or 

as a planning tool to map out a 

sustainable future, working towards a 

net zero world. 

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPERS 

THEATRE 

From installers of multi-technology 

solutions on large new build projects to 

local installers of dedicated smart 

devices, the Residential Developers 

Theatre is the one to attend, as it will 

bring together integrators, resellers and 

manufacturers. They will be able to 

answer all the key questions and show 

the benefits of being a player in this 

fast-growing sector. 

EXPERT SPEAKERS 

Among the representatives from 

leading manufacturers and 

organisations involved in developing 

smart buildings who will be hosting 

sessions covering all aspects of smart 

building technologies are: Mitie, the 

UK's leading Facilitiies Management 

Company; Tridium Inc, a leading 

developer of Open Automation 

Systems; Lutron and Helvar for lighting 

and intelligent lighting controls; 

Schneider Electric and Siemens for 

Electronic Components and Intelligent 

Device manufacturing, and Beckhoff, 

experts in Automation Technology. 

Accompanying them will be KNX, 

developers of the open standard EN 

50090, ISO/IEC 14543 for commercial 

and residential building automation and 

CEDIA, the Global Association for 

Smart Home Technology. 

The Smart Building Show 2023 show 

is FREE to attend and registration is 

now open at the event website, below. 

https://smartbuildingsshow.com 

MORE INFO 

Smart Buildings Show will cover all 

key aspects of creating and 

managing an intelligent building, 

including; 

Building automation systems 

Health & safety 

Energy efficiency 

Lighting and controls 

Security 

HVAC 

Smart meters and monitoring 

Networks and wireless 

Software 

Services and support 

Building automation and design 

BEMs 

Regulations and consultancy 

Workplace and wellbeing 


INDUSTRYfocus 

Water management 

Sandra DiMatteo, marketing director for water infrastructure at 

Bentley Systems, outlines five ways that water utilities can mitigate 

the consequences of climate change on a city's water infrastructure 

After decades of warning signs that 

climate change is happening, most 

people are now admitting it's real, 

and it is not pretty. Droughts are getting 

dryer, and floods wetter and more 

frequent. Water resources organisations 

are struggling to manage ongoing crises 

and prepare for future events. While you 

cannot do much to significantly alter 

climate change, you can help your city to 

prepare to deal with the consequences 

and be more resilient. 

Infrastructure remains one of the least 

technologically advanced sectors in the 

entire economy but has the potential to 

help achieve sustainability and resilience 

goals against climate change, as well as 

improve the efficiency, safety, and quality 

of water infrastructure projects. Using new 

technologies, leading utilities are 

advancing the infrastructure on which 

society depends. Here are five things that 

water utilities can do now to mitigate the 

consequences of climate change on your 

city's water infrastructure: 

1. Develop a contingency plan for 

droughts. Seasonal droughts are 

worsening each year. Amid demands to 

optimise water resources, you strive to 

maintain quality service and clean water 

supply to your community. A strategic 

hydraulic modelling project is required to 

understand how the supply system works 

and how to proactively address 

distribution network issues. 

Develop a water contingency plan to 

reduce water production on the fragile 

resource during dry periods. With 

advanced simulations you can create a 

digital twin of your water distribution and 

supply system - a digital representation 

that accurately reflects the physical 

network in operation. 

Bentley's open modelling application can 

provide a crucial feedback loop between 

operations and engineering teams, 

allowing both teams to decide on optimal 

solutions, providing a quick response with 

minimal impact to customers and 

ensuring a sustainable water supply. 

Joinville, Brazil is a city that experiences 

seasonal droughts, but recently years has 

experienced some of the worst droughts 

in 30 years. Access to water is critical for 

the community. A hydraulic model and a 

digital twin helped Companhia Águas de 

Joinville evaluate how well, or not, the 

system was working. 

2. Reduce nonrevenue water losses 

Water scarcity could affect more than half 

of the world's population by 2025. With a 

few simple steps, organisations gain 

better visibility of water distribution network 

assets, reduce waste, and save millions of 

gallons of water annually. 

Leveraging a digital twin of the network 

helps you find and fix leaks faster and 

extend the operating life of infrastructure. It 

also saves maintenance resources using 

remote monitoring capabilities with fewer 

site visits and reduced fuel and labour 

costs. Water digital twins bring together 

SCADA, GIS, hydraulic modelling, and 

28 


INDUSTRYfocus 

customer information into a connected 

data environment to deliver cost-effective 

operations and maintenance strategies in 

real time, allowing engineering and 

operations to collaborate more effectively. 

With a cloud-based digital twin, real-time 

simulations of network events - pipe 

breaks, pump shutdowns, valve 

operations, water flows, etc. - clarify their 

impact on service levels. Supplemented 

by the system's sensor data, boundary 

conditions, billing, and hydraulic modelling 

information, a digital twin continuously 

monitors all infrastructure assets. In 

addition, utilities can gain visibility into 

present, historic, and forecasted analyses 

of assets to uncover leaks in the network 

before they turn into a problem. 

In Washington DC a digital twin helped to 

reduce operational and capital 

expenditures and reduce nonrevenue 

water loss. With the sheer size of DC 

Water's network, the dynamic nature of 

operational unknowns or physical 

unknowns can have a cascading effect on 

the delivery of reliable drinking water in a 

safe and resilient fashion. 

3. Conduct flood risk assessments to 

mitigate effects from climate events on 

urban drainage systems. 

When flooding poses risks to residents, 

property and infrastructure, hydraulic 

simulations can increase the resilience of 

urban drainage systems. Powerful tools 

for flood modelling and hydraulic analysis 

of overflowing stormwater systems help 

you prepare for new challenges in water 

retention. Comprehensive visualisations 

facilitate more informed decisions, 

assuring service levels and improving a 

stormwater collection network. 

Automated condition assessments use 

machine learning to improve and tag 

defect detection and accelerate 

inspection work. Integration with digital 

twins makes this a systematic process 

that provides a federated source of 

actionable insights, including sewer 

condition assessment results. It puts 

valuable analytics at the fingertips of 

operations and maintenance to help them 

proactively mitigate the impact on flows 

based on forecasted weather patterns. 

In problem areas where flows are not 

effectively contained, digital tools help 

engineers determine the extent of 

overflows and root causes of the 

problem. Paired with design algorithms 

that engineers have trusted for decades 

digital twins can help prioritise and fix 

systems faced by increasing extreme 

weather events. 

In 2020, significant flooding along the 

Yangtze River killed 141 people and 

displaced 38 million more. For the city of 

Jiujiang, the disaster was the latest in a 

string of overflow and waterlogging 

incidents caused by accelerated 

urbanisation. To prepare for future flooding 

events and minimise disruption to city life, 

China Three Gorges Corporation directed 

Shanghai Investigation, Design & 

Research Institute (SIDRI) to create a 

hydraulic analysis system to simulate a 

variety of water conditions in the city. 

This would need to display detailed data, 

plan flood control tasks, and pinpoint 

emergency events, with frequently 

updated hydraulic data, shortening the 

time to dispatch emergency services. 

Predicting potential waterlogging helps 

officials to identify and address critical 

drainage problems in advance, which 

overlain with real-time data allows the city 

to respond rapidly to flooding. 

4. Prepare for rapid response with dam 

safety monitoring. 

Dam failures can be catastrophic (as we 

have witnessed in Libya). Dam owners 

and inspectors must implement tools that 

reduce such risks to people and the 

environment. Unplanned rainfall wreaks 

havoc with water resources, leaving 

residents vulnerable to water supply 

disruption or worse. 

Dam safety programs supported by 

state-of-the-art monitoring systems are 

imperative to reduce risk imposed by 

storms. A self-sustaining dam safety 

monitoring system uses a network of 

sensors to monitor conditions including 

rainfall, pore pressure, deformation, 

reservoir lake level, supported by other 

metrics, such as groundwater, flow, 

seepage, and slope stability during and 

after construction, or even rainfall and 

weather monitoring, to provide automated 

site-specific insight into the performance of 

the dam and the water distribution system. 

In the case of Hurricane Ida, such data in 

the affected area was used to establish 

alerts on rapidly deteriorating conditions 

that nearly reached overtopping that 

triggered notifications autonomously sent 

to key engineers and authorities. A dam 

safety engineer on duty at the time alerted 

affected counties to conduct evacuations 

when multiple dam sites lost power. 

5. Reduce carbon footprint and aim for 

net zero. 

One way to become carbon neutral by 

2030 is to reduce energy consumption 

and carbon emissions. Energy use at a 

water or wastewater utility can be as much 

as 50% of the organisation's total 

electricity consumption, and second only 

to labour costs. 

Water utilities, surprisingly, are major 

users of electricity. It's a controllable 

operational expenditure. and a perfect 

target for minimising your environmental 

impact. Digitising the water supply 

network and implementing smart, energyefficient 

pumping operations can help to 

achieve sustainability without impacting 

service quality for customers. Hydraulic 

models can be used to promote better 

efficiencies in pumping systems, lower 

fuel needs and reduce electricity usage. 

You can automate on/off pump switches 

using a digital model, calibrated and 

simulated to accurately represent the 

water supply operations in real time. 

Evides supplies the Netherlands' city of 

Rotterdam with clean and safe drinking 

water. They coupled the hydraulic model 

with an optimisation algorithm which, 

using dynamic control scripting to test 

and evaluate energy costs, activates the 

on/off switch points of the pumping 

stations for 110 million cubic meters of 

pumped water. This saved 33% in energy 

costs and reduced their carbon dioxide 

footprint by 942 tons. 

ADVANCING UTILITIES 

Leading utilities are advancing their 

digitisation to achieve sustainability and 

resilience goals against climate change 

and improve the efficiency, safety, and 

quality of water supplies. Through new 

methods and new technologies, you can 

mitigate the consequences of climate 

change on your city's water infrastructure. 

www.bentley.com 



Constructability 

DBM Vircon uses its design engineering experts and the latest technology to transform standard 

structural designer's production models into fully connected LOD 400 models. David Chadwick reports 

The most common refrain in the 

construction industry, whether you 

are involved in a major 

infrastructure project or a small-scale 

housing development, is to get your 

planning done early and to involve all 

stakeholders in the process. A simple 

statement of the obvious, but the ability 

to explore all aspects of a project and 

identify potential issues early on and then 

take steps to mitigate or eliminate their 

effect pays massive dividends in the long 

run, and improves the ability to keep 

projects on schedule and within budget. 

Whilst it may be a basic truism in 

planning, for many reasons contractors 

often pay lip service to the principle and 

go for the most cost-effective or 

cheapest options - and generally suffer 

the consequences. In fact, as DBM 

Vircon suggest, early connected models 

can result in more accurate and detailed 

designs for bidding, can tighten and 

reduce bids by up to 5% to 10%, and can 

reduce costs of steel by up to 10% due to 

accurate procurement and reduced 

waste. The cost savings may even 

continue after contracts are awarded, as 

projects move forward and RFIs and 

other expensive interruptions to the 

schedule are eliminated. 

I spoke to Andrew Bellerby of DBM 

Vircon about the importance of effective 

pre-planning on both major infrastructure 

projects and commercial developments, 

the problems that arise from inadequate 

planning, and how his company's 

expertise has been used to eradicate 

them. A global construction company 

headquartered in Australia, DBM Vircon 

provides professional expertise and 

guidance on using the latest 

technological advances in digital 

engineering to assist clients and 

contractors through all stages of a 

project, from concept design to 

completion and operation. The company 

supplements its technical expertise with 

visualisations, virtual and augmented 

reality tools, and asset model 

maintenance to facilitate a client's 

involvement in the process, clarify 

complex details and to enhance the 

creative aspects. 

Pre-construction planning is just one 

element among several digital 

engineering modules which the company 

offers. It addresses the common problem 

that Design-Bid-Build projects come up 

against, based, as they are, on 'value 

engineering', which is described as 'a 

systematic, organised approach to 

providing necessary functions in a 

project at the lowest cost, promoting the 

substitution of materials and methods 

with less expensive alternatives, without 

sacrificing functionality'. 

With tight budgets and cash shortages, 

the rising cost of materials and shortage 

of experienced labour, the natural 

inclination of companies is to pare costs 

and resource requirements to a 

minimum. The obvious corollary to that 

is that essential elements of the project 

are overlooked. 

WILL IT WORK? 

The most obvious of these, Andrew 

suggested, is 'constructability'. Is the 

structure capable of being fabricated and 

erected as the architect and the structural 

designer envisage? Pre-construction 

planning allows stakeholders to focus on 

design development, using DBM Vircon's 

integrated design-detailing to ensure that 

the proposed structure, or steelworks, 

can be easily fabricated and erected with 

as little wasted material as possible. 

The pre-planning process enables 

project managers to pinpoint the small 

details that are frequently overlooked 

during standard planning meetings, such 

as the clearances required to install 

30 


INDUSTRYfocus 

equipment, handle tools and set up 

welding operations, and even the need 

for temporary structures to facilitate 

construction or the use of hired 

equipment. If not addressed early, any of 

these may prove to be costly, or 

impossible, to rectify during actual 

construction. 

Assessing the constructability of 

steelwork during the design process is 

not always possible, though, either 

through time constraints or lack of 

technical knowledge on the behalf of the 

structural detailer. It is for this reason 

that DBM Vircon has been brought in on 

many large and complex projects to 

provide construction insights that 

contractors and designers are 

themselves unable to provide. Their 

Design Assist service is designed to give 

all project stakeholders a clear and 

unified understanding of the design 

intent, and to modify early-stage designs 

to achieve optimal results. 

The Level of Detail (LOD) required for 

this is beyond the LOD 3 (or LOD 200 

using US AIA definition) typically 

provided by the structural designer's 

engineering models, providing positions, 

sizes, orientations etc of steelwork which 

may be developed to around 80% 

completeness. Collaboration with DBM 

Vircon allows their experienced 

engineering team to progress the design 

further, aiming for a full LOD 5 (or LOD 

400) connected model which includes 

additional information to fulfil the tasks 

outlined above, but also to incorporate 

ancillary data and further functions like 

building schedules and costs for 4D and 

5D simulations, lock in and keep track of 

material prices and suppliers, and 

expedite procurement. 

DIGITAL ENGINEERING 

With a comprehensive amount of 

information available, DBM Vircon can 

leverage the data to provide a full digital 

engineering solution - a Design-Build- 

Manage lifecycle which takes the initial 

concept design through to facilities 

management. The whole process is 

supported using digital project 

management including 4D and 5D 

simulations, digital twins which serve to 

provide Serviced Asset Information 

Management (SAIM), 3D Visualisations 

and Virtual and Augmented Reality. They 

can even set up animations to build 

complex models using CG from the 

ground up, and gamification tools and 

visuals to explore designs in a gaming 

environment, either for training or 

education purposes. 

Digital Project Management is a 

practical solution based on DBM 

Vircon's agnostic software and 

centralised data-mapping. It allows the 

entire project team to collaborate, 

breaking down data silos and enhancing 

decision making. The 3D modelling and 

structural design applications that the 

company focuses on are familiar to all, 

and include Tekla, Prosteel, Revit, Plant 

3D and Navisworks. 

The company's expertise, developed as 

creators and curators of foundational 

datasets and years of experience gained 

through supporting clients on multibillion-dollar 

projects from specification 

and procurement, forms the basis of its 

Digital Engineering Advisory. This has 

helped the company deliver projects for 

clients and transform their AEC or asset 

information management processes. 

It has also enabled the DBM Vircon 

Digital Engineering team to integrate 

design data and associated information 

from multiple systems and context data 

from virtual and augmented reality 

solutions to create digital twin platforms. 

DBM VIRCON 

DBM Vircon is a truly global enterprise, 

with offices in Australia, the United 

States, Canada, India, the Philippines 

and Oxford in the UK, where Andrew 

Bellerby is based. As a global company, 

most of the projects that the company is 

involved use the company's experts 

wherever they are based and whenever 

they are required, allowing for a 24 hour 

working output. 

Although Steelworks have been used 

as a principal example here, the 

company has a wealth of experience in 

reinforced concrete, bridges and 

industrial design, the energy market, 

transportation, healthcare and cultural, 

commercial and residential projects. 

www.dbmvircon.com 


YOUR GUIDE TO 

5 

7 

3 

1 

2 

21 

22 

23 

24 20 25 26 

27 

29 

SCOTLAND 

FIFE 1 

GlenCo Development 

Solutions 

Contact: Jack Meldrum 

Tel: 01592 223330 

Fax: 01592 223301 

jackm@glenco.org 

www.glenco.org 

ACMK 

ABERDEENSHIRE* 2 

Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 

info@symetri.co.uk 

www.symetri.co.uk 

ABCDEGHIJKLMNOPQSTX 

Larbert 3 

30 28 

19 

15 11/16 

6 

13 

17 

9/10 

18 

12/14 

*Location guide 

not 100% accurate 

TMS CADCentre 

7 Central Park Avenue 

Central Park 

Larbert 

FK5 4RX 

Tel: 01324 550 760 

info@tms-scotland.com 

www.tms-scotland.com/autodesk 

ACELHNO 

IRELAND 

DUBLIN 5 

Paradigm Technology Ltd 

Contact: Des McGrane 

Tel: +353-1-2960155 

Fax: +353-1-2960080 

dmcgrane@paradigm.ie 

www.paradign.it 

ACMGKL 

SOUTHWEST 

NEWBURY 6 

RWTC Ltd 

Contact: Richard Willis 

Tel: 01488 689005 

Fax: 01635 32718 

richard@rwtc.co.uk 

www.rwtc.co.uk 

A M 

N.I 

BELFAST 7 

Pentagon Solutions Ltd 

Contact: Tony Dalton - Training 

Services Manager 

Tel: +44 (0) 2890 455 355 

Fax: +44 (0) 2890 456 355 

tony@pentagonsolutions.com 

www.pentagonsolutions.com 

ACDEGKL 

TRAINING COURSES OFFERED KEY: 

AUTOCAD AND LT: 

AUTOCAD P&ID TRAINING: 

AEC/BUILDING SOLUTIONS: 

3D MODELLING $ ANIMATION 

AUTOCAD ARCHITECTURE: 

FM DESKTOP: 

GIS/MAPPING: 

REVIT: 

VAULT FUNDAMENTALS 

AUTODESK VAULT FOR INVENTOR USERS 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I 

J 

VISUALISATION: 

AUTIDESK CIVIL: 

INVENTOR SERIES/MECHANICAL: 

NAVISWORKS TRAINING: 

PRODUCT UPDATE COURSES: 

INVENTOR PUBLISHER: 

GOOGLE SKETCHUP: 

CHARACTER ANIMATION: 

AUTODESK SIMULATION: 

FACTORY DESIGN SUITE: 

AUTOCAD ELECTRICAL: 

K 

L 

M 

N 

O 

P 

Q 

R 

S 

T 

X 

For further information about authorised CAD training or to advertise on these pages please contact: 

Josh Boulton on 01689 616 000 or email: josh.boulton@btc.co.uk

SOUTH/EAST 

HERTFORDSHIRE 9 

Computer Aided 

Business Systems Ltd 

Contact: Gillian Haynes 

Tel: 01707 258 338 

Fax: 01707 258 339 

training@cabs-cad.com 

A C D E K H 

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 10 

Causeway 

Technologies Ltd 

Contact: Sue Farnfield 

Tel: +44 (0)1628 552134 

Sue.Farnfield@causeway.com 

www.causeway.com 

A C D E K 

BERKSHIRE 11 

Cadpoint 

Contact: Clare Keston 

Tel: 01344 751300 

Fax: 01344 779700 

sales@cadpoint.co.uk 

www.cadpoint.co.uk 

A C D E K 

ENFIELD* 12 

TRAINING 

BERKSHIRE 16 

Mass Systems Ltd 

Contact: Luke Bolt 

Tel: 01344 304 000 

Fax: 01344 304 010 

info@mass-plc.com 

www.mass-plc.com 

A E F 

HAMPSHIRE 17 

Universal CAD Ltd 

Contact: Nick Lambden 

Tel: [44] 01256 352700 

Fax: [44] 01256 352927 

sales@universalcad.co.uk 

www.universalcad.co.uk 

A C M E K H 

MILTON KEYNES 18 

Graitec - Milton Keynes 

Contact: David Huke 

Tel: 01908 410026 

david.huke@graitec.co.uk 

www.graitec.co.uk 


CAMBRIDGE 19 

THE NORTH 

MANCHESTER* 20 

Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 




NEWCASTLE* 21 

Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 




YORKSHIRE 22 

Graitec Bradford 

Contact: Isobel Gillon 

Tel: 01274 532919 

training@graitec.co.uk 



NORTH EAST 23 

Graitec - Durham 


Tel: 0191 374 2020 




LANCASHIRE 24 

QUADRA SOLUTIONS 

Contact: Simon Dobson 

Tel: 01254 301 888 

Fax: 01254 301 323 

training@quadrasol.co.uk 

www.quadrasol.co.uk 

A C M K 

YORKSHIRE* 25 

Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 




SOUTH YORKSHIRE 26 

THE JUICE GROUP LTD 

Contact: Sarah Thorpe 

Tel: 0800 018 1501 

Fax: 0114 275 5888 

training@thejuice.co.uk 

www.thejuicetraining.com 

A C D E K R 

Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 




Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 




SOUTHHAMPTON 13 

Riverside House, Brunel Road 

Southampton, Hants. SO40 3WX 


Tel: 02380 868 947 




CONTRAL LONDON* 14 

Symetri Ltd. 

Tel: 0345 370 1500 




OXFORDSHIRE 15 

MIDLANDS 

NOTTINGHAM 27 

MicroCAD - Nottingham 


Tel: 0115 969 1114 




NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 28 

AIT Spatial Ltd 

Contact: Philip Madeley 

Tel: 01933 303034 

Fax: 01933 303001 

training@aitspatial.co.uk 

www.aitspatial.co.uk 

A C D E F G K L 

BIRMINGHAM 29 

CHESHIRE 30 

Excelat CAD Ltd 

Contact: Vaughn Markey 

Tel: 0161 926 3609 

Fax: 0870 051 1537 

Vaughn.markey@ExcelatCAD.com 

www.ExcelatCAD.com 

B N 

Man and Machine 

Contact: Robert Kenny 

Tel: 01844 263700 

Fax: 01844 216761 

training@manandmachine.co.uk 

www.manandmachine.co.uk 

A D I J M N O P Q X 

Armada Autodesk 

Training Centre 

Contact: Steven Smith 

Tel: 01527 834783 

Fax: 01527 834785 

training@armadaonline.co.uk 

www.armadaonline.co.uk 

A D E M K H

CASEstudy 

The sands of time 

Bluesky 3D imagery brings global warming sea level rises to life 

There is nowhere in the UK with a 

more dramatic coastline than 

Morecambe Bay with its vast 

stretches of pristine sands, as treacherous 

as they are beautiful. The tides sweep in 

rapidly, cutting off cockle gatherers and 

anyone else daring enough to hike out to 

its windswept margins. It’s an apt place 

then to measure our changing climate 

patterns, and to then use that data to 

illustrate the dramatic impact of global 

warming on the UK’s coastline. 

The younger generation are no doubt 

acutely aware of the impact of global 

warming, as they will bear the brunt of it 

during their lifetimes. Attempting to stem 

climate change may seem futile without 

significant modifications to human 

behaviour, but the first steps in any 

mitigation of its effects lies in 

understanding its causes and progress. 

Hence the recent educational film 

commissioned by Bluesky for 

Morecambe students. 

Sairo Studios, a creative agency 

specialising in content for AR, VR and 

Metaverse, was asked to produce a film 

from high resolution aerial photography 

and 3D mapping, put together by UK 

aerial survey and mapping company 

Bluesky International, to illustrate the 

impact of global warming on rising sea 

levels. Working with Lancaster and 

Morecambe College, Sairo Studios 

produced an educational film, 'Rising 

Tides Climate Change in Morecambe 

Bay', which demonstrates the effect of 

predicted sea level rises from different 

perspectives. The 360-degree video is 

being shown in the College's immersive 

Igloo theatre. 

"We worked with Lancaster and 

Morecambe College to create a localised 

education piece exploring the impact of 

climate change," commented James 

Ascroft, co-founder and CEO of Sairo 

Studios. "We utilised large-scale 

photogrammetry models from Bluesky, 

which we imported into Unreal Engine to 

design and build weather simulations. 

This was then exported as a 360 video the 

students could immerse themselves in." 

The Bluesky data package used by Sairo 

to create the Rising Tides output included 

high-resolution, 5cm map accurate aerial 

photography covering the whole of 

Morecambe, including the famous Stone 

Jetty. Bluesky also supplied highly 

detailed LiDAR (Light Detection and 

Ranging captured by aircraft mounted 

lasers) data to provide geographically 

accurate 3D terrain data. The Bluesky 

data was complemented with drone 

imagery captured by Christians Survey 

and Inspection Solutions and terrestrial 

scans of smaller objects. 

Ralph Coleman, Chief Commercial 

Officer at Bluesky, said, "Geospatial 

solutions are a valuable tool in the fight 

against climate change. Our geospatial 

datasets provide accurate visual 

indicators of the situation, past and 

present, helping us to see patterns for the 

future. It helps inform decisions, shape 

policy and, importantly, affect change. 

Projects like this video from Sairo provide 

credible predictions on the devastation 

that we could be facing, and this will help 

us make change now and work to reduce 

the future impact of issues like flooding." 

In order to create the most photorealistic 

output, Sairo used Unreal Engine to 

render the source data. Plugins were 

required to simulate the desired output in 

terms of water (rising tide levels and flood 

water), green infrastructure, specifically 

trees, and the 360-degree experience. 

Sairo also applied the Scan Cloud 

platform to increase its computational 

power required to render the experience. 

Rather than just a simulated digital 

environment demonstrating water level 

rises, the Sairo team also worked with 

TAB Music to score the track, Joshua 

Haworth who contributed Foley 

(everyday) sound effects and Jon Carter 

from the RSPB who narrated the film. The 

360-degree video has already been 

viewed by hundreds of students in the 

North West region as well as local 

stakeholders and businesses. 

What are the next steps? Deeper 

understanding of the issue involved and 

their impact on the UK coastline will strike 

more than a few chords among the 

students who have been involved in the 

immersive sessions and, armed with an 

intimate knowledge of the region and its 

dangerous undercurrents, they may 

choose to become more involved in the 

construction industry, and its attempts to 

model a sustainable future for us all. 

SAIRO STUDIOS 

Sairo Studios is a leading creative agency 

specialising in immersive technologies. It 

focuses on creating immersive content in 

innovative ways, helping to build bridges 

between businesses and the new the 

digital realities in which they exist within 

Web 3.0, Sairo has worked with the 

Department for Education and the Home 

Office as well as Ribble Valley Borough 

Council, Blackburn Museum and Art 

Gallery and the Prince's Trust. 

https://bluesky-world.com 

34 


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