highlights
Comprehensive BIM Project with all major design, construction and fabrication trades involved
Tighter bids due to better, more accurate and open information
Quantity surveying approach relying on the BIM model to provide open and accurate contracts
43 construction days saved due to improved lift formwork logistics planning
Reduced RFIs (143 Total) resulting in up to 15% construction cost savings
OVERVIEW
Swire Properties, the owner of One Island East, a 70-story commercial office tower in Hong Kong, has an ongoing commitment to improving the design and delivery of its building projects. Swire Properties wanted to reduce waste, construction cost and time penalties while improving quality, so they appointed Trimble Consulting to drive the implementation of an enhanced Building Life Cycle Information Management process on this project.
Key to the success of the project was the owner’s insistence that all project participants use the Trimble Consulting Process to build and maintain the project’s 3D digital model. One Island East represents a substantial implementation of virtual 3D Building Life Cycle Information Management. This owner-driven process comprehensively combined traditional design and construction information into one 3D Building Information Model (BIM). As BIM consultants to Swire Properties Ltd., the Trimble Consulting Asia team enabled and facilitated a high degree of information integration and exchange between members of the design and construction teams and the client.
Trimble Consulting was brought onto the project during the Design Development Phase and helped the project team to implement training and 3D modeling to achieve a 3D/BIM centric approach to project delivery. Once the initial BIM Knowledge Transfer was completed, Trimble Consulting supported the tender process to improve the quality of tender information and enable a more efficient bidding process. Once the contractor was selected, Trimble Consulting trained the contractor’s team to continue the BIM process into the construction phase. Throughout the One Island East Project, Trimble Consulting enabled all project team members to participate in the 3D model so that problems could be solved before they reached the site.
Client:
Swire Properties Limited
Location:
Hong Kong, China
Type:
Commercial Office Tower
Size:
140.000 sqm
Team:
W&O (HK) Ltd, Arup, Meinhardt (M&E) Ltd., Gammon Construction Ltd., Josef Gartner & Co (HK) Ltd.
Outcomes
One Island East was the most extensive BIM based construction project of its time. Quantities extracted from BIM were used for tendering, and the project included a fully detailed and coordinated MEP system
Through design team collaboration and onsite coordination using the 3D BIM model, the project was able to reduce the number of RFIs to 140. Over the course of the project, 18,000 coordination issues were identified and managed using BIM. Regular automated quantity take offs from the BIM model enabled real time project cost control.
Using Trimble Consulting‘s Virtual Design and Construction process, the project team was able to develop a fully coordinated project prior to sending the information out to bid. Because the digital model was provided to the bidding firms, the contractors were able to understand all the building’s complexity and components. The result was that bids were closer to each other than a similar non-BIM project.
The owner achieved a higher quality product while saving money and improving construction time through the use of collaborative, collocated work methods, and integrated 3D modeling tools to optimize the construction. The project was honored with the 2008 AIA Technology and Practice Award.