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Autodesk Hong Kong BIM Awards 2012 winners lead the way in sustainable design – Innovative BIM Solutions Enable Greener, More Efficient Design.
The Sixth Annual Autodesk Hong Kong BIM Awards Presentation Ceremony was held today at The Mira Hong Kong Hotel, celebrating the achievements of building industry professionals and educators in Hong Kong in driving transformation of the building and construction industry through innovation with BIM technology.
Autodesk, as a leading provider of design solutions for the AEC sector and the host of Autodesk Hong Kong BIM Awards, offers a range of BIM applications and is also taking the lead in promoting and recognising the use of BIM solutions.
Sustainability of development is rising in importance for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector, particularly in Hong Kong, where limited space tops the list of priorities for the new government, and rising concern about the environmental impact of new development projects puts pressure on building design professionals to minimise inefficiencies in terms of waste and energy consumption, as well as cost.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) applications have become an important tool in achieving truly sustainable building design. BIM provides an intelligent model-based process that enables designers to gain the insights necessary to create and manage building and infrastructure projects faster, more economically, and with lower environmental impact.
Autodesk Hong Kong BIM Awards 2012 — Lead the Way
Echoing the 2013 solutions launch, the theme of this year’s awards, now in their sixth year, is “Lead the Way”. At the Awards presentation ceremony, guest of honour Mr Marco Wu Moon-hoi, SBS, Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Society, joined Ms Wendy Lee of Autodesk, and Dr Calvin Kam, CEO and founder of bimSCORE, to recognise the achievements of eight organisations who have shown leadership in advancing the field of BIM.
This year’s winners have used BIM to improve their projects in a variety of ways, from finding practical solutions for site layout and final designs in challenging geography, to enhancing the efficiency of drawing production, enabling designers to present clients with a range of detailed design options. The winning projects all made creative use of BIM features to solve specific issues facing them, such as required headroom, ensuring adequate access provision, or minimising the risk of collisions involving construction equipment during the building process.
The eight winning organisations are (in alphabetical order):
- Atkins
- Chinachem Group
- Goldin Properties Holdings Limited
- Hang Lung Properties Limited
- Hong Kong Housing Authority
- Hsin Chong Construction Group Limited
- MTR Corporation Limited
- Ronald Lu and Partners
Autodesk also promotes BIM concepts and skills among the next generation through BIM Education and its student category awards. The winners of this year’s student category awards are:
- Mr Yim Tak On, Chu Hai College of Higher Education
- Mr Lam Ka Chun, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Training Council (Tsing Yi)
- Mr Kwok Wing Ho, Matthew, The University of Hong Kong
“As a leader in software solutions for AEC, and specifically in the field of BIM applications, Autodesk works closely with the government, industry leaders, partners, and education organisations, to develop BIM applications applicable to a wide range of uses and designs needs,” said Ir David Yau, Chairman, Autodesk Industry Advisory Board and Deputy General Manager, Project Management (1) Department, Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. “It is important to us that Autodesk is able to provide solutions that bring the benefits of BIM to all kinds of projects, from infrastructure to innovative buildings and drive more sustainable development which springs from creative ideas and designs.”
“Each of the winners honoured here today has shown innovation in pioneering new applications of BIM to the betterment of the AEC industries,” said Ms Wendy Lee Autodesk Branch Manager, HK & Macau. “For example, cost budgeting and monitoring becomes more effective and accurate by integrating quantitative data into BIM models. And that is just one example of the exciting work being done.”
Atkins used BIM to enable collaboration between different software tools and improves the feedback loop between design and analysis; creating a sustainable design workflow. During the design development of the China Huarong Tower, Atkins was able to rapidly make adjustments and subsequently assess sustainable factors such as solar and wind performance. Dr Stefan Krakhofer, associate at Atkins Architecture and Urban Design, also cites walk-through functionality as particularly valuable, “In Navisworks spatial constraints exist, so that one cannot walk through objects and can navigate up and down stairs,” says Dr Krakhofer. “You can walk your client through the design in the virtual environment.”
Chinachem Group is deploying BIM for Asian House, a landmark project in Wanchai. The Revit model is proving invaluable, particularly for assessing the final appearance of four large, concave LED screens. A BIM model was created that generated areas of the LED displays, which were automatically updated as the designers changed the screen shape and height. The team devised a way to show how different screen resolutions would appear in reality, and were able to use the model to check the views from ground level. “With the BIM model, we could see views from Johnston Road that showed the screen on the fourth side was visible, rather than blocked by the adjacent building,” says Ir Francis Leung, BIM Consultant for the developer Chinachem Group. “Previously, there was no way of studying this.”
As Goldin Properties began a complex project, Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan, featuring a 117-storey building topped by a diamond structure, they deployed BIM to help make the design process smoother. One location the BIM model has proven its worth is the basement car park, where a headroom study employed BIM in an innovative way, using an imaginary ceiling at the height of the headroom. The BIM team created a Reflected Ceiling Plan, with a false ceiling indicated by a thin band of colour. Any Mechanical & Engineering and Structural elements appearing on the coloured ceiling area showed where the headroom was insufficient.
For Hang Lung Properties Limited’s Luxury House Development at Blue Pool Road, the project team used BIM in the design workflow. BIM helped to layout the building spaces, coordinate the building structure, E&M equipments and underground services. “BIM helped us a lot,” says Mr Tommy Lee, Senior Project Manager, Tysan Building Construction Co. Ltd, “It gave us a very early impression of how things would appear under the EVA, so we could understand the whole system under this area.” Working with the BIM, the project team minimized the clashes between the services and the sub-structure.
The Hong Kong Housing Authority is carrying out a R&D project which is perhaps the first in Greater China to obtaining detailed quantities data from a BIM model. The “5D” model – with three physical dimensions plus time and cost data – generates data far more quickly than traditional QS methods. The standardised approach developed in the project may extend the use of BIM in the construction industry. “If this method indeed works as expected, we can introduce it to contractors,” says Mr Sunny Choi, Senior Quantity Surveyor at the Housing Authority. “We will consider using QSBIM to speed up interim payment assessment, which will be a win-win situation for both the Housing Authority and contractors.”
The BIM model used by Hsin Chong Construction Group Limited for the Swire Properties development at 28 Hennessy Road shows all project members a fully realised 3D model that would otherwise be only a mental image in the minds of one or two engineers. The model has helped to finalise the design, avoid clashes, and ensure smooth progress with construction in a small space accessed from a narrow, busy road. “We were concerned about access and truck parking that would hinder the construction programme, so we used a 4D BIM model to demonstrate the time related traffic flow and construction sequence from the basement to typical floors,” said Mr C.M. Kwok, Chief BS Engineer, Hsin Chong.
The MTR Corporation is making extensive use of BIM during the construction of the Hong Kong section of the Express Rail Link – West Kowloon Terminus, by far the largest railway station in Hong Kong. The massive, detailed BIM model was originally deployed for modelling the structure ahead of construction to identify spatial clashes and construction co-ordination issues. Its uses have expanded through collaboration with the project teams within the MTR Corporation and its contractors. The project team plans to leave a legacy in the form of an ‘as built’ model in addition to the usual as-built drawings to the terminus operator.
Faced with the challenge of fast-tracking the design process of Hong Kong’s first zero carbon building, Ronald Lu & Partners deployed BIM modelling – which, in a timely manner, helped resolve challenges ranging from optimum siting of the building and enhancing landscape aesthetics, to designing and building a PV-cladded curvilinear roof and maximising natural daylight. “Also during the design, we minimised cut and fill volume of the soil,” said Mr Tony Ip, Senior Architect, Ronald Lu & Partners. “BIM really helped us to visualise this in a 3D way, as we assessed how much material to dig out for the basement, and ways to distribute this to form a ring path and surrounding landscape.”
For more information on the Autodesk Hong Kong BIM Awards 2012, please visit: www.autodesk.com.hk