What is Building Information Modelling (BIM) and why doesn’t everyone use it in building design?

BIM is a development of CAD, being Computer Aided Design. This in turn replaced almost all hand-drawn architect’s drawings.

Thinking Building have been using BIM for almost 10 years. BIM allows us to create accurate models of the buildings we design. The models are very precise prototypes of the real building, having all the same dimensions as the real building. The protoyping of buildings in computers is a massive step forward. By doing this we significantly reduce the chance of problems when buildings are constructed. It is important to bear in mind that almost every new building is individual, there has likely never been a building exactly the same before.

Many architecture practices now use this software, but it does come at a significant cost. For Thinking Building the cost is far outweighed by the increase in accurate designing, as we now model the building and the software produces many of the drawings from the model. If the model changes, the drawings change. This reduces time in changing multiple drawings and improves accuracy.

BIM also brings other benefits, illustrated by the images here. We can integrate steel frames into our model. The steel frames, supplied by engineer can be checked in the model to ensure the two designs agree. This saves time checking manually and reduced the risk of problems on site. The image above shows the steel frame isolated from the building model. The frame is still there in the image below, but hidden by the walls, roof etc.

More information about BIM can be found on this You-tube video.

Do call us if you’d like to understand more of the benefits of BIM and why you should choose and Architect which uses it.