Also, like Assael, the Swiss firm has been using Vectorworks for a very long time. It also arguably belongs to the offices with the most in-depth competencies in BIM inside of Switzerland. Itten+Brechbühl is one of the largest architecture firms in Europe, with over 320 staff, based in Switzerland.
So it would be instantaneous when that happens.” Itten+Brechbühl AG “Then that gets loaded into BIMcollab, and from there it goes to certain parties who are responsible for wherever a clash happens. “So if a mechanical engineer sees a clash somewhere, he will generally create a report in Solibri which consists of an image of the clash and a few notes,” adds Pitt. Assael also utilized BIMcollab for inter-team collaboration on the BIM models Solibri’s image snapshots with markups were sent up to BIMcollab in the cloud as a CDE tool. All rights reserved.)ĭuring Pontoon Dock, they used Solibri for federating models from various offices and running clash detection, coordination, and model assurance. Pontoon Dock was implemented using BIM Level 2 standard using Vectorworks Architect. Moreover, to top it all off, it needed to be executed to the BIM level 2 standard. It also needed to navigate site complexities dealing with a viaduct outside Pontoon Dock DLR Station and the Thames Barrier Park. The challenging urban residential-use project consists of 154 private rented apartments and 82 affordable homes. Pitt, as a director, oversees technologies and research as part of his other leadership roles.Īs their BIM competencies grew, the firm became well positioned for one of its signature projects: Pontoon Dock. The firm itself only has one BIM manager in Ben Lam, an associate with the firm. “Some teams were a bit faster or slower than others, but it makes a real difference to have a BIM or Vectorworks champion inside of each team,” he adds. “It took teams 2-3 years to fully make the transition,” says Pitt. All rights reserved.)Īssael began its transition to BIM in 2013 and slowly developed its BIM processes and workflows. London-based, Assael Architecture specializes in several building types, but residential urban infill development is chief among them. “One of the things I love about Vectorworks is it is just very user-friendly and intuitive to use,” adds Pitt. New hires and recent grads are sent out for three days of Vectorworks training, then immediately immersed in active projects. “The firm has been using Vectorworks since the day it was called MiniCAD.” Pitt described the firm’s evolution from the pre-BIM days to their BIM transformation as very reasonable and fluid for much of their senior staff who, without knowing it, we’re already working with 3D BIM elements when the firm made the push to develop BIM level 2 competence. “The directors were actually using the software when they started the firm,” said Simon Pitt, Director, Assael. The practice tackles complex, mixed-use, and residential-led urban projects, often with demanding density challenges. Assael ArchitectureĪssael Architecture, a 100-plus person architecture practice in London with both integrated landscape, interiors, and visualization teams, is a longtime Vectorworks user. Architosh decided to take a deep dive with two such firms in the UK and Europe to understand how they deliver Big BIM projects with Vectorworks. In addition to that history, the BIM/CAD software has consistently been delivering top results for large firms worldwide on complex projects with BIM level 2 deliverables. The popular design and BIM software is known worldwide for its highly regarded graphics capabilities. SOME OF THE BIGGEST FIRMS in Europe are using Vectorworks Architect.