CU1711

CASEstudy
LEGO meets BIM
Bond Bryan Architects, early adopters of the principles of BIM and its application through their use of
Graphisoft's ARCHICAD, have produced the 'LEGO Architecture meets BIM' guide, using LEGO's
popular building blocks as its focus
If you have any children that you wish
to steer towards a career in the
construction industry, or if you still
consider yourself a bit of a child at
heart, then Bond Bryan has produced
the perfect solution for Christmas. No
need to risk stepping on sharpcornered
bits of plastic this year when
the family gets together - simply switch
on your laptop and dive into the 'LEGO
Architecture meets BIM' guide from the
hallowed offices of the Leeds-based
architectural practice!
Bond Bryan Architects' LEGO-based
BIM Guide won BIM project of the Year
at this year's Construction Computing
Awards. Bond Bryan have won this
award in the past, but the sheer delight
in going through the LEGO BIM Guide,
made their work stand out once again.
'LEGO Architecture meets BIM' was
developed originally by Rob Jackson,
Bond Bryan's BIM Manager, and then
supported by other colleagues within
the company. Support soon followed
from other companies such as Hobs
Studio, who printed the 3D models,
Soluis Group, who developed the free
to download Augmented Reality (AR)
app and Synchro, who assisted with
the 4D demonstration.
The LEGO BIM guide uses the familiar
tools of the popular toy to present
different aspects of the BIM process.
The Henry Riley LLP model costing
process may perhaps be taken with a
pinch of salt, as not reflecting the true
cost of a BIM project, and I would be
delighted to see the results of the Faro
laser scanning - likewise the posts
contributed by 3mu about waste.
The list of software used for the
project is too lengthy to be included
here, representing 21 of the foremost
applications used in the construction
industry and reflecting the wide scope
of the project and phenomenal level of
collaboration it entailed.
LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA
As BIM is primarily about collaboration,
it made absolute sense to use social
media tools to bring the project to as
wide an audience as possible. As well
as setting up a blog to encourage a
two-way discussion about the project,
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn were
also put to good use.
Having been enthusiastically received
on social media, Bond Bryan was
20
November/December 2017