How BIM Product Files Helped an Architects Team
A BIM (Building Information Modeling) partnership between an architect and Assa Abloy Opening Solutions has kept a complex project moving forward. Working with Assa Abloy building information modelling (BIM) consultants helped Zarhy Architects and Studio PEZ maintain the flow of up-to-date information for a complex, constantly evolving project, and left them free to focus on creativity and delivery. Collaboration was key to successful design and building specification for the Broadcom R&D Center at Tel Aviv University.
The Assa Abloy BIM consultancy team has experience on projects of every size — from a single door to 15,000 — and used it to help create a fast start-up curve for the architecture practice. Zarhy Architects were new to the multidisciplinary BIM process so Assa Abloy provided a comprehensive BIM Objects library to specify the Broadcom building. This set of downloadable files incorporates complete door, frame and hardware specifications for Assa Abloy Opening Solutions’ range of door solutions. File packages include geometry, safety data, environmental product declarations (EPDs), and links to other relevant information. These BIM Objects files open directly inside Zarhy’s design software, Autodesk Revit, saving the architects’ time and enabling rapid product visualization.
Supplementing this specification partnership, Assa Abloy brought independent security and safety expertise to the project’s BIM team and coordinated knowledge transfer between all the project’s stakeholders through planning and construction phases. By enhancing the existing workflows, Assa Abloy’s BIM consultancy helped Zarhy to deliver on schedule. According to the architect in charge of the project, Nimrod Schenkelbach, Assa Abloy’s “deep understanding of complex safety and security requirements” helped them identify and deliver creative solutions to their clients. Alongside specialist input from the BIM consultants, software also played a critical role in the collaboration: “Openings Studio software introduced us to a whole new way of thinking and efficiency,” added Schenkelbach.
The resulting 450-door, mixed-use university building now houses both student classrooms and offices for faculty professors and Broadcom semiconductor engineers. Abloy electromechanical locks, Tesa panic bars and U-shaped handles, and Rockwood plates and handles were all specified from the Assa Abloy product range.
Simplifying Specification
Assa Abloy’s BIM experience helped Zarhy Architects to supply their client with ongoing ideas and the specification support essential for a multifaceted project. Its consultants fully integrated with the project from the beginning and were available throughout — including via direct communication channels within Openings Studio software — to help ensure that the specifications required for the project were all met. Openings Studio software delivered detailed specifications directly to Zarhy’s Revit files. This integrated design and specification phase streamlined the process, minimized errors and saved the architects’ time. “A direct channel between requirements and supplied solutions was very important,” added Daniel Zarhy, partner. Openings Studio remains current and accessible over the lifetime of a project and building. Everyone working on the new R&D center through its life-cycle can always find the information they need, fast.
