ASSA
ABLOY Project Specification Group, a unit of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK
& Ireland, has partnered with ColladoCollins Architects to leverage the
benefits of its Openings Studio BIM software to make significant time and cost
savings on the former Shredded Wheat factory project.
The
project, a thriving new commercial and residential development based in Welwyn
Garden City in Hertfordshire, will consist of over 643 units and more than
7,100 doorsets. Encompassing a sensitive refurbishment of former Shredded Wheat
factory buildings, the project is part of a huge development that includes over
1,200 units in total.
Using
ASSA ABLOY’s Openings Studio software, ColladoCollins has been able to save
weeks of time and manpower when specifying and managing ironmongery schedules
for the project.
Openings
Studio is a BIM software tool that was developed to significantly improve the
process of door scheduling, visualisation and more. Users are able to focus on
the design, installation and management of door openings – all within an
information-rich environment.
Specifying
as many as 7,100 doorsets can be an extremely time-intensive task. Using
traditional methods, information would be provided in countless separate
schedules and documents, which would require a Revit operator to manually
create and update, with someone else to then check for errors.
Then, as
the project develops, information may become out of date and therefore require
individual doors to be flagged up and re-sent for advice. The time and manpower
that goes into this process is not only inefficient, but also ineffective, with
the prospect of human error still a prominent possibility.
For
these reasons, ColladoCollins began to work closely with ASSA ABLOY Project
Specification Group to integrate Openings Studio with their own Revit model,
allowing the firm to be able find all the relevant information and ironmongery
schedules in a single place, delivered in one document.
Martin
Russell, Project Leader at ColladoCollins, comments: “Moving to BIM was a
natural progression for us, and as market leaders, ASSA ABLOY was the obvious
choice to assist us.
“Utilising
the advice from Eric Spooner, BIM Manager at ASSA ABLOY, as well as the
Openings Studio software itself, we have managed to free up our team from
tirelessly working through door hardware schedules. This means we can focus on
architecture and aesthetics, knowing the specification and integration of the
ironmongery is in hand and will seamlessly feedback into the project within the
allotted timescales.
“The
information and advice provided by ASSA ABLOY has vastly improved the
integration of door hardware within the former Shredded Wheat Factory project.
With a project of this size, sharing information can be quite a task – from
large file sizes to sourcing relevant information. The prompts from Openings
Studio make transforming information clear, concise and generally easy to
follow.
“At
ColladoCollins, we pride ourselves on designing and delivering high quality
buildings with a sensitive, sustainable approach, utilising a strong design
ethos with a strong technical background whilst understanding the commercial
challenges facing our clients. Openings Studio enhances our ability to provide
this service and we would seize the opportunity to work with ASSA ABLOY on
similar projects in the future.”
Eric
Spooner, BIM Manager at ASSA ABLOY, adds: “As Openings Studio flags up any
queries and automatically updates in live time, it is easy to see any
discrepancies and changes within the schedules. By re-sharing the model
information, it then also allows us at ASSA ABLOY to view the changes and
feedback to architects – allowing us to work in close collaboration at every
stage of a project.”
