Success Stories
Following a series of discussions with companies that have supported our initiative (and we thank them for their support!), we've managed to gather a series of success stories and best practices that we can share.
B.I.T. Arhitectura is an architecture design office established in 2017.
The company's mission is to maximize the creativity by employing cutting-edge technology, to experiment new processes, learn and develop own software tools to support development.
The company's long term vision is to improve the AEC industry and turning it more sustainable through high quality architecture.
From the begining, the strategy was to get involved into a wide variety of projects (functions, dimensions, new and old, and even infrastructure) to cover a wide range of scenarios for BIM use cases.
As a start-up, the company managed to safely get through the COVID-19 pandemic using technology and now, with lots of lessons learnt, allows it's employees to work from home (which came as a natural development).
2023 opened a new chapter for BITa as software development company. In a first step, it develops tools required for internal processes, but soon it will launch a bundlle of tools that will support AEC companies with their daily tasks.
The Leviatan Design story has started in 2012 with the vision of young the entrepreneurs to develop a sustainable company based on technology and innovation. Since then, the company offers integrated services for architecture and structural engineering projects in a Design and Build approach.
The Leviatan Design BIM journey started as a response to organizational challenges, like an ever increasing team, evermore complex projects, permanent time pressure and high quality demands (a self imposed standard).
The first step was to map the existing design process using a 'divide et impera' approach (the process was broken down into tasks and then used as building blocks to create the whole process). To do this, a series of support questions came in handy:
Where does the information is coming from?
How do we receive and process information?
What tools are we using in our process?
Where and how do you store the information?
What is the definition of done (how can we know when we have completed a task)?
What KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) do we have?
All these questions (and many more) led to the conclusion that they need technology to enable them to work smarter, faster, with less effort. Putting this conclusion into action, all desigg engineers of various disciplines are working now with BIM enabled software packages allowing them to develop 3D models. All the models are federalized within a CDE (Common Data Environment) used for data storage and sharing, enabling the project to benefit of the 'single source of truth' (all project information, consolidated and up-to-date, in a since place, available for all project teams at all times).
It has to be mentioned that this change had a great impact in major Build and Design projects developed by Leviatan Design and implemented together with the Ubitech Constructii partner company.
The increase in computing power after 2010 made it possible for software with 3D modeling capabilities to spread in the AEC industry. This new technology was happily adopted by the company because 2D CAD started to show limitations, which in this particular case made the company less productive than the competition.
Currently, all engineers within the company work only with 3D information models from which the plans, the lists of quantities, specifications are derived. 3D models are passed to other members of the project delivery team for coordination and planning.
In Romania, where the company is based, under the conditions in which the construction industry went through a great dissolution followed by the lack of interest of entrepreneurs in the activities of standardization and development of tools necessary to work in a collaborative manner, the principles of construction information management are difficult to be applied.
SAIDEL Engineering has acquired software licenses with BIM capabilities and is in the process of updating the work procedures to align with integrated BIM methodology. The fact that the company offers Design and Build services for special foundations, makes it easier to implement at the level of the two divisions (design and construction) some common standards that will ease the processes and lead to obtaining the profit so necessary for the development.
Specialized in design & build projects with a high degree of complexity, Ubitech Construcții is one of the most technologically advanced construction companies in Romania, which has managed to implement the BIM methodology at the level of the entire work process. Founded in 2015, the company with 100% Romanian capital, Ubitech Constructions offers complete services in the field of constructions such as general entrepreneurship, design and execution, management and project implementation.
The collaboration with Leviatan Design in Design & Build projects brought the adoption of BIM methodology as a natural step of development. The process implementation began with the use of the CDE (Common Data Environment) to management documents and information to ensure transparency, traceability and transmission of information in real time between all parties involved. Through this simple step, a large part of endless telephone conversations, the never-ending e-mails replys and other informal communications were simply eliminated.
The adoption of BIM for execution process was supported by the great teams on the construction site, their dedication and openness, the people in the technical offices. The BIM implementation was facilitated by employing the common Field Management data environment functionalities within a cloud platform. Using this approach, all the processes (e.g. Site Journals, Quality Checks or the Problem Reporting) during execution are performed on the premises, but stored and managed centrally.
Beyond the capabilities of the cloud platform, the use of BIM as a collaborative, integrated way of working has brought benefits at a deeper level of the processes in the work execution stage.
The project is a bike factory, developend and implemented in Romania. A project brief sounds like this:
26.800 sqm
Structural system: reinforced and prefabricated concrete, steel and timber
Initial design phase: 5268 hours // During construction support: 4080 hours
Software licenses: 2 x AxisVM, 4 x Allplan, 1 x Tekla Structures, 1x IdeaStatica
BIM use cases:
3D coordination: due to use of three different structural materials (i.e. concrete, steel, timber) the construction coordination was assumed to be a cumbersome task; furthermore, the project design team was composed of 11 engineers with limited experience (7 engineers with less than 3 years experience);
Clash detection: to ensure exact assembly and easy on-site mounting, the structure was 'pre-assembled' digitally in AllPlan; it has to be mentioned that for each structural material (i.e. steel, concrete and timber) different design and detailing requirements apply;
Automatic drawing generation: in total, there were produced more than 8 000 drawings for the steel parts (as components for the assemblies) and all of them were generated automatically (including the dimensions).
The restoration and expansion of Berlin's historic Gasometer in Schöneberg showcase the successful implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM), together with lean construction processes, by WOLFF & MÜLLER, the general contractor, and its partners.
Early involvement of project participants through workshops facilitated a collaborative approach, with BIM providing a unified data model that kept all project participants updated in real time. This digital approach enabled accessible, modifiable, and visualizable plans and calculations, enhancing efficiency across various project phases. The use of 3D visualizations was particularly effective in demonstrating the project's progress.
Further details can be found in "Großprojekt digital und schlank gelöst" by Hofmann et al., in Bauingenieur Volume 98 (2023), Issue 11, pages A6-A11.
More on Berlin's Gasometer in Schöneberg: https://euref.de/entry/gasometerschoeneberg/
Additional information of implemented projects is available at
The cross-border railway project Dresden-Prague New Line (“Neubaustrecke Dresden–Prag”) is an example for a holistic implementation of openBIM. The German railway infrastructure company DB InfraGO AG and the Czech state organization Správa železnic (SZCZ), which are also the infrastructure operators of their respective countries, collaborate in this flagship project, aiming to reduce travel time between the two metropolitan areas to about one hour.
Many BIM use cases are part of this project (e. g. as-is modelling and advanced visualisation) and many additional aspects are considered, such as model-based geotechnical, environmental, and noise/vibration studies. The huge amount of information requirements, e. g. attributes, classifications and other BIM-related aspects, are documented within a BIM Execution Plan (BEP) and systematically implemented using the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model and advanced model checking practices.
More on the project: https://www.dresden-praha.eu/de/projekt
Further details can be found in the following publications:
J. Krischler and C. Kautter, "Informationsmanagement und teilautomatisierte Modellprüfung im BIM-Projekt Neubaustrecke Dresden-Prag", Bauingenieur, Jg. 98, Nr. 11, p. A 26-A 30, 2023, doi: 10.37544/0005-6650-2023-11-26.
S. Hanz, K. Müller and C. Kautter, "Erzgebirge Tunnel: “Big Open BIM” Tunnel Planning", Tunnel, 01/2023, 2023. [Online]. Verfügbar unter: https://www.tunnel-online.info/en/artikel/erzgebirge-tunnel-big-open-bim-tunnel-planning-3920521.html
K. Müller and J. Krischler, "NBS Dresden-Prag" in Infrastrukturprojekte 2022: Bauen für die starke Schiene, 1 Aufl., Leverkusen: GRT global Rail Academy and Media GmbH PMC Media, 2022, p. 78–84.
M. Menschner, C. Kautter and J. Krischler, "Eisenbahn-Neubaustrecke Dresden – Prag: Abschluss des Raumordnungsverfahrens auf deutscher Seite und modellbasierte Aufbereitung der Daten mittels BIM-Methodik", Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau, Nr. 9, p. 22–28, 2021.
K. Eiweleit, J. Krischler, C. Kautter and C. Koch, "Alles neu mit BIM? Lessons Learned und Reflexion zur BIM-basierten Bestandsmodellierung in frühen Projektphasen" in 6. Internationaler BBB-Kongress: Tagungsband, H.-J. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bargstädt, Hg., arts + science weimar GmbH, 2021, p. 207–216.
Teixeira Duarte - Engenharia e Construções, S.A. is a Portuguese company with roots tracing back to the individual endeavors of its founder, Engineer Ricardo Esquível Teixeira Duarte, in 1921. Presently, Teixeira Duarte stands as a global entity and serves as the flagship company within the Teixeira Duarte Group in the Construction sector. The company boasts an extensive project portfolio and holds notable expertise in Geotechnics and Foundations, Buildings, Infrastructures (including Maritime Works and Rehabilitation), Steel Works, Underground Works, and Railway Works.
With a workforce of 2,600 employees spread across multiple countries, including Portugal, Angola, Brazil, and Mozambique, Teixeira Duarte has established itself as a key player in the AEC industry. At the core of its technical leadership is the Design Department, where specialized engineering studies and designs are undertaken for the entire Group. This department assumes a pivotal role in exploring competitive structural solutions for tender submissions and developing designs founded on robust technical principles. Furthermore, the Design Department leads the coordination and integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) across the Teixeira Duarte Group. This encompasses the consolidation of internal and external training, the utilization of BIM technology in design processes, and the implementation of internal procedures to enhance operational efficiency.
Founded in 2016, Wallnut has always been driven by the ambition to present innovative solutions for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Motivated by innovation, the company promptly adopted Building Information Modeling (BIM) for more integrated projects, surpassing the prevailing traditional practices in the Portuguese context.
With accelerated growth, it quickly evolved from an initial core of five professionals to a robust multidisciplinary team, including architects, engineers of multiple specialties, and construction professionals. The breadth of this area of operation, from design to execution, presented itself as a challenge of great complexity, particularly concerning the information inherent to each specialty, reflected in their respective BIM models, further propelling the company towards digitalization.
Alongside the use of BIM, several methodologies, software, and technologies have been tested. Investment in architectural survey tools, whether for outdoor or indoor spaces, using drones and Matterport, respectively, allows for tremendous precision, both in terms of the working base for the project and for on-site verifications.