The awards ceremony’movie is available:
Already the 3rd edition of the BIM Contest
For this 3rd edition, Polantis was joined by the city of Suresnes and by the INS HEA (Higher National Institute of Formation and of Research for the Education of Young Disabled persons) in order to bring about a reflection on an urban treasure from the 30’s: l’Ecole de Plein Air de Surenes (the open air School of Suresnes). This school is listed as a historic monument.
The candidates -architects and architecture students- had to create a numeric model of a middle school (of 500 students) located on a field close to the school, instead of where the INS HEA is now (since it is soon going to be relocated).
Also, congratulations to:
Thank you to…
Trespa International B.V. is a leading innovator in the field of architectural materials, recognised around the world as a premier developer of high quality panels for exterior cladding and decorative façades.
Since its founding in 1960, Trespa has worked closely with architects, designers, installers, distributors, raw material suppliers and end users. Trespa focuses its strategy on product development, combining quality-manufacturing technologies with intelligent solutions for architectural and scientific surface applications.
Christine Klomp, Compliance officer at Trespa explains: « We started the project with Polantis, after realizing that communication in a digital way is the future in the (building) industry. BIM is, of course, part of this process and allows us to take a next step in this way of communication.
We chose 3 systems as these are the most popular and commonly used systems in our portfolio. The most important for the systems was for Trespa to get all types of decors (colors) in the BIM library. This will enable the users of the files to create and generate the solutions they are looking for.
The Polantis team is a very professional team. They are very dedicated to the their work, therefore the communication and exchange of information went very well.
The next steps still have to be determinated. At this point Trespa is thinking about how to process.
To check Trespa’s products on Polantis website, click here.
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As said previously, Polantis is interested in conferences and BIM events who are taking place all around the world. This article is the occasion for us to give our European clients an other example of an event that could help them to learn more about BIM.
Event Summary: « BILT is an annual event, run in multiple regions around the globe, designed to cater to the needs of those who design, build, operate and maintain our built environment. As a community of professionals, it is dedicated to improving the way industry works together ».
If you wonder what BILT acronym stands for, it stands for Buildings Infrastructure Lifecycle, supported by Technology.
RTC Events Management (RTCem) organizes conferences in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America to facilitate the transfer of know-how between architecture, engineers and AEC players.
This educational and networking event provides the guests with a variety of opportunities to learn and share. Whether you are a practitioner or a consumer of BIM, DE, VDC, it aims at helping your firm to become more effective, more impactful and more productive.
If you want to participate, we encourage you to register on their website as soon as possible.
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The 2017 BIM Contest award ceremony was held on the 27th of March 2017. Polantis and « l’Ordre des architectes » ( our contest’s partners) both welcomed the guests and the construction professionals at the Récollets Chapel.
A 2nd Edition of BIM contest eagerly awaited
Last year, the first edition of the BIM Contest in partnership with the city Bobigny had been a real success. This year, Polantis – the organizing company – increased the difficulty by asking its candidates to work on the new city center of the municipality of Saint-Prix (95). Teams had to conceive a digital model of several residential and commercial buildings both integrated into a wider project articulated around the concept of the municipality’s urban centrality.
Altogether, 198 candidates gathered in 49 teams worked on this project. Among the 9 finalist teams, 6 were French and 3 were international (Serbian, Egyptian, Italian).
The grand-prize winner: the project Gardensity
Quentin Guillemot, Gabrielle Larmet and Hugo Janvier, architecture students at « L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Nantes » received their first-prize.
Jury’s comments: A strong engagement and a magnificent architecture of a « village in the village » which redefines and blurs the distinction between individual and collective dwellings.
The garden-piazza suggestion is reinterpreting the concept of the garden-city by adapting it to our age and to the expressed needs and desires of the town dwellers. The urban reinterpretation is astute: the urban island is not split into two, the street traffic is well-thought, the traffic lane becomes a green way which places pedestrians at the heart of the project. When it comes to the BIM method, the information matrix provided is complete and the project model is optimized and mastered. The jury’s members enjoyed “moving around in the digital model” while deliberating.
2nd Prize for the project e-COP
The second prize was won by Kévin Bailly, a young architect at Valode & Pistre who already won the BIM Contest first prize last year with Minh Minh Nguyen. Saint-Prix municipality particularly welcomed this project which better meets the architectural and urban expectations of the municipality. The team was particularly attentive to the municipality’s identity.
Jury’s comments: The landscaping work is in continuity with his project and the green roofs are used properly. The glass roofs and the variety of the slopes, forms and materials make you want to live in this city center characterized by its rich architecture. The use of columns is conveying an airy feeling. Finally, the particular attention to public areas makes you want to meet in this city center which fosters living-together.
3rd prize for Saint-BIO(SE) project
Thomas Teyssaire, Bruno Codron, Dany Ang et Matthieu Brossette from l’Atelier Juno won this 3rd prize.
Jury’s comments: A valiant effort of centrality in this project which has a lot of character. The pedestrian walkways were particularly well taken into consideration. The jury evoked the surprise effect of the promontory, the new perspective on each street corner, the pedestrian bridges leading to the project’s emblematic places. The attractive idea: the theater’s roof which becomes a boardwalk for the citizens, in the same vein as what was done for the Philharmonie.
The jury’s members were awarded for their deep analysis of the architectural projects submitted by the candidates. They were awarded for taking into account the BIM approach of each team thanks to their analysis of the provided digital models (on eveBIM of CSTB) as well as their precise analysis of the information matrix which was providing a high-level of information about the buildings.
A 3D cocktail
The cocktail following the ceremony was the occasion to admire the « BIM Contest » trophies which were printed in live by a 3D printer especially installed for this occasion. The three trophies received by the candidates were printed by Volumic Company, the constructor of the 3D printing situated in Nice. It was a hundred percent French printing, made from PLA, an entirely biodegradable plastic made from corn starch.
If more information needed about BIM Contest, please contact Manon Roger at the following number 01 42 64 07 02 or at manon@polantis.com.
Siplast launched their first CAD and BIM objects library with 5 highly detailed roofing systems on polantis.com – Europe’s first, largest and most visited CAD and BIM objects web platform. 5 new roofing systems will be published in the upcoming weeks and dozens more in the upcoming months.
Siplast‘s high performing CAD and BIM objects were developed by Polantis expert architects team. These objects are specially tailored to match the needs of architects and AEC professionals during all planning, construction and operation phases.
Siplast is amongst the first roofing manufacturers to understand the importance and power of a CAD and BIM objects catalogue for the use by the entire supply chain of the building industry. These first 5 systems (and the dozens to follow shortly) give Siplast a huge advantage over its competitors who are yet to create their BIM catalogues.
Polantis insures the worldwide distribution of Siplast’s CAD and BIM objects on its various platforms and partner platforms. Since their introduction last Friday (28th of November) hundreds of systems were downloaded and deployed in projects by hundreds of AEC professionals. In the upcoming days Siplast expects to reach thousands of Architectes and specifiers. Polantis has a base of over 75,000 AEC professionals with a new member joining in every 8 minutes.
The five systems already available online at https://www.polantis.com/siplast all belong to Siplast’s most emblematic and universal line – “Silver”.
The currently proposed roofing systems are of the following categories:
– Autoprotected
– Under heavy protection or pavers on paving supports
– Garden roofing
All of the “Silver” line products have an integrated RFID chip with and a 20-year guarantee. Siplast provides an in-depth technical support for AEC professionals and thanks to these CAD and BIM objects specifiers get a much faster and better service.
In the upcoming months the entire Siplast catalogue will be developed into CAD and BIM objects. Including interior acoustic insulation products.
Please click here in order to access the Polantis platform
Speaking at the Energivie summit at Strassbourg on 4th of November 2014, Bertrand Delcambre, – Head of the BIM implemntation for the french Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy – announced that the BIM reform in France is to start « very early 2015 ».
Bertrand Delcambre, aka « Monsieur BIM » (Mr. BIM) was appointed by the current Minister of Housing and Territorial Equality – Sylvia Pinel – earlier this year (25/06/2014). His aim is to mount a French BIM reform similar to the British one. The Ex minister of the same ministry – Cécile Duflot announced on March 2014 that the French BIM reform will take effect on 2017 for the Government procurement projects. Later to be extended to all local and regional public tenders.
France’s BIM reform is part of an ongoing wave of governmental BIM reforms around the world. Both French and German governments recently endeavored in creating BIM reforms after the European directive voted on the 15th of January 2014 incites all 28 EU member states to do so.
France has the largest construction market in Europe (followed by Germany and the United Kingdom) By 2018 all three markets will be entirely reformed (UK by 2016, France by 2017 and Germany by 2018) in order to embrace the building information modeling method of work and technologies.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two years, the chances are you know about the impending government BIM reform. Numerous articles have been written about what BIM is, how it can save everyone in the construction chain money and ultimately how those that don’t adapt will be left behind. The deadline looms and is now less than 2 years away.
Scaremongering is rife but what is lacking is practical and sound advice on how to proceed as an AEC manufacturer. You have questions that need to be answered: How do I invest in BIM? Do I need to train my staff in BIM? What kind of return on investment am I looking at? How long will it take? Can I create BIM versions of my products by myself?
So where are you in the global race to adopt BIM? Well, most accept BIM is the way forward for the construction industry, but there exist vast cultural differences when it comes to the uptake of the technology. Early adopters in the US and parts of Europe are already reporting a significant return on investment for BIM.
Some are being forced to change by law, as in the UK. This list also includes the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Norway – all of which will require the use of BIM on publicly-funded building projects by 2016.
Others are being encouraged more ‘gently’. The European Parliament recently voted to « encourage all European countries to recommend the use of electronic tools, including BIM, on public works contracts. »
As usual, Asia is steaming ahead. One UK construction expert recently lamented that « In Japan, modular construction is used on more than 50% of its buildings, while the UK uses it in less than five per cent. »
When it comes to BIM uptake though, the real disparity is not geographical, it is between the actors involved in the construction chain. That’s somewhat ironic as the whole point of BIM is to enable manufacturers, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, builders and owners to better communicate. By 2016, we are told, if any of these groups want to have a hand in lucrative public projects, they will all need to have a firm grasp of what BIM is and how to use it. BIM is no different to any other new technology in that some are more willing and able to get on board than others.
So here’s the good news for you as an AEC manufacturer. This really isn’t your problem because of all the actors in the chain, you have the most simple part to play in the whole reform process. All you need to do is to provide a BIM version or catalog of your products. This is not only simple, you are the group most likely to see a return on investment. Why? well, a BIM catalog will help you to promote and sell your products to the very people that prescribe them.
So you’ve accepted BIM is the way forward and you’ve decided to go ahead and create a BIM objects catalog. You now have two options, outsource the process to a CAD and BIM objects expert manufacturer or attempt to create your catalog yourself. Whichever option you choose, don’t forget that albeit the fact that more and more specifiers and AEC professionals use BIM. A BIM method is only mandatory in the public market. If 39% of architects knew about or were already using BIM in the UK in 2013 (according to the NBS) – this also means that the remaining 61% don’t use it yet. The US, which is a « ripe BIM market » had 60% of architects using BIM according to Autodesk’s report if this is what we can expect in 2016’s UK it still means that a big chunk of AEC professionals will never be BIM ready or at least will be extreme laggers. These architects and specifiers will continue using « traditional CAD » indefinitely and you, as an AEC manufacturer cannot allow yourself to ignore them. Make sure you’re not only BIM ready then. Make sure no matter which professionals using no matter which solution or method – has access to your catalogs.
Vmzinc, the specialist in innovative zinc solutions for building covering published its first fifty Rendering and BIM textures compatible with 100% of professional software used by architects and AEC professionals.
This first VMzinc BIM catalog is part of the company’s communication strategy and its group: Umicore – an international specialist in metals and materials technology. VMzinc is its international brand name of rolled zinc solutions for the building industry.
VMzinc manufactures a broad range of products for the building industry, including a full range of Titanium-Zinc products available as sheets, coils or as specially tailored systems. Their extensive range of products reflects their wealth of professional and practical experience. These products are designed to meet needs of various climates and standards worldwide.
The first 50 BIM objects for VMzinc were specially designed by Polantis so that they could seamlessly fit and integrate into any kind of building project. The product categories « Systems and and products for roofing » and « Systems and products for façades » were conceived first in order to reply for the increasing demand of architects, specifiers and other AEC professionals. The other product categories are already under production by Polantis’ expert architects and will be published during 2014.
VMzinc hopes to profit from the ongoing BIM revolution and make sure architects and specifiers in the UK and elsewhere in the world could employ their range of products easily into their projects. The VMzinc catalog joins hundreds of other CAD and BIM objects catalogs recently published by a many AEC manufacturers in anticipation for the extensive UK BIM reform that will be in full effect on the 1st of January 2016.
BIM or « Building Information Modeling » has so many definitions it is almost ridiculous. Some don’t even define BIM as « Building Information Modeling » but rather as « Building Information Model » or « Building Information Management ». Many organizations, software editors and individuals claim to be the « true inventors » or « true initiators » of BIM. Some insist they were the first to know about BIM and know best how to use it.
God forbid, if you seek the answer in Wikipedia, you’ll most probably regret it. It fails to explain this multi-faceted and vast concept and settles for a bland, general and vague definition of what BIM is.
Luckily, BIM is actually something quite simple to grasp if you’re an AEC manufacturer. Most existing BIM ‘explainers’ are directed at architects or at the clients of building projects. In this post however, I’m going to explain what BIM is from the AEC manufacturer’s point of view.
The easiest way to quickly grasp what BIM is, is to first understand what a BIM object is and then understand what this kind of object is good for, and the best way to understand it is:
A BIM object functions as a recipient
And here’s a picture of a glass of water to help you remember it:
The glass itself represents a 3D model or any other kind of what is commonly called « Geometry » which basically means a 2D or 3D shape of SOMETHING
The water inside it represents INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOMETHING
And as you can see, the « water » adopts the shape of the object it is contained in. That is it. Simply put, a BIM object is a 3D geometry that contains information about it’s essence.
Now, if you are an AEC manufacturer all you have to do is imagine one of your products instead of the glass of water shown above. Your product could obviously be described geometrically (i.e – modeled in 3D) and you could probably also say lots of things about that product of yours. Let’s imagine for the sake of the example that your product is an automatic door instead of that glass:
This door has a certain shape, a width, a length, a thickness and several parts – this is its GEOMETRY.
It probably comes in different sizes and proportions to fit different types of openings – this is PARAMETRICAL information.
It also has different materials, (wood, metal, rubber, trans-lucid or transparent glass, plastic etc.) It replies to some norms and standards and is classified under a certain reference or catalog number. It is also manufactured by someone (you) and you have a phone number and an address where you (or your sales / technical force) can be reached. All of this is essential information.
If this automatic door is a BIM object then all of this information (parametric or not) is simply INTEGRATED into the geometry of the 3D object.
You probably understand by now what all of this is good for. The ability to integrate information into a parametric 3D object is a great thing. It allows the architects and any other AEC professionals (quantity surveyors, engineers…) involved in the conception of a building – to conceive a building with hundreds of such intelligent « building blocks ». Each block is « self aware » of what it is and each interacts with all the other elements of said building. For example, this door integrates into a wall somewhere in the project. The wall itself contains information about its thickness, it’s function (supporting or just separation of spaces) insulation, the dimensions of its openings etc. The wall might be « sitting » on a concrete slab covered with tiles of a certain shape and color etc etc. All of these BIM components together make a BIM MODEL and this intelligent BIM model is the basis to what BIM is all about.
Because, as soon as you have a BIM model, you can do many things. First, YOU CAN EDIT it really easily. For example, if you have a staircase in between two concrete slabs and you decide that you want the room’s ceiling to be higher all you have to do is increase the distance between those two slabs of yours, the staircase will respond automatically as it « knows » that it is connecting two floors and the BIM object that is this staircase will add extra stairs to itself and an extra length of railing to go along with it.
Second, this magical BIM model can provide you with tons of useful information that YOU CAN QUERY with a few clicks. In most BIM software you can get a detailed listing or nomenclature about all of the components that make your building. Not only how many square meters or yards it has but also how many doors, windows, chairs, and lamps it contains. This of course is very helpful if you’re an architect or a client.
If you are the person in charge of the maintenance of the building that is going to be built you could easily know how many pots of painting you’d have to purchase and when to refurbish it etc. A good BIM model will ensure EASY MAINTENANCE.
a BIM model is good for many other things as well, an engineer could use the model to make sure there are NO CLASHES that could occur during construction (For example: Part of the underground parking is built where a city sewage pipe passes or an air conditioning tube that goes right through where an electric installation is supposed to be)
This, in sum is all you, as an AEC Manufacturer need to know about BIM. Building information modeling is just that – a method that allows the entire supply chain of a building to better communicate with each other and access information about the thing they build when they need it. It makes life easier on everyone from the architect to the client and it all starts with a little BIM object that you provide the architect. This little BIM object is by far your best salesman as it tells your story, it showcases your competence and you wealth of knowledge and ingenuity.