Completing the complex Đó Theatre with the aid of BIM and Tekla

Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam is a leader in producing pre-engineered steel buildings and structural steel for the Asia-Pacific region. They recently successfully delivered the Đó Theatre, a centerpiece resort attraction in Nha Trang City, Vietnam.

The Đó Theatre is situated in Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang city. It’s unique form was inspired by the traditional Vietnamese Đó fish catcher, and is the centrepiece of the Vega City resort-entertainment-art complex. The Vietnam Record Association acknowledged the project for its distinct autochthonous architecture and was established to commemorate the 370th anniversary of Khanh Hoa province’s progress. Every structural member is made of circular hollow section steel in order to achieve its unique look while keeping structural optimisation high. These had to be fabricated accurately and were hot-dip galvanized to provide maximum protection from the harsh environment.

Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam (ZSV), as the contractor responsible for the theatre’s steel structure, was responsible for the estimation, structural analysis, design, modelling, fabrication, and erection. The project began in 2021, and ZSV’s modelling and detailing team worked on it for over a year until the project was handed over to the client. The ZSV team in charge of this project used Tekla Structures exclusively, and has been using Tekla Structures for over a decade.

The scope of work included:
– Drafting of a rough model for tonnage estimation and to prepare approval drawings for the client
– Detailed modeling and fabrication drawings for the structure
– Creating reports of material quantity and surface areas
– Maintaining the model and using it to coordinate with other departments and external parties to solve problems and perform a variety of tasks
– Preparing general arrangement drawings for erection work

“The Đó Theatre was a technically challenging project, which made integrating BIM technology even more critical to improve workflow, raise product quality, and speed up communication and collaborative work. Tekla Structures has proved to be the best tool for the mission.” — Đinh ĐÚc Huy, Senior Detailing Engineer, Zamil Steel Vietnam.

The Đó Theatre was particularly challenging for the ZSV team due to its complex structural form. From the start, the ZSV team made a concerted effort to integrate BIM across various project parties and departments. The 3D model of the Đó Theatre was developed after the structural design stage, with the model being extensively utilised for coordinating various tasks, including connection checking, material takeoffs, and clash detection. The production team also used the model to aid fabrication, while site engineers used it during erection work. This was all done through Trimble Connect.

Tekla Structures allowed for the seamless import of the analysis model from SAP2000 into native objects. From there on, the interoperability and integration of Tekla Structures provided the team the flexibility to utilise the 3D models for other applications, such as SketchUp, the coral shell supplier, and the output of various AutoCAD drawings. The ZSV team also used Trimble Connect Visualizer to render the promotional images to be used by the marketing department.

“Tekla Structures has provided us with time savings, increased output, and minimised errors. It supports Open API, which is important for us as a structural steel firm, as we can quickly create our standard steel connections and avoid repetitive and time consuming modelling tasks” — Đinh ĐÚc Huy, Senior Detailing Engineer, Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam 

ZSV has also deeply customised Tekla Structures to allow for a seamless workflow according to their standards, with a team specialising in developing API plugins that help improve overall engineering performance, reduce workload, and increase modeling accuracy. Specifically for the Đó Theatre, unique custom components were created for the curved pipe joints and node stiffeners to better adapt to the design changes.

Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam Co., Ltd ► Founded in 1997 ► Part of the Zamil Group of Companies, a global leader in manufacturing preengineered steel buildings and the Middle East’s premier supplier of structural steel products and process equipment, transmission and telecommunications towers, open web steel joists, roof and floor steel decks. ► Operates two manufacturing plants in Vietnam that produce pre-engineered steel buildings, structural steel, and other building components.