Trimble announces Tekla Global BIM Awards 2016 winners

The Best of Building Information Modelling in 2016: Trimble announces Tekla Global BIM Awards winners

The best BIM project of the year was the Campus Thales Bordeaux, in France by GA Group who utilized BIM in an advanced way achieving a very smooth workflow. Tekla Global BIM Awards recognizes the projects that are pushing the boundaries of BIM to create the world’s most impressive structural designs.

This year 73 winners of local Tekla BIM Awards from around the world competed for the global prize, demonstrating the advancement of BIM and construction. A jury of industry experts chose seven category winners. 

When choosing the winners, we focused on qualities such as constructibility, showcased by for example level of information, use of several materials and complexity in modelling, innovative use of BIM and collaboration, says Ragnar Wessman, Director of Product Architecture at Trimble and a jury member.

The 2016 Tekla Global BIM Awards categories and winners are:

Best BIM Project of 2016 and Best Commercial Project: Campus Thales Bordeaux, France, by GA group. Construction took only 18 months thanks to error-free information available at the right time. The office complex has room for 2500 Thales employees. The general contractor GA, who managed design, fabrication and construction, had a very streamlined process. They used the model from conceptual design to construction, and the model included an incredible amount of information.

Best Public Project: JUST, a new social and healthcare centre in Järvenpää, Finland, by the JUST Alliance of nine project parties. In this multi-material project, all disciplines used BIM for a wide range of activities including procurement inquiries; production, site, schedule and task planning; sectioning; cost estimating and quality assurance. The team classified and analysed the model content to suit different uses, and aimed to developing new processes for utilizing BIM during the building lifecycle.

Best Industrial Project: The Warehouse’s SIDC Extension, outside Christchurch, New Zealand, by Holmes Consulting Group. The distribution centre extension added 15,000 m2 to an existing building that had shifted during an earthquake in 2011. To match the structures and ensure structural safety, the team used a point cloud and matched the model structures virtually. The construction workflow was smooth and the owner The Warehouse now has a wealth of useful information for maintenance and potential future extensions.

Best Infrastructure Project: Ordsall Chord, in Manchester, UK, by the Northern Hub Alliance. This 300-meter railway line will connect central Manchester railway stations and includes a new viaduct that fits in with a historical bridge from 1830. The team used point cloud data of the existing infrastructure as a basis for modelling. Later they created constructible steel and concrete models with higher LOD (level of development or design) in Tekla Structures. Involving key partners early allowed for a better process and design, and the models, were available to contractors during construction planning and execution.

Best Sports & Recreation Project: Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague, the Netherlands, by Oostingh Staalbouw Katwijk. A team of 15 designers worked on this arena in three different locations, using Tekla Model Sharing. They used the model for estimation, purchasing, production planning and erection. For steel fabrication automation data flowed from the model to machinery. The team coordinated the precast hollow core floor and fireproofing information with the model. IFC was the main file format used for collaboration.

Best Small Project: Euler canopy in Paris by Viry (Fayat Group). The canopy’s T-shaped steel profile structure lacks vertical columns, which made the erection phase of the geometrically challenging structure difficult. Thanks to BIM the project was built with accuracy Euler building’s location near the busy Champs Elysées posed an additional challenge to site management and logistics, as very punctual deliveries were required.

Best Student Project: Model of Lodz City Gate, Poland, by students of Lodz University of Technology. The students of civil engineering, architecture and environmental engineering created an alternative version of the current gate: a three-part, glass-covered office building with public space. Their structural solution is also architectural. Communication and collaboration were central: The team shared ideas for easy problem solving and finding new solutions, and used Tekla BIMsight to discuss the project.

Special Recognition:  Izmit Bay Suspension Bridge, Turkey, modelled and fabricated by CIMTAS. The fourth longest suspension bridge in the world has a central span of 1550 meters and total length of 2682 meters. The structure had extremely tight fabrication tolerances. The  team used Tekla Structures model in transportation and erection, as well as integrated the model to the steel fabrication as a source of robotic welding and CNC data.

Public Vote Winner: Eversendai's Midfield Terminal Complex. This project included piers, gate houses and passenger bridges of the new Abu Dhabi airport terminal.

The jury members were Ms. Nadine Post, Editor-at-Large of ENR, Mr. Adam Glema, Professor at Poznan University of Technology, Mr. Ragnar Wessman, Director of Product Architecture at Trimble, and Mr. Sampo Pilli-Sihvola, Director / Concrete at Trimble.

More information about the competition, winners and other entries is available Tekla Global BIM Awards website.

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