20th November 2023

A single source of truth: how are we using BIM to design more efficiently and sustainably?

The in-house BIM & Design Systems team at Foster + Partners is integral to the successful delivery of the practice’s projects, coordinating information across disciplines, to allow for seamless collaboration between architects, engineers, consultants, contractors and clients.

Over the years, the practice has constantly evolved its BIM methodology. From writing our own software to using the latest BIM enabling software technologies, our methods have allowed us to execute complex projects, delivering BIM data, and performing detailed model analysis to optimise the performance of our buildings.

Working closely with the design teams, the BIM & Design Systems team create a single source of truth for a project, meaning that one digital representation of a design – with its associated information and metadata – is always readily available. The team acts as the guardian of this digital model, making sure all of the information remains coordinated and consistent.

BIM allows for greater project insights for cost, schedule and constructability, while helping the design process to run faster and more smoothly. It is also used to enhance the design process, allowing teams to incorporate accurate products and materials, automate processes, produce 3D-printed physical models, and showcase their designs using virtual reality (VR).

Crucially, Foster + Partners is also harnessing the power of BIM to mitigate environmental impact. This is particularly important during the early design stages, when computational data-driven optimisation and embodied carbon workflows are used to analyse different options and make informed choices in an expeditated way. For example, the difference between building in concrete or steel – and the implications this will have on a project’s embodied carbon – can be assessed within a day.

The practice also has designated BIM coordinators within its in-house sustainability team, who work closely with a project team to extract information from the BIM models. Once the extraction process is complete, the information is formatted to create a sustainability score card. This tangible way of benchmarking allows for consistent comparisons between different design options, as well as other projects within the practice.

Learn more about a selection of the practice’s projects, which have been designed using BIM methodologies:

Alif - The Mobility Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai

The Mobility Pavilion, named Alif (after the first letter of the Arabic alphabet and symbolising the beginning of progress and new horizons) was one of Expo 2020 Dubai’s three signature pavilions based on the sub-themes of Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity. Its curved shape was designed to evoke movement, while the highly reflective stainless-steel cladding was inspired by chrome fenders and aircraft wings.

Documentation of the project was embedded into BIM models, with dimensions of the building elements measured directly from the model. In addition, thousands of discrete architectural elements in the model were assigned an alphanumeric code by the specification team. This code was then used to track the development of the building element throughout the iterations of the design process, and cross-referenced to the full specification for a precise relationship between the drawn and the written project documentation.

The construction of the project also benefited from BIM. The practice provided the architectural design models as a reference for the builders to begin their own modelling process, which they integrated and brought to a fabrication level of model development. The entire site and surroundings were scanned in 3D and used to track each element, in space and time, as the builder also integrated the construction sequencing into the modelling environment.

The Whiteley, London

The regeneration of Whiteleys represents a truly unique opportunity to transform an entire neighbourhood in the heart of London.

The Grade II listed retail building was originally designed by John Belcher and John James Joass, with the first phase completed in 1911. Following the death of Belcher, the second phase of building was carried out by William Curtis Green in 1925. Subsequently, decades of incremental repairs and changes further marred the clarity of the early 20th Century original. The Foster + Partners scheme restores and builds on the logic and intent of Belcher and Joass’ scheme by creating a diverse retail and leisure experience that faces out toward the street, animating and activating the public realm to create a new destination.

To understand where the building’s heritage façade needed to be restored and modified - and how to integrate the new and listed elements - a point cloud was used to capture the existing elements at a very high level of detail. A 3D model was then built to reflect the restoration of the façade and its relationship with the rest of the building.

ICÔNE, Belval

ICÔNE is a 18,800 square-metre office building in Belval, Luxembourg. Filled with light and greenery, the building encourages a spirit of co-creation and collaboration. Its layout addresses the need for flexible and safe working environments that will emerge in the future.

Real-time visualisation tools within our software ecosystem, such as Enscape, allowed us to evaluate the design and make better informed decisions by producing quick visualisations of different design options. Walking through digital models in virtual reality enabled the architectural team to develop the design and allowed the client to visualise the project as it developed, taking client engagement to another level.

Mexico City International Airport

At 743,000 square metres, Mexico City International Airport revolutionises airport design – the entire terminal is enclosed within a continuous lightweight gridshell, embracing walls and roof in a single, flowing form, evocative of flight.

The gridshell was designed in Rhino 3D and MicroStation, due to its complex geometry. The roof structure was then recreated using custom Dynamo scripts to be accurately imported into Revit for coordination purposes.

At its peak, there were 365 BIM models, which were consolidated between the specialist consultants. Hundreds of thousands of clashes were managed using the grouping feature within Navisworks – a process that would have taken much longer using conventional 2D modelling.

The practice’s use of BIM software throughout the design development - and its creation of custom workflows - was recognised at Autodesk’s AEC Excellence Awards for Infrastructure in 2017, when the team won first prize.