Barry McAuley, PhD Post-Doctoral Researcher 086 014 4853 bmcauley@cita.ie www.bicp.ie
BICP Case Study: 1 Windmill Lane – The Clients BIM Journey Background 1 Windmill Lane (1WML) occupies a strategic location in the South Of Beckett O’Casey (SOBO) District at the point where Dublin’s Docklands connect with the city centre and IFSC. Developers Hibernia REIT plc have embarked on a master planned program of redevelopment that will revitalise this location. The building has over 120,000 sq.ft of 4th generation office space and 14 new apartments, all constructed over a single level basement. A deep renovation of the surrounding Public Realm, complete with soft landscaping, cafe, co-working spaces and a 12,000 sq.ft gym will form a new social space at the heart of the SOBO district. 1WML is a LEED Gold building extending over six floors with a total floor area of approx. 121,287 sq.ft of high performance work space. Attention has been dedicated to achieving an optimum balance of lighting, ventilation, acoustics and temperature to aid concentration, maximise wellbeing and inspire performance. Landlord works are scheduled to complete in July 2017. 1WML is set to be a superior quality, mixed-use commercial development that will rank amongst the city’s most desirable workplaces.
Post Acquisition Stage The Construction & Development team at WK Nowlan were tasked with the Technical Due Diligence pre-acquisition and were retained subsequently to advise the Client throughout the design and construction stages. The Client bought the building with full planning. However, they sought to make a number of changes to the building which would require planning amendments in certain instances. This resulted in a number of months spent manipulating the core configurations of the design and internal layouts to improve the functionality of the building for modern tenant requirements. This
task was hosted primarily through 2D drawings. The Client’s Brief sought to capitalise on the shortage of premium office space and to do so required the optimum turnaround within the design process to get an amendment application lodged. As the Client had a long-term hold strategy of the asset, WKN recommended the use of BIM as a tool in developing options for redevelopment as well as maximising value in the operational (FM) stage. While the post-planning options review was at an advanced stage, it was nonetheless agreed that a BIM process should be adopted for the detailed design. The Client, based on the recommendation of WK Nowlan, was keen to explore how BIM could be of potential benefit during the design and construction stages but more importantly in the operation phase of the building.
Design Phase In order to advise on the optimum process for assessment and appointment of the design team, WK Nowlan appointed ArcDox as their specialist BIM advisor on the Client side. A questionnaire was designed to help understand the BIM maturity of prospective design team members which the BIM advisor assisted in validating. At that time, due to the infancy of BIM in the Irish market, it was discovered that a number of companies were still on their own BIM journeys which added to the challenge in selecting the most appropriate organisation. A further process was undertaken which involved interviewing prospective design team members to ensure they could deliver what they set out in the questionnaire. This process included the visiting of a number of short listed companies and speaking directly with their identified BIM teams within the organisations. A design team of MOLA Architecture (Lead Architects), Casey O'Rourke Associates (Structural Engineers) and Arup (M&E Engineers) was selected
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