Lendlease enter the race to win the Best BIM Project of the Year award
Now entering its 6th year of a projected 12-year construction programme, Lendlease’s flagship urban regeneration project Elephant Park has undergone a progressive digital construction journey. With initial phases implementing typical 3D and 4D digital construction techniques, Elephant Park has kept pace with the evolution of digital construction across the industry while also developing its own bespoke and innovative solutions.
Figure 1 Elephant Park, London
As an integrated residential project we have been able to devise, implement and deliver a successful digital construction strategy that satisfies our aspirations as both client and contractor including:
- Reduction in project risk
- Design standardisation leading to improved quality
- Improved cost certainty
- Improved communication and stakeholder engagement
- Delivering the project on time.
Lendlease approaches each residential plot with new and innovative methods of design or construction and has employed a similar approach with BIM, evolving and enhancing our strategy to consider new developments and lessons learned.
3D design coordination is now done in the cloud leading to improved efficiency in design, a reduction in material waste and improved sustainability across the project.
Figure 2 Typical Apartment at Stage 5
Our 4D modelling strategy now encompasses a holistic approach across the entire development from site-wide logistics planning and plot specific 4D models on the macro level down to fit-out sequencing of a typical apartment on the micro level.
Figure 3 Elephant Park 4D Sequencing Model
The installation of our VRoom, a 360° virtual reality visualisation room, has allowed us to improve stakeholder engagement and the wider community. This enables us to make better informed decisions, mitigate risk in construction through improved safety in design, and provide an educational resource for our operatives and the wider community.
VRoom is used regularly for client presentations with the latest consultant and subcontractors models presented for comment and feedback to ensure they have full visibility of the design before it is built on site. Example of reviews include:
- Walk-through of the retail spaces to ensure that the client is happy with the current MEP arrangement, back of house corridors etc
- Walk-through of the apartments with the client, handover manager, accessibility consultant, and project team. Items reviewed include bulkhead locations, socket arrangement, and accessibility issues.
- Safety in Design sessions to discuss issues relating to build-ability, cleaning, maintenance and replacement strategy for end users.
It would be easy to wax lyrical about the use of VR but the igloo as a collaborative forum has allowed us to ask more pertinent questions of our designers and ultimately allow us to construct in a safer and more efficient way.
Figure 4 VRoom Safety in Design session
As Lendlease’s residential portfolio increases the need to standardise our product and ensure design consistency becomes greater. As such Lendlease has developed the Digital Warehouse, a repository of all parts (and their variations) of a facility and the infrastructure, captured in digital format. The Digital Warehouse is continually updated and improved through inputs from architects, engineers and other project consultants ensuring that lessons learned and project knowledge are captured and available for future projects.
Like any major long term project the challenge now is to ensure that Elephant Park remains at the forefront with regards to implementation of digital construction technology. We see Design for Manufacture and Assembly, plus a more integrated approach to logistics management, as our next big challenge and have already taken significant steps to ensure that the correct digital construction techniques are in place to support these goals on future phases.
In summation the implementation of digital construction technology at Elephant Park has allowed Lendlease to deliver on its maxim of ‘creating the best places’ and lay the foundations for the building of a vibrant community.
Thanks, must also go to our supply chain and consultants without whom none of the above could have been achieved. These include in no particular order, AHMM, RBG, Cilantro, HE Simm, Oakwood, BDL, Platt & Reilly, AECOM, Tilbury, One Creative, CoxGomyl, Stanmore, Freeform, FKN, Lindner, Houston Cox, Lee Marley, Sapphire, and Kone. Without their vital contributions the nomination for Best BIM Project would not have been possible.
