Data model-based collaboration in a life cycle project
Collaboration in a construction project goes to the next level with the introduction of BIM tools, agreed practices and people who are serious about working together towards a common goal.
Lemminkäinen is building a multi-purpose building in Oulu as a life-cycle project. The Kastell Multipurpose House will provide versatile learning, cultural and recreational facilities for 1500 people. The building will have a total area of around 23 000 square metres, construction has started in summer 2012 and it will be opened in August 2014. The total value of the project is around €86 million and will include a kindergarten, a primary school, a secondary school, an adult secondary school, a library, an auditorium, four sports halls and facilities for youth activities.
Data model in a life cycle project
The City of Oulu is the client and the developer is Lemminkäinen PPP Oy, a project company established by Lemminkäinen for life cycle projects. The developer has overall responsibility for the design, construction and maintenance of the project until 2039. Lemminkäinen has long experience in information modelling projects, so it was clear to them from the start that Kastelli would be designed by modelling and that the information model would be used in the construction. The City of Oulu organised an architectural competition, and the winning design was the basis for the tender. After Lemminkäinen won the contract, the design was continued on the basis of the winning design. Although the architectural model was not made available to the contractors at the calculation stage, Lemminkäinen decided to model the planned architecture for the site's tender calculation and subsequent work planning. The resulting Revit model was exported to Vico Office, where the quantity survey was checked and a project schedule was drawn up.
Effective planning
The structural and element design was carried out by WSP Finland Oy, which started using Tekla almost 20 years ago. Although the experience is long, there is always something new to learn in collaborative projects. Until now, modelling has been mainly done for our own benefit and the contractor's possible needs for a data model were not obvious. The multi-purpose building was complex and geometrically challenging with its circular shapes and high structural heights, but Tekla Structures provided the tools to model even the most difficult geometries. Design challenges were encountered in the timber structures of the roof, as the standardisation of timber modelling (naming, CLASS , etc.) was still in progress.
In Tekla, wooden structures can be modelled with either steel or concrete tools. Once we got up to speed, we noticed the efficiency of Tekla modelling with difficult geometry," says Kai Häkkinen, 3D Development Manager at WSP Finland Oy. "We achieved virtually error-free design. At the beginning of the project, we defined exactly what we were modelling. The definition was supported by the YTV2012 data model requirements. The site includes precast concrete, cast-in-place, steel and wood, and all structures were modelled. However, for this project, it was decided not to model the reinforcement of the cast-in-place concrete. "Next time, the reinforcement will also be modelled," says production engineer Mikko Mäläskä from Lemminkäinen Talo Oy. "Because the reinforcement was not modelled, the changes were not updated in the reinforcement plan.
Lobby connects four blocks
The building is mainly two storeys high and is founded on more than 2,000 piles. The basement has a load-bearing concrete slab and a crawl space cavity slab. The intermediate and upper floors have cavity slabs and cast-in-place. The main frame is a concrete pillar-beam frame. The spacious lobby has 22 cast-in-place mushroom columns. The building is divided into four blocks, each with its own IV machine room on the second or third floor. The blocks are connected to each other by a lobby. On site, the model was a great help, especially at the block boundaries. The drawings only ever show one block at a time, but the information model enabled the site foremen to look ahead and get a better overview of the project.
BIM on site
Site managers are busy using Tekla BIMsight. For example, in this project, the order in which the sandwich elements of the sports halls were installed was explained using the model, even though looking at the drawings left people scratching their heads," says Mikko Mäläskä. During the installation of the facade elements, it was discovered that neither the level drawings nor the pdf diagrams provided sufficiently reliable information on the locations of the required concealed consoles. So it was decided to try taking the coordinates directly from the model. Using Tekla Structures Layout Manager, the data of the measurement points were exported directly to the measuring equipment and the installation was completed. The BIM tools were used to plan the frame installation, the precast delivery schedule, the site schedule, calculate quantities and make a final report. The crane design was carried out using Tekla Structures. The site's enclosed interior spaces and long lifting distances made site planning difficult compared to a more conventional two-storey site.
Common rules for cooperation
In negotiations with the element factory, the data model has helped to justify the production sequence that is important for the site. This does not always correspond to the most sensible sequence for the element factory. Once the data model illustrates the installation sequence, no further explanation is needed. All parties involved in the Kastell project have reference models from different design disciplines at their disposal. - Cooperation is easier when everyone has an up-to-date overview of the project," says Kai Häkkinen of WSP. "It is important to agree precisely on the updating of the models and to make the principles clear to all parties. The designer makes alternative plans for the data model that are of no use to the other parties. Therefore, within a design office, the model is updated much more often than a published collaborative data model.
New user groups for the data model
The quantities from the building services model have also been used for scheduling and planning work, and screenshots taken from the model have been used by installers and builders. The building services cross-checks have been carried out with small tolerances and the plans are therefore easy to implement. The building services supervisors also have access to the data model on site. Lemminkäinen Talotekniikka Oy has been involved in guiding the design and the installers' point of view has been taken into account in the design. Information models help the project partners to understand each other better, but at the end of the day it is all about people. In a KVR project, where the contractor gets to choose his partners, it is a good opportunity to practice cooperation and to strive for the best end result, high-quality construction within time and cost constraints. The use of information models is getting better and better all the time. The Tekla BIMsight freeware lowers the barrier for new user groups to enter the BIM field. Future user schools in the multifunctional building have already asked to use the information model to support their planning.
Oulu Kastelli
Client: the City of Oulu / Oulun Tilakeskus
Developer: Lemminkäinen PPP Oy
Contractors: Lemminkäinen Talo Oy and Lemminkäinen Talotekniikka Oy
Frequency data:
Kerrosala 24.588 m2
Huoneistoala 22.213 m2
Tilavuus 124.010 m3
The facilities to be provided:
Päiväkoti, peruskoulu, lukio, aikuislukio, kirjasto, auditorio, 4 liikuntasalia ja tilat nuorisotoiminnalle
200 p.m. of which 65 for escort services
900 bicycle parking spaces
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