BICP Case Study: Rathbone Square , London W1

‘ Barry McAuley, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Researcher 086 014 4853 bmcauley@cita.ie www.bicp.ie

BICP Case Study: Rathbone Square , London W1 maintained the integrity of the process with individual checks and balances. The Landlease UK

Background Set in London’s West End, Rathbone Square is a mixed-use development comprising of office space, retail outlets, and 162 residential apartments all located around a new garden square which will provide pedestrian passageways linking Newman Street and Rathbone Place. Irish based Architectural practice Murphy + McGerr Architecture were selected as designers for a section of the development due to their experience of working within a BIM environment (PAS 1192).

The £215 million redevelopment by Great Portland Estates (GPE) began in 2011. The 2.3-acre site consists of 66142 m2 of commercial space, 47244 m2 of residential space and 12802 m2 of retail space. The 162 residential units span over 8 levels, ranging from studio apartments to 4 bed penthouse duplexes.

Changes in scale, material and detail identify different uses, and each block is defined by its own distinctive facade. The project also includes the creation of a triple level automatic car parking system and amenity space for residential use including a gym, pool and screening room.

Design Team A total of 47 different contractors worked on site with Make Architects selected as the primary designers.

Landlease UK were selected as the Construction Managers for the Client. In order to successfully deliver this extensive development, it required an innovative construction solution. It was decided that BIM would be the best way forward to minimise costs and reduce risk.

The Client hired an independent BIM consultant to assist with their Employers Information Requirements (EIR). This was considered best practice, as it avoided a conflict of interest and

team created the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) which was a key document for the management and quality check of information related to the model. The BEP contained descriptions of the various roles, required level of detail (LOD), matrix of responsibility, etc.

Figure 1 provides a CGI of the proposed development.

Figure 1: CGI of Rathbone Development

Landlease UK were not responsible for creating the models but were required to ensure that any models passed quality and co-ordination checks. To achieve this, they supplied a Common Data Environment (CDE) on behalf of the client. The selected CDE was Conject, which provides a secure environment for the sharing of project information and enables fast and simple access via a web browser or mobile device.

Murphy + McGerr Architecture Murphy + McGerr Architecture were selected to provide design services for 20 apartments allocated for affordable living. Murphy + McGerr Architecture view BIM as a more productive solution for increasing the workflow for design delivery. They specilaise in assisting smaller contractors to work within a BIM environment who otherwise would not have the BIM staff or resources for larger projects.

Murphy + McGerr Architecture were required to work with Errigal who represented the Client, M&E

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specialist Michael Lonsdal and Taylor Project Services who were the M&E consultants for Errigal.

All of the design team were required to work within a BIM Level 2 environment.

Murphy + McGerr Architecture were required to comply with Errigal’s contractual obligations which involved the modelling of all architectural elements including services, the management of the model, and the coordinating and clash detection of their models against models from external contractors. Other responsibilities included providing technical design support for the Errigal team on site and to collaborate with Make Architects to finalise the design.

The models were required to be produced to a LOD of 400 which requires all elements to be modeled as specific assemblies, with complete fabrication, assembly, and detailing information in addition to precise quantity, size, shape, location and orientation.

This involved the detailing of stud work, metal frames for the partitions in each apartment, plug sockets, tile trims, etc. before commencement on site.

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Status A: Proceed to site.

Status B: Proceed to site but incorporate any comments.

Status C: Do not proceed to site.

Conclusion The Rathbone project was delivered on time and within budget as a result of collaboration across the supply chain. A total of 12,034 drawings, 3,100 approved documents and 364 BIM models were produced. The application of models on site in partnership with mobile technologies resulted in instant access to information without the need to filter through paper drawings on site. Innovative technologies such as Oculus Rift were applied to create a virtual reality experience of the plant room.

This meant the design and construction team could use headsets to walk through the plant room virtually.

This allowed any issues to be reviewed at close hand and to check all plant was accessible before the actual construction phase.

Murphy + McGerr Architecture have been retained to provide Architectural services for an extensive fit out of the two basement levels. The Rathbone Square development demonstrated the opportunities for Irish SME practices to export their BIM services abroad.

Murphy + McGerr Architecture experiences demonstrate that BIM can provide access to new ventures which can result in producing avenues for businesses to which they otherwise would not have access.

Figure 2: CGI of Rathbone Development

All technical submittals, models and drawings were managed in the CDE and were required to go through an approval stage before reaching site. Before models were uploaded Murphy + McGerr Architecture performed their own internal quality check and clashing of models. When uploaded to the CDE, Landlease UK performed their own clash detection and once approved moved to the development of 2D information for the production stage. The 2D drawing either received:

Acknowledgements Mel McGerr Murphy + McGerr Architecture Grieve. M (2017) Taking BIM to London’s West

End, BIM Crunch, available at< http://bimcrunch.com/2017/05/taking-bim-londons-westend/ Case Study prepared by Dr. Barry McAuley (CitA/DIT), Dr. Alan Hore (CitA/DIT) and Prof Roger West (TCD).

Published: August 2017

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