So the Olympics is fully underway and a hot topic, so I thought I would set an Olympics theme, with a BIM twist! Let’s began with a look at how BIM helped build the 2012 London Olympic Stadium. I came across this great article in BuildingSMART UK Newsletter No. 27, that talked about the use and helpfulness of BIM in building the London Olympic Stadium, so have a read of this if you want more information. The great image of the BIM that is seen to your left is from the article as well.
The Olympics project was designed and constructed by a consortium, led by Sir Robert McAlpine with architects Populous and structural and services consultants Buro Happold, named Team Stadium. It was Sir Robert McAlpine who thought BIM would add value to the project and help approach the project as a fully intergrated team. So Fulcro was brought in to ease information transfer between all group members and all disciplines. The BIM allowed all the individual models that had been developed by the design team to be brought together. Ultimately, the BIM provided means for the team members to visualize their work, including clarifying complex routing of services and de-risk parts of the project before the mechanical, electrical and plumbing contracts were involved.
Several different BIM software was used in the project including Max, SolidWorks, Tekla, Revit, CADduct and MicroStation.
It’s great to see such fantastic use of BIM, obviously proving very helpful in constructing such large stadiums, as Fulcro also helped create a BIM for London’s Arsenal Emirates Stadium. I think BIM was obviously useful in constructing the London Olympic Stadium, as the 80,000 seat stadium was completed on budget and on time!
