Since implementing BIM
over three years ago, MartinRiley has taken the solitary sterility and client
distancing of design’s intellectual pursuit and trashed it; recycled it into a
visual and tangible environment of a Building Information Modeling Design
Studio. The entire office integrates the
client into a surrounding filled with shape, color, texture, light and ideas that
are derived from the client’s program and is reliant upon active interaction
with the fluid, information driven design model.
How, then, does this
Building Information Modeling Design Studio function? The studio is both a virtual and a physical
space. The virtual element is the
communications based environment which every architect, engineer and CAD person
within the office and each consultant team member uses in their routine project
functions. As the project moves to
construction and ultimate occupancy, the virtual elements also encompass the
contractor and owner-the contractor with input for constructability and finally
the owner for operations.
The physical element of
the design studio resides throughout the MartinRiley office but has a focus in
the BIM Design Lab where project information, material samples, color swatches,
furnishings and other trial elements specific to the project are strewn about,
sorted through, compared and their suitability determined for the task at hand.
It is here the design team and the owner
can manipulate and test the underlying concepts, design assumptions, floor plan
options, physical appearance and the components that may comprise the finished
project. Here, the technology available
to each team member is focused for at-hand input and output of information,
manipulation of detail and communal interaction by the design team and owner.
Ron Ross has challenged
and grown this concept during the firm’s three year experience with Building
Information Modeling as he sought to find a mature manifestation that functions
within both the virtual and actual world.
Here the space is finite but the inputs are infinite, here information
is exchanged in a dynamic environment that can react to the whim of change,
here the implications of variation can be realized in an instant to inform the
next iteration as it moves a project forward to completion.
MartinRiley
architects-engineers has seen the benefits of this project approach for the
past 3 years-ever since the firm began using Building Information
Modeling. Today, every project utilizes
BIM and benefits have resulted for everyone involved in a project-the client,
the designer, other consultants and the contractor-through more attention being
paid during the design cycle, abbreviated time frame for producing construction
documents, more control within the design that results in fewer if any
construction conflicts (and the resultant minimization of change orders) and
through integration among all the design disciplines. The value of BIM to the project is so evident
that consultant team members have come to MartinRiley for training in order for
them to better integrate themselves into the dynamic design process.
Ultimately and finally,
the Building Information Modeling (BIM) Design Studio at MartinRiley is simply
a communications tool, collecting and sharing information as it: transforms the client’s intent into a
constructible entity; expedites fabrication and construction; captures
information on equipment, warranties and anticipated operations for maintenance
and operational efficiencies.
MartinRiley services
the regional Midwest market in architectural, engineering and interior design
and a nationally for building envelope consulting services. The principals of the firm are John Riley,
AIA, RRC and Jack Daniel, AIA. Their
offices are in the historic Baker Street Railroad Station.