Five Reasons Why StreamBIM was the Right BIM Software for the new Terminal at Oslo Airport
StreamBIM is Exact and Effective
The BIM Manager of the new Avinor terminal at Oslo Airport Gardermoen, Bjørnar Markussen, says he has been very pleased to work with StreamBIM. He first became interested in the software because he saw how quickly he could access any particular one of the 23,000 drawings used in construction for Terminal 2, and that using StreamBIM also made his drawings accessible from mobile devices and tablets. After updating the construction drawings, all team members working on site could immediately access the latest updated version.
“The project was officially based on drawings. StreamBIM is a very effective way to keep track of, and publish updated drawings to everyone in the project, and no one can match the service level that the company provides.
“In the past, BIM models on a giant project like Terminal 2 were too large to be downloaded and updated on the construction site on tablets or mobile phones,” says Markussen. “3D BIM models were mostly used at an office on machines with a lot of CPU and processor capacity as well as modern graphics cards. It was common practice to print a screenshot of the model shown on a desktop, or take a photo from a mobile device and bring it to the job site. Before we started to test out StreamBIM, this was how we worked with 3D BIM and digital drawings. This was cumbersome, and we also lost all the dynamics and all of the metadata that we gained from using a BIM model across platforms and in all phases of the building project.
“But using StreamBIM we could stream the entire model of Terminal 2 at Gardermoen, including all relevant metadata, onto any smartphone or a tablet. When the building drawings are revised, everyone working on the project gets immediate access to the updated information on their smartphones or tablets. It is quite amazing. A complicating factor within a giant project like the Terminal 2 building at Oslo Airport is that a large number of simultaneous users using different devices must access the BIM model, which using different software programs to produce data, and as far as we know StreamBIM still is the only software able to comply with the requirements we set back in 2015.”
- More than 23,000 drawings must be accessible and updatable by all users working on the project on multiple platforms including mobile devices
- Must support more than 200 simultaneously users using different devices (tablets, smartphones, desktop machines)
- Process BIM models (IFC files ) and updates from different design tools (Revit, Tekla, Graphisoft etc) within minutes
- 3D BIM models accessible and available for all disciplines working on the project from their different devices for collaboration
- Must meet our data security requirements
We Explored Many Different Types of BIM Software
“We had meetings to exchange information and train our team, where we presented information showing them advantages of the open BIM concept for all companies planning, producing and maintaining a building. After a while, we found that even those who hesitated to use open BIM came to understand that this is a better and more forward-looking way to go. Once we reached this decision, we needed a very user-friendly 3D BIM software which operates cross platforms to convince people to make the change. We were using IFC as our model format, and by using StreamBIM we were able to involve everyone working on this giant project without having to invest heavily in expensive software and a lot of training hours.
“Using the 3D model in StreamBIM’s interface is incredible,” says Markussen. “When you select an object within the 3D model all the pertinent information is linked directly into the 3D BIM model and you can add pictures and comments.
“Once all the maintenance BIM models are in place and the information is systematically verified, this will provide a significant time saver for the operating staff as well as for those designing and building a building as well.”