Design – SpecNews

Teaching Students the Value of BIM > ENGINEERING.com

The event was designed to enhance the students’ understanding of various BIM concepts and scenarios.
Recently, 24 university students from three different universities in Singapore, Australia and Columbia had the opportunity to take part in a five-day 5D BIM Immersion and Competition.
The immersion featured a number of hands-on training sessions on 4D and 5D BIM concepts using a variety of software such as ARCHICAD and Synchro.
For more information on the 5D BIM Immersion and Competition, visit the GRAPHISOFT website.
Students in the southern hemisphere have been busy learning what building information modeling (BIM) is all about.

2016: A year of grand designs

The branding of 2016 as the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, follows this 2015’s Year of Food and Drink status, and 2014’s Year of Homecoming.
VisitScotland’s involvement signals the belief that there’s a tourism buck to be made out of selling Scotland’s architecture – both historic and new – as an attraction.
WHEN fire tore through Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building on 23 May, 2014, the shockwaves spread far beyond the confines of the creative community.
Turning the festival – and the entire Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design – into a financial success is the responsibility, ultimately, of the quango.
Contemporary structures add a new layer to our built environment, taking inspiration from and sometimes reacting against past achievements in design.

London Met’ Protests Intensify

The protesters are campaigning against the sale of London Metropolitan University’s Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design which, is expected to gain the London University a minimum of £50m.
It followed a night of visual protests, which saw hundreds of students standing as silhouettes in the university windows as sunlight left London.
With the university seeming under increasing fire in recent years, the board of Directors has decided that a single, Holloway Campus in 2017 is a decision that best suits the university, however, many students of London Met staunchly oppose that opinion.
“We believe this will benefit our students, who will enjoy an enhanced student experience, and our staff, who will have more opportunities to collaborate”
The student protests have been led by protest group Occupy The Cass, and Turner prize-winner Jeremy Deller, who is a visiting professor at the Cass, has been seen on Twitter showing his support for the cause.

GCC Hosts Record High USD 3 Trillion in Construction Projects

Counting both ongoing and planned construction projects the GCC’s construction pipeline totals USD 2.8 trillion especially in mixed-use mega-developments airports and seaports and transportation infrastructure according to the recent report “GCC Powers of Construction 2015” by Deloitte.
At The Big 5 Tekla is showcasing its BIM software Tekla Structures 21 and Tekla Structural Designer along with Tekla BIMsight an open BIM viewer and Tekla Field 3D for viewing BIM models on smartphones and tablets.
(MENAFN Press) Tekla to Further Integrate with Trimble Delivering Global Best Practices in Construction Technology to Middle East
Dubai United Arab Emirates: GCC contractors must adopt the latest construction software to ensure the swift delivery of nearly USD 3 trillion worth of construction projects industry experts declared today ahead of The Big 5 construction exhibition.
Advancing government BIM mandates further demonstrate the Middle East’s desire to be on par with global innovators in the construction field” said Paul Wallett Area Business Director Tekla Middle East.
From BIM to holographic technology to real estate management software we’ll deliver best practices in technology to help the Middle East’s architecture engineering and construction firms deliver on innovation agendas” added Paul Wallett.

Building Design + Construction Magazine Ranks Balfour Beatty Construction US No. 6 in 2015 Giants 300 Report

Building Design + Construction also ranked Balfour Beatty high in multiple market sectors, including top 10 rankings in eight sector-specific categories.
For example, an integrated Balfour Beatty Construction team reduced design, procurement and delivery costs from $1.95 billion to $1 billion for one client by optimizing the use of off-site construction methodologies.
DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Building Design + Construction (BD+C) magazine has ranked Balfour Beatty Construction the No. 6 general contractor based on 2014 U.S. revenue in its annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry for building-type revenue, green building work, BIM revenue, and more.
Consistently ranked among the nation’s largest building contractors, Balfour Beatty Construction Services US has been cited as a Top 10 Domestic Building Contractor and Top 10 Green Builder by Engineering News-Record.
Additional representative milestones and recognition achieved by the Balfour Beatty Construction team in 2014 include:
An industry leader for more than 80 years, Balfour Beatty Construction US provides general contracting, at-risk construction management, and design-build services for a wide variety of markets, serving clients in both the public and private sectors.

Super Lamp by Martine Bedin

Pomo summer: Memphis Group designer Martine Bedin’s Super Lamp can be trailed along like a dog on a leash, demonstrating the collective’s playful style.
“We were always discussing the possibilities of new furniture, furniture that could move,” said Bedin. “I was designing everything on wheels at this time.
The Super Lamp was one of a variety of lighting designs that Bedin created for Memphis.
The Super Lamp is still produced and sold through the Memphis Milano gallery, and has remained one of Memphis’ most recognisable pieces.
Sottsass and his wife Barbara Radice also visited Bedin in Paris, and spotted the design for the Super Lamp while flicking through her sketch book.

BIM is ‘wake up call’ for Qatar’s contractors

RELATED ARTICLES: Revealed: How BIM can help procurement managers | BIM for FM: A Bird’s Eye View | How is BIM transforming GCC project delivery?
With Qatar’s rising number of projects – from skyscrapers to stadiums – what can be done to further encourage BIM adoption in the country?
Contractors adopting BIM across the whole project delivery would enhance Qatar’s standing as an innovation hub, while driving the country’s competitiveness on a global scale.
But on a countrywide level, the adoption of BIM by contractors lags behind the region and the rest of the world.
With BIM, organisations can deliver projects on time, on budget, and with a goal towards sustainability.