MEP calculations are still in their infancy compared with the rest of the building, meaning more research and data collection is required to create robust calculations and benchmarks.
This is about understanding how to take information about one stage of an asset, and make it usable for another stage.Our approach will generate a density of information that we can make use of throughout the design and build process (including planning) – and then beyond construction, into the operation of buildings and ultimately their end of life.
Standardised data will vastly improve transparency and efficiency, and open up opportunities for future innovation..Enabling planning as a data-led process will unlock the value of related modern methods of construction, enabling connections with related applications such as the PRiSM app for housing.. Making processes more efficient and transparent will force the hand of the regulatory environment – as we have seen in other sectors, better technology drives the modernisation of regulations.. And, of course, the lessons learned from this project can be applied beyond planning.This sort of project helps create the environment for people – public and professionals – to engage with digital in the public realm.
This will be an exemplar of how applying technology creates a proliferation of benefits.. How to create a digital environment for planning.In order to enable a digitised planning process, the core requirement is to:.
Standardise and digitise (as far as possible and/or desirable) the rules under which designs are - by different parties - created, submitted, assessed, consulted on, amended, approved and ultimately built.. Agree the interoperable standard datasets that will enable this, and how to generate and use them.. As already said, the aim of this project is not to create a single solution for this process; we do not believe a single solution is in anyone’s best interests.
We are interested in realising the environment within which one or multiple solutions can be developed and operate together.. To date we have focused on scoping each stage of the process and developing a demo version of how a digital planning process would operate.The benefits of a Platform approach to design and construction: time, cost, quality.
A Platforms approach to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA) delivers significant benefits to a project, including: reduced costs, reduced programme time, reduced carbon, reduced numbers of workers required to build, increased health and safety, increased quality, increased flexibility and adaptability.. And we can deliver all of this with no compromise on the aesthetic quality of the building.The beauty of Circle Birmingham hospital – including the spectacular cantilever we achieved over the main entrance – bears witness to that last point.
And this is not simply architectural posturing.We know that the physical environment affects us directly, and it has been shown repeatedly that the patient experience of a beautiful and uplifting hospital environment makes a materially positive difference to clinical outcomes.. Clearly, all of these benefits are critical when healthcare is under such pressure – pressure which shows no signs of abating.