BIM from Concept Design to Fabrication

When an architect ideates a complex building envelope, they often rely on a façade consultancy to develop the final detailed solution of their design. The purpose of this paper is to describe a customised BIM methodology to develop complex building envelopes, evaluating the process followed to convert an architectural concept design to a fabrication reality. Over recent years, building information modelling has developed greatly in terms of architectural, structural and MEP disciplines. It conveniently advances and analyse the variables of a concept design, and furthermore, coordinates disciplines during the detailed design phases. However, when a technical approach to the envelope’s design must be implemented, we need detailed engineering tools to simulate the environmental data, and to analyse and develop the system’s fabrication features and assemblies, which are tedious to incorporate on BIM basis. This paper describes the process followed to develop and execute a building envelope project, starting with a concept design and incorporating virtual simulation processes for the solution to meet its structural and thermal requirements. The final aim is to have detailed drawings and documents of the envelope’s elements, with coordinated information for construction and fabrication purposes