Hansen Yuncken- Constructing a Digital Future

Take a moment to picture your life without the technology we have today. If you you’re an internet junkie like I am, you should be screaming. Oh the horrors. Maybe I am over-exaggerating, but most of you probably haven’t realised how far technology has taken us.

So you probably heard the saying ‘everything comes at a cost’. Don’t you ever wonder what technology will cost us in the near future? This is definitely something to keep in mind, but in the words of Hansen and Yuncken CEO Joe Barr ‘technology has the ability to add value through innovation is very powerful, and if you are a first mover on this it’s going to deliver a real competitive advantage’, pinpointed my exact thought about the positive impact IT had on the building industry.

This was the topic of today’s lecture ‘Constructing a Digital Future’. How they come up with these interesting titles is something I will never know. We were introduced to Michael Park, an IT and programming manager from Hansen and Yuncken, who presented the topic of ‘HyWay System and Enterprise BIM Initiative’.

Having developed the ‘HyWay System’, Hansen and Yuncken is considered as one of Australia’s largest private construction company that has taken a new approach into capturing and processing information. The name itself has something innovative about the program, so I knew I was in for something interesting. Although I think my expectations were a bit high this time round.

One of the more interesting features of HyWay was the colour coding system, known as RAG. If you didn’t see it, RAG is simply an acronym for the colours, red, amber and green, which are used to code different areas of the project. For example, the areas in red indicate the parts of the project that may have a problem and needs attention to. Amber reads parts that need to be carefully supervised and lastly green simply correlates to ‘giving the green light’, literally! If you ask me, this was a pretty creative way of organising and maintaining the progress of projects, by simply alluding to traffic lights.

I think one of the downside of Hansen and Yuncken’s workplace principle is that the company aims to rid any form of paperwork or handwritten documents and instead encourages any work related paper to be submitted into an excel spreadsheet via online. It is clear that although this may have the benefit of time management, putting data online takes away the traditional method with pen and paper. This revisits my previous question ‘what will technology cost us in the future?’

There will be no upcoming posts next week, as I will be on my two week holiday break which I have been waiting on forever! No hard feelings. You will find me enjoying my assignment free-time, basking underneath the cool summer sun at Bondi Beach, with a few cocktails beside me. (Hint the sarcasm)

Goodbye!

IT Construction Delivery aka ‘It’s all in the hands of IT’

So I had a glimpse of a few of my very first posts from a while back, and I realise..

When I first heard about the Dr Chau Chak Wing building at UTS, my initial thought was where can I sign up for a building. But that’s beside the point. I will admit, I didn’t understand the concept behind the project’s architectural design, as it looked more like a micro-waved paper bag castle to me, however that wasn’t until I realised it was the innovation of materials and construction, that really labels this building as truly creative.

Dr Chau Chak Wing Building

Dr Chau Chak Wing

Already drawn into the subject, in Lecture 6, we were extremely lucky to have Julian D’Onofrio from Lend Lease and Rick Benjamin from ARUP to talk to us about IT Construction Delivery. Up first, we were given an exclusive behind the scenes look into the ‘Dr Chau Chak Wing building’, which is now currently under construction. It may seem like nothing at this stage, but really this project seems like something out of an abstract painting. From its twelve-storey high columns, to its unusual choice of fragmented brick works, this could really be Sydney’s next ‘Opera House’. Well, maybe I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself, but let’s take a look at the role IT plays behind this impressive structure. (Hopefully they’ll throw in a few sustainable features, and it will make me a happy woman). On a site note, I found this Time-lapsed video of the building posted on YouTube. Be sure to check it out!

What interest me most, were the unusual brick designs in which they called K Brick and there were five different types. As far as I was concerned, the only brick I knew existed were the standard bricks. However these custom design K bricks are specifically made to construct the exterior façade of the building, in order to achieve the desired curved design. Just to give you an idea of what K bricks look like check out the photo below.

Both guest speakers spoke about the important role IT had in delivering this project. If you could imagine, a complicated architectural design and construction, equates to higher risk management. BIM technology has been use to minimise these risk and also assist with the project which was no surprise there. Another impressive software is ‘Digital Projects’, a design tool that is used for projects that are more sophisticated and difficult to design and construct, like the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building. Digital Project application also allows parametric models to be created on a 3-D plan, which further assists with the construction of this innovative building.

I could really go on forever about this amazing project, but it’s time to hit the sack. Hope you enjoyed reading this, stay tuned for next time.

Move over CAD.. BIM is the new software.

Forget CAD, we now have a more impressive software in our hands….. and that is…. BIM. To this day an age, no-one really knows how far technology can take us. A perfect example of this is BIM technology. I will admit, there was much anticipation for this week’s lecture. Not only because it was construction related content, (Yes, I am a construction student), but the topic had caught my attention a while back during my high school studies with CAD/CAM.

The subject for this lecture was ‘BIM Coordination Technologies’, and as nerdy as it sounds, it had everything a sci-fi geek would dream of getting his hands on. We were introduced to two BIM experts Fawzi Soliman and Ryan Hanlen, both of whom we knew in an instance were the real deal, judging from their impressive resumes.

BIM is short for Building Information Modelling, and it is a process that encompasses the modelling and management of a building. As expected, the software has more than just one function. It can store information and documents in databases, as well as enable drawings in 2D to be rendered into 3D models. Generically, BIM software pretty much has it all. By this I mean, that it is feature that has not only assisted professionals in the industry, but has changed the methods we use to manage and develop projects on a large scale.

As you can imagine, there are many benefits of using BIM technology. One of the biggest advantages I found interesting was the efficiency and accuracy of the outcome. BIM has installed interrelated and cross-references information, an accessory that is useful when it comes down to that one minute detail that can cost you the entire project. This feature Fawzi mentioned, allows for managers to manage assets more accurately and efficiently, saving a lot of time along the way. Another impressive value of BIM is its ability to securely store information and data online which minimises the risk of losing work as well time efficiency. It almost feels as if BIM is has a whole new paradigm, that we didn’t know existed. However, in the end it must all come down to how BIM impacts on process of management in the field of the building industry.

According to Ryan, BIM has left a lasting impression on the building industry today (and me, If I could say so myself). There have definitely been more improvements in the built environment through the use of BIM, and hopefully it is put into good use in the near future. BIM is like in many ways an umbrella, as it spreads across a large area of building management. Thus it is important to understand BIM technology in order to follow other building softwares that will be mentioned in future posts.