img(height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2939831959404383&ev=PageView&noscript=1")

BIM Demystified – An Architect’s Guide to BIM

BIM Demystified – An Architect’s Guide to BIM
Steve Race
RIBA Publishing, £19.95


When I first picked up this book I turned to the index to find the definition of IFC. As I understand it, Industry Foundation Classes refers to the interface through which different BIM software platforms talk to each other, facilitating cross-platform BIM communication among design teams. IFC’s omission from the index highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of this book. It is a good general introduction to BIM, covering first principles, the business case, setting up systems in the office, implementation and the legal framework of BIM in a collaborative context. 

But it doesn’t cover the nitty gritty, which gives it a sense of academic abstraction. Issues such as the pros and cons of various systems, surely of interest to anyone about to spend significant capital on tech-up, are ignored. There is no reference to ‘AutoCad’, ‘ArchiCad’ or ‘Microstation’, let alone a comparative look at them. This is a good read for the novice, but for those seeking hard facts on things like software choice, perhaps too easy. 

 

Latest

Checking in with four architects on both sides of the pond who have gone through the application process

Checking in with four architects on both sides of the pond who have gone through the application process

In west London, Maccreanor Lavington’s MacFarlane Place scheme for Peabody salutes Victorian blocks while offering satisfying points of difference and tenant-friendly touches such as heat-regulating shutters

MacFarlane Place salutes Victorian blocks while offering tenant-friendly touches such as heat-regulating shutters

Bid for a spot on a construction consultancy services framework, create a motor-free square in the capital, lead the restoration of four war memorial sites - some of the latest architecture contracts and competitions from across the industry

Latest: Construction consultancy services DPS

Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne's 1936 Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Paisley, now flats, followed the firm's renowned Royal Masonic Hospital in London

Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne's Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Paisley followed the firm's renowned Royal Masonic Hospital in London

'We're not just a roomful of architects,' say IDK's members, as they discuss designing the V&A's David Bowie Centre and working with communities from London to Paris to Devon

The practice's work spans from the V&A's David Bowie Centre to working with communities in London and Devon