Improving multidisciplinary design through data centralization

One of the most frequently asked questions relating to BIM is how can data centralization support multidisciplinary work and teams? Sebastien Frenette, BIM director and engineer at Provencher_Roy, explains how data centralization was used to ensure that a new hospital project would meet the client’s requirements.

Can you quickly introduce the project?

For years, we had been experimenting with a process designed to reduce the gap between modellers and programming teams, by consolidating program data through a centralized data-driven approach.

While designing a major new hospital counting 404 beds, 11 operating rooms, and a 41-stretcher emergency room, we were finally able to implement a data-centric approach to drive the design teams, architects, and engineers. We implemented a tool that enabled us to consolidate user needs in a structured way in order to facilitate the consultation and evolution of the program data, then bring added value information into our parametric 3D models, including our client’s equipment representing over 70,000 occurrences of medical equipment spanning 6,750 rooms. We managed to import data into our 3D models and drive the models with accurate, real-time information. This data was made available seamlessly to designers, programming teams, modellers, and stakeholders, ensuring the client's design requirements were met.

Representing a unique opportunity, the project not only enabled us to achieve our objective, but also resulted in an extremely valuable initiative impacting all stakeholders involved in the project. ?

Multidisciplinary 3D coordination of medical systems and equipment in an examination room

Which teams were involved in the project, and why was collaboration important?

This project brought together two groups that usually work independently. The first one was made up of the programming teams who work closely with the project's development teams (including owners and users) to address the needs and requirements, then translate the requirements into cohesive programming data. The second group consisted of the modelling teams responsible for modelling the project in accordance with the latest program data in order to provide the necessary visual and technical support to facilitate the decision-making and buy-in.

These two roles are, in fact, inextricably linked, since each one feeds the other with graphical data, 3D elements, or with non-graphical data (the programming data). The need for collaboration was exacerbated by the scope of this massive health care infrastructure project with a surface area of 120,000 m2. While 3D technology has been used for several years, access to defined, structured, exploitable, and accessible program data had organizational and dissemination shortcomings, leaving modelling teams with a lack of quality information delivered in a timely and consistent manner.

?Visualization of the functional program based on the rooms geometry, and colored by function.

Which platforms did you use to manage the data?

We used dRofus, a powerful world-renowned software that enabled us to manage the functional program, rooms, and distribution of a variety of equipment and technical requirements.

Our goal was to obtain program data that would drive the design teams, architects, and engineers, in addition to being able to rely on a tool enabling us to consolidate user needs in a structured and organized way that brings added value to our 3D models. We were also responsible for managing the programming data and all of the equipment. Given that the owner already had their own data management platform for thousands of medical instruments and equipment, through our tools, we found a way to bring their data to an exploitable state. Our aim was to connect our two platforms, rather than impose one, as a means of respecting the technical expertise and software needs of both stakeholders.

How did you connect the two platforms?

In one word, we created a bridge. We started by creating a data transfer protocol in to order to harmonize the added value data between our platforms so that we could transfer data on a weekly basis. This protocol consisted of:

1. Defining the technical data transferred from database A to B and B to A
2. Establishing a schedule for synchronizing information
3. Defining the level of responsibility for data captured and shared by stakeholders

Data transfer scheme between the project databases feeding the 3D parametric models.

What was the biggest challenge?

We were required to consolidate the information in a way that would be exploitable for many uses. Therefore, no data was generated into simple, “text box format.” Instead, every piece of data was structured and organized, enabling it to be manipulated, exported, filtered, or imported into our 3D production models. Additionally, we only imported into our 3D production models the added value data that required manipulation for a specific use, like for a room, its name, its number, its technical sheet number, or its finishes; for equipment, lists of medical equipment, codes, layout numbering, electromechanical needs, or load calculations, in the case of specific critical equipment, as defined from P0 to P4.

At an individual room level, we connected the rooms from dRofus to our 3D parametric models. No room in our model was placed without it being part of the list of rooms in our database, thereby limiting errors in the program and enabling us to improve it to compensate for errors and omissions.

Improving multidisciplinary coordination by centralized information and a data centric approach.

At an equipment level, we worked with equipment lists and their specification data in our database, then we were able to only model and place equipment specified in the program, once again limiting errors and omissions. For example, we created a parametric object in the form of a box based on the overall dimensions, and another box nested in this one to manage clearances.

At an owner-equipment-list level, we used some of the data provided from database B to automatically generate, through our parametric modelling tool, a generic box from the dimensions provided by the owner, which was sufficient for planning and coordination. For most of the medical equipment, this level of development was adequate, enabling us to make design decisions based on the client's needs, and optimize the program, while supporting our design teams in coordinating with the project stakeholders. We then simply improved the modelling of some critical medical equipment, but all stakeholders always remained connected to the database.

Enhancing the project in several ways, such as through planning, design requirements, coordination, and QTO (quantity take-offs), dRofus supported the project teams, ensuring that all medical equipment was synchronized between the owner’s database and ours, in real-time.

?Multidisciplinary 3D parametric design of the new Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital.

Click here to learn more about the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital.

This project was done in JV with Yelle Maillé Associés Architects.