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Harlequin Floors recently announced that the company’s product design data is now compliant with Level 2 BIM (Building Information Modelling) and available online at the NBS National BIM Library, to architects, theatre planners and consulting engineers involved with designing and planning dance spaces.
Contracts Director at Harlequin Floors, Ray Lloyds explains that, “With changes in technology and advancements in the construction industry we wanted to invest in BIM to stay ahead of the game, as more architects use the system which is good news for the future of construction and manufacturing alike.” Ray is quick to point out that “Harlequin Floors has always worked closely with RIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects) and NBS, so when they approached us with the prospect of becoming an early adopter of BIM, it was a natural choice for us to keep up with the new technology. In doing so, Harlequin has become the only specialist dance floor company to have its products included in the NBS National BIM Library.” NBS,
Ray Lloyds summed up the initiative by saying, “Government contracts such as schools and local authority projects form a substantial part of our business. Consequently, as a company Harlequin wanted to ensure that when a project is being, specified architects are able to access all the technical information regarding our products and therefore specify our specialist products with ease and confidence.”
Considered as an important strategic move by Harlequin Floors, seventeen of Harlequin’s products are now available as objects on BIM, ahead of the Government mandate which stipulates that from 2016 all public construction projects are to be built using of Level 2 BIM within all parts of the design and build process.
BIM is being viewed as the future of construction processes for working, by managing information in a team environment and enabling everyone to understand a building through the use of a digital model. The digital model holds all the information needed to design, construct and maintain that building. The level of detail in the model grows to reflect the building as it is being constructed and ultimately as it is used. This enables errors and clashes to be resolved in the early stages of the model, saving cost and increasing efficiency.
At the core of BIM is what is termed a ‘BIM Object’. “This is a combination of many things: It is detailed information that defines the product and geometry that represents the product’s physical characteristics. The visualisation data that gives the object a recognisable appearance and behavioural data, such as detection zones, enables the object to be positioned or to behave in exactly the same way as the product itself. There are two primary types of object: component and layered. The component objects are building products that have fixed geometrical shapes such as windows, doors, boilers etc. Layered objects are building products that do not have a fixed shape or size such as carpets, roofing, walls and ceilings.”
Further information for architects and planners of dance spaces is freely available on the Harlequin web site and a free architects guide can be mailed on request.