EXPANDED AT ONE HYDE PARK

Client: Expanded

Project: One Hyde Park -- London

Where Knightsbridge in London enters Hyde Park, an outstandingly prestigious residential apartment block is now being built. The project, costing in the region of 350 million GBP, is designed to deliver the highest quality accommodation with prices reaching over 8 million GBP for the roof-level apartments. To accommodate this development, it was necessary to demolish the existing Bowater House office block and reroute traffic into the park.

The Client/Contractor

Expanded is a Company within the Laing O'Rourke Group, specialising in structural work. They have been appointed to carry out the first phase of the development, from the demolition of Bowater House to creation of the completed structure ready for fit-out. Laing O'Rourke is moving towards a position where all its new work is carried out based on 3D models, onto which a 4D and 5D planning capability is superimposed. Having reviewed the market place, the Company has committed to trial Synchro on this project.

Background

Expanded won enormous positive recognition for the way it delivered the Ascot Grandstand on time and on budget in 2006. To do this it used many of the techniques to which it was exposed in working on the T5 project and the use of a 3D model was seen as a valuable part of this. However, they lacked a real working tool, to give them a dynamic oversight of the schedule of activities needed to optimise results. Because of its hugely crowded and busy location, Expanded management felt they needed to be very precise in the way they worked week by week on the site. Synchro is used to normalise the understanding of design and delivery for all project stakeholders, to better illustrate constraints and offer a medium in which to test solutions.

WHY SYNCHRO?

Expanded selected the Synchro software application for a number of reasons:

Because of the project's hugely crowded and busy location, Expanded management felt they needed to be very precise in the way they worked week by week on the site. Synchro was used to normalise the understanding of design and delivery for all project stakeholders, to better illustrate constraints and offer a medium in which to test solutions.
The software could absorb easily the 3D outputs from its drawing centre in India with changes assimilated as they occurred and without the need to return to the start point each time.
Its ability to handle the design components at individual or grouped level so that the view of the weekly work schedule could correspond with different peoples' needs.
Its ability to bring in all the logistical implications of the programme to help position cranes, roads, stores in a city centre site where logistics play a crucial role. Being sure that work was logistically sequenced at each level in the right way was seen as crucial. Logistics are seen to be the key consideration for the delivery of the site to plan.
The opportunity to compare visually different strategies to understand flaws and wins for one route over another and share these with different trade specialists.
The interoperability with other planning systems
Speed and simplicity of the approach.

What Synchro Provided

The assimilation of 3D models as provided with some element of proofing and the provision of a location breakdown that met the users' needs.
Staff training
The creation of logistics items and linking of 4D programme from 2D planning schedule

THE OUTCOME

THE SUBCONTRACTORS PLANNING TEAM, INCLUDING CROWN HOUSE, MALLINGS AND OTHERS WERE ABLE TO CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE DELIVERY PROGRAM IN ADVANCE OF ACCESSIBILITY OF SITE, THEREBY RECTIFYING LOGISTICAL ISSUES, SUCH AS THE REQUIREMENT FOR DELIVERY ROOMS AND TACTICAL ISSUES SUCH AS ASSEMBLY SEQUENCES OF E.G. PRE-CAST STEEL AND OTHER BUILDING COMPONENTS.

To play a brief YouTube movie clip about Synchro's 4D BIM construction software, simply click here.

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