When Elgaard Architecture began working on plans to restore a historic church in central Copenhagen, it immediately knew building information modelling (BIM) would be vital to the project’s success.
“The project was about restoration of the church floor and, as part of it, a new heating system had to be implemented,” explains architect William Lorentz Celliers. He’s the BIM manager at the Danish firm, which specialises in restoring heritage buildings.
“In the initial phase, we had the Church 3d laser scanned and with a detail BIM model produced based on the scan.”
Elgaard’s portfolio of work spans a complex array of historic structures, from castles and manor houses to landmark cultural buildings and residential complexes. Connecting past, present and future, they seek to amplify the historic identity of buildings, while activating their cultural heritage potential and increasing their business potential.
To visualise, manage and build these complex projects, the firm makes use of 3D modelling in Autodesk Construction Cloud’s BIM Collaborate. In fact, it attributes its success in winning some of Copenhagen’s biggest restoration projects to its ability to work in 3D.
“When you begin a restoration project on listed or protected buildings, there are often no previous set of drawings or blueprints to refer back to,” explains William, “and certainly no digital twins already in place.
“Without that quantified information, we usually approach the client and ask to scan the building. A land surveyor then measures everything up and produces a BIM model base on our modelling specifications, which is the base the consultants will be working from. Having a digital twin and digital prototyping model has huge advantages for us.
For example, it enables us to enhance our coordination with engineers, so we’re not jostling for space in a duct when it comes to the build, but have figured out beforehand how we hide installations in such places in a protected building.”
One typical recent example was a project Elgaard completed in 2021 – the transformation of a modernist office block in central Copenhagen, originally designed by the famous Danish architect Svenn Eske Kristensen.
“This was a super exciting project to work on and everything was coordinated within Autodesk Construction Cloud,” says William. “It involved a lot of tough detailing and we had to get additional laser scans done, as we had a very complex and tricky circulation spot to solve in the existing structure.
“The fact that we could share schedules, schemes and notes that were accessible for everyone on the project and could have many authors contributing simultaneously was a huge plus,” he says.
“Project deliveries were initially sent be email until the transition to Construction Cloud where project documents consolidated centrally, to which multiple authors could contribute was an incredible timesaver for coordinating this project.”
As a digital-first firm, Elgaard is at the vanguard of building restoration. “We work predominantly with listed and protected buildings,” says William. These built heritage projects typically involve a lot of specialists and typically can be very 2D-oriented. This means that this sector of the architectural market that can be a little bit behind digitalisation, “ explains William.
“There can be a sense that people in this field are still operating in antiquated ways, working in dusty rooms. We know some of our competition are still stuck with 2D hand drawings.”
While contractors in the conversation and restoration arena can be conservative and reluctant to move to digital construction project and design management, Denmark in general is a leader in digitalisation so most of Elgaard’s partners see the likely benefits of BIM and are keen to work with it.
“We coordinate beforehand on 3D models of existing buildings where we are not sure about things. It makes things much clearer and our use of time is more valuable. We’re not leaving critical issues until we are on site, but we have formulated an approach of what it is we are going to be doing.”
Elgaard Architecture decided to embark on digital transformation in 2020. “I had worked elsewhere as a BIM and ICT manager,” explains William.
“I could see the potential of the technology to transform the heritage projects this office does, but also knew it would be a paradigm shift for everyone who works here. The digitalisation of the office and our work processes meant moving away from things being kept on desks and moving information and documents onto a shared server.”
The firm has found the collaborative licensing approach to the solution particularly attractive. “This tool is where we host all our models now,” he says. “We are not bounded by who has licences and who doesn’t, we can just issue licences as needed so common documents are shared across consultants.”
He adds the firm is constantly exploring potential new uses for Autodesk Construction Cloud. “We have used it as a bidding platform,” he says. “On a lot of our sites, because of the work that we do, some clients are really tech-savvy, but some are less so. At the same time, sometimes there is funding from a client to host these platforms, but sometimes there isn’t the budget for that.
Before any of this becomes an issue, we can say we have Autodesk Construction Cloud. We can retain all the advantages of having historical versions of these documents, while also being creative about how we apply it.
In the past, when William was responsible for clash control, there were no BIM collision tools. The traditional clash control process involved different stakeholders and contractors sending models with this being connected in an external programme. Then he would have to run through every individual check and send back reports manually.
“Now, I can use model coordination on our projects, even when it is quite complicated and involves five or six different models from architects and engineers. There can be tens of thousands of relevant clashes, but I can really organise them, sort them and send them out in a few days. For me, it’s insane how much time I saved on every collision control task.
As I’m sending the clash in the same online environment and getting immediate feedback on issues, there’s no backwards and forwards across systems. It saves weeks.
When it comes to coordination meetings, he says Autodesk Construction Cloud has also made life easier. “We can just have the model up and viewable. It’s quick to access and make note if something needs to be checked. I could really see with other client consultants who were used to working with drawings in meetings that it was especially valuable and an ease to the meetings.”
One application which Elgaard is working on consolidating at present is quality assurance of drawings. “Traditionally, this has always been an issue with architectural companies. Drawings get printed out, someone marks them up and they’re scanned. But then someone crosses something out, and someone else changes something, and suddenly the process can get complicated.”
Moreover, he adds, it can take a few hours to decipher multiple notes in different handwriting on drawings. “That time could be much better used somewhere else,” he points out.
By using Autodesk Construction Cloud, however, he says it’s clear they can make quality assurance a much more effective process. “By creating issues and markups within Autodesk Construction Cloud, we can make sure they are sent to people on the team with one consolidated point of entry. An issue can be created, sent immediately to the person responsible who can get a status and give feedback, all in one central place.”
While Elgaard makes use of Autodesk Construction Cloud for large projects involving multiple consultants and on-site contractors, it also makes use of it wherever possible. “It’s very adaptive,” says William. “We use it on smaller projects too. We have used it to host documents for bidders, and for our own models and common documents.”
In time, he hopes to streamline the firm’s project management and have all projects hosted on Autodesk Construction Cloud at all times.
“These things take time. While some people are adaptive and can see the advantage immediately, sometimes we need to introduce change slowly within a project and let people come to the soft realisation of how valuable it is and how clear everything is.”
