TIONG SENG CONTRACTORS PTE LTD
Digital project delivery results in high quality healthcare construction
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Share this story
Reducing construction time and improving stakeholder collaboration with BIM and Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD)
For the Kallang Polyclinic and Long-Term Care Facility in Singapore, the team from Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD facilitated a high degree of coordination between design and construction to meet the needs of the project’s end-users and operators. By using the Autodesk AEC Collection and cloud collaboration solutions, the project achieved a 25% reduction in construction time and a 33% improvement in resolving coordination issues.
Overview of the coordinated project model. Photo courtesy of Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD.
High degree of coordination with BIM
No two healthcare facilities are alike—and that’s especially true for the Kallang Polyclinic and Long-Term Care Facility in Singapore. In fact, it is a hybrid of two healthcare components in a single building. The building consists of a Polyclinic with a wide range of clinical facilities and a Long-Term Care Facility that provides resident care. Since the design, purpose, and end-users of the two areas are very different and with multiple stakeholders for decision-making, the construction process posed an even bigger challenge.
Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD took a thoughtful approach to both uses of the facility. Since every detail of the building had to be approved from the outset, a seamless feedback and sign-off cycle was imperative.
Interior perspective of the Revit model. Photo courtesy of Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD.
Modeling for constructability
The architect’s Revit model was offered to Tiong Seng, who then added a higher level of detail to make the design more constructible. Tiong Seng also required the mechanical and electrical trade contractors to use Revit and Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro together to ensure seamless collaboration during design. Using BIM and Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) together brought a new level of coordination for the team, including shorter review cycles and more visibility via Revit models.
With the project model fully detailed in Revit, the team was able to create an immersive experience with virtual reality. These VR experiences helped both the owners and end-users, such as the actual doctors and nurses, to visualize the rooms and provide feedback for faster adjustments and approvals.
"With Autodesk AEC Collection and BIM 360 solutions, the collaboration between project stakeholders is seamless. We saw a 33% improvement in resolving coordination issues as compared to past projects where BIM 360 was not adopted."
—Ye Zaw Lin, Corporate BIM Manager, Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD
Digital progress model. Photo courtesy of Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD.
Automated approach to asset management and approvals
The owner’s requirement for detailed floor plans and drawings—known as a "room book" in Singapore—is unique and essential for well-coordinated project delivery. The room book drawings had to detail every aspect of a room, from the ceiling height down to the placement of the bed and even the paint color. All these details required final sign-off before any construction could begin.
Using Dynamo for Revit and Python scripting, the team created an in-depth, six-sided view of each room to aid in the complex asset management and stakeholder approval process. More than 100,000 assets in the project required documentation, such as the type of furniture, its location, and the serial number. Using an automated approach, the team saved more than 1,000 labor hours on the project.
Collaboration meeting with building end-users. Photo courtesy of Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD.
BIM collaboration for offsite construction
The shortage of construction resources in Singapore drove Tiong Seng to look for more effective and productive coordination and construction tools, methods, and technologies. The team adopted DFMA and prefabrication methodologies, including PPVC (Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction).
The two different end uses of the facility dictated two different construction processes where prefabrication could be used much more extensively in one area than the other. DfMA and prefabrication were perfectly suited for levels 6 to 9 due to the regularity of each room’s layout and use. The team deployed more than 130 units of PPVC, which were fully coordinated through BIM and IDD before being fabricated in the factory and delivered to the site.
Driving results
By harnessing the capabilities of BIM and IDD, collaboration sessions among stakeholders further optimized PPVC modular units. The project team was able to reduce the number of modular unit types, shortening the fabrication/construction timeline by 25% and saving more than 5,000 hours.
“BIM and IDD help integrate our entire process together because it isn’t as simple as getting a room done in the factory and then swinging it in. Before that can be done, we need all the stakeholders to come together and make sure that everything is well coordinated.”
—Edwin Lee, Business Unit Head, Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD
A version of this article ran previously on Autodesk's AEC Excellence Awards site. Some product names have been updated to reflect current offerings, including BIM Collaborate Pro which was formerly named BIM 360 Design. Photos courtesy of Tiong Seng Contractors PTE LTD.