COWI and Nordic in the frontline with innovative BIM

10.10.2018

The BIM team at Stavanger University Hospital (SUS2023) is doing something no-one else in the world has done before. Autodesks AEC Excellence Awards has now named this Norwegian project as one of the best BIM projects in the world.

COWI and Nordic – Office of Architecture are finalists in the awards for the world's best BIM projects for major constructions for their work with SUS2023.
"We are very happy about this recognition. SUS2023 is an extremely ambitious and forward-looking client. They have given us room to innovate in the planning phase, enabling us to streamline the project processes. This has resulted in world-leading development in industrialised planning and construction. The success is thanks to a true team effort," says Senior Vice President, Buildings, Birgit Farstad Larsen.

There are three finalists in the category “Building Design, Major Projects”:

• Stavanger University Hospital, COWI and Nordic, Norway
• Beijing CBD Z6 Tower, by BIAD & Foster + Partners, China
• Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, by HKS, USA

The winners of the AEC Excellence Awards will be announced at the world's largest BIM conference, Autodesk University, in Las Vegas on 13-15 November. This year a total of 196 projects were nominated in three categories: Infrastructure, Building Design and Construction. The conference is held every year, bringing together more than 10,000 participants from around the world.

More hospital for the money

The Project Director for Helse Stavanger HF and SUS2023, Kari Gro Johanson, is determined to ensure that this project helps to lift the sector by developing tools and models for more efficient processes and more accurate cost calculations, which means that risks can be identified at an earlier stage.

"We are going to build the most and the best possible hospital for the money we have. This new hospital requires innovation from both the suppliers and engineers to build in a smarter, safer and more forward-looking way. We are benefiting from the knowledge and solutions from other sectors, and we will share our experiences with the world afterwards. It is great to see that Autodesk believes we are on the right track," says Johanson.

The team and partners in the project are COWI and Nordic – Office of Architecture, AART architects, Aas-Jakobsen AS, SLA, Bygganalyse, SUS2023 and Bryden Wood.

Ground-breaking work within industrialised planning and construction

Ingrid Alvsåker is the overall BIM manager for the project.

"The method and the programme developed by COWI and Nordic for industrialised planning have resulted in greater standardisation, paving the way for a higher level of industrialised construction. The project also aims to use as few drawings as possible. To reduce the need for paper-based planning, we are looking at prefabrication, modular construction and using robots that can read models," explains Alvsåker.

Already last year, the BIM work on SUS2023 was praised by Autodesk University for being 'best practice' within innovation and digitalisation in the construction industry. On this occasion Kristoffer Tungland from COWI and Bridget White from Nordic were invited to present their strategies and new methods for working in Revit with streamlined interdisciplinary modular information, to improve the workflow and to stimulate the construction phases.