Tools of the future remodel buildings of the past

New case study from CADline looks at how architects are using tools of the future to remodel buildings of the past, including Levitt Bernstein and the resurrection of 1960's Brunswick Centre.

Had they been able to glimpse into the future, many architects of the 1960s would have been pained to discover that their brave new vision of modern living would be seen, a mere 40 years later, as brutalist social housing, unsuited to the needs of 21st Century living and condemned to dereliction.

Happily for them, urban renewal has become a key part of the architectural repertoire over the last twenty years and perhaps unparalleled amongst its proponents is a firm which was itself founded in the 1960s, north London-based Levitt Bernstein.

Acknowledged leaders in the field of urban renewal, Levitt Bernstein's environmental, social and economically sustainable approach to design has been recognised by numerous awards - including Regeneration Architect of the Year in 2006 - and it was shortlisted for the RIBA Sustainability Award in the same year.

Perhaps best known for its resurrection and indeed redemption of the 1960s Brunswick Centre housing scheme, Levitt Bernstein brought alive this tired and outmoded development by renovating, re-modelling and re-landscaping it into what is now an iconic structure, winning the 2006 Civic Trust Award for its efforts.

Its other major renewal projects include south London's infamously dilapidated Aylesbury Estate and Southwark's Bermondsey Spa - the huge residential and mixed use development east of Tower Bridge, which is a work in progress.

Levitt Bernstein created the regeneration masterplan for Bermondsey Spa back in July 2003; twelve months later, planning had been approved for 605 (later 627) dwellings, a 1,250m2 supermarket and a health centre, with a total construction budget of GBP95m.

The development - which by virtue not least of its scale, is being created in at least five phases over seven years - is highly complex and involves multiple stakeholders and construction professionals and has provided a huge communications challenge for its architects.

Levitt Bernstein was acutely aware that with a project of this magnitude, it would need to look beyond its existing AutoCAD design facility and towards a more sophisticated 3D modelling programme that would provide better co-ordination, design options and design transparency.

"It was just so apparent that we would waste time and potentially put ourselves at risk by having to manually update all of our plans, elevations, and sections and by having to use normal human resources to ensure that all these changes take place," says Levitt Bernstein's Dylan Murdey-Green.

"Whereas with a 3D modelling programme like Revit, you change the plans and you know that everything gets updated in every single drawing that you've already created".

"Projects of great complexity or with multiple phases are greatly simplified with Revit and we knew we should move in that direction".

The firm used leading Autodesk reseller, CADline to help establish its software needs and by March 2007, had ordered its first 27 licences of Revit Architecture.

Levitt Berstein created the Bermondsey Spa masterplan originally in AutoCAD but as Revit Architecture started to be implemented within the office, the project was gradually transitioned.

The Hyde Group, lead developer of the Bermondsey Spa project, welcomed the 3D modelling software as it helped to illustrate its vision in a more easily digestible format.

"It was a big project but a good one to start with because it consisted of multiple phases and the benefit was that everything is held in Revit's underlying database, so we can move on to subsequent phases quickly and easily," says Murdey-Green.

"The first phase to be dealt with was the working drawings for a ten storey residential block and the data created for this is now informing the design process on later phases," he adds.

Before making the transition, the firm appraised other similar design offerings, such as Archicad, which they also tested extensively on live projects.

"It was good to compare the two side by side and to get completely informed opinions and feedback," says Murdey-Green.

"There was a feeling that they were similar in terms of what they could do and how they were used".

"But we chose Revit in the end because of its superior editing features".

"Architects spend a lot of time - well, most of their time - modifying, changing and editing designs and Revit had the edge in that respect".

"Revit is by no means perfect and there are issues which have to be managed, but these were secondary to the benefits of a co-ordinated, 3D approach".

One of the first architects at Levitt Bernstein to work with Revit Architecture was also a great believer in the merits of 3D and BIM.

"I was actually the guinea pig for the company," says Dominik Schleipen, one of the project architects on Phase II of the Bermondsey Spa project.

"It was three of us really who were of the generation that started off with CAD at school - maybe the first year that did that - so we were young enough to be of that generation but old enough to have a certain seniority," he adds, perhaps underscoring the importance of having enthusiasts spearheading change".

"Also, we had a strong feeling that BIM was the future and that it could save us a lot of time with repetitive tasks and help with coordinated working", he says.

Many architects acknowledge that, irrespective of their forward-thinking designs, theirs is a relatively traditional profession and that making the major changes in work practices necessitated by a shift to 3D is unlikely to be painless".

"If someone has spent the last 25 years using CAD, they're often not interested in adopting a new way of working, no matter how great the underlying product," says Murdey-Green.

"If you're coming from 2D, it is a major paradigm shift and you just have to get through it".

"But you've got to have the commitment from the management and the architects to move forward and not see that as a reason not to implement a better means of doing things".

"That's the rationale we took".

"It is better software, it is far more suited to architects and when everyone sees those benefits, they're quite happy to make the effort".

CADline, Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider, feels that the vision demonstrated by practices like Levitt Bernstein is helping to drive an industry-wide shift towards building information modelling".

"At an early stage, we could see the benefits that Levitt Bernstein and their clients would quickly realise using BIM through Revit Architecture," says Amar Sekhon of CADline.

Early enthusiasm on one large Levitt Bernstein project provided a light bulb moment early in their use of Revit, as Murdey-Green goes on to explain".

"On one occasion, we sent plans off to a quantity surveyor to get the quantities costed".

"It took about two weeks and when they came back, we weren't convinced".

"Using Revit, we clicked a few buttons and in a matter of an hour or so, we got our own quantities and costs calculated and were able to guide the QS to be more accurate - they were absolutely stunned, as were the project architects".

"The client was also overjoyed that we could keep things so on track".

"It gives the power back to the architects to control these projects".

As many architects have found, one of the most remarkable features of Revit Architecture is the way it helps them to create what is essentially a prototype of a building; it doesn't just show how the building will look, it can also simulate how it will behave and helps them to create bills of materials which constantly update themselves to reflect changes to the design.

Levitt Bernstein's second phase of the Bermondsey Spa masterplan commenced on site in May 2007; the GBP18 million project includes 114 apartments and an NHS Primary Care Trust and is due for completion in 2009.

Reflecting the area's origins, the structure's main faandccedil;ade - with its varied shades of green panelised cladding - follows the curved path of the Old Jamaica Road".

"The ability to visualise in 3D was critical in clarifying certain complex junctions between the design team, client and contractors," says Dominik Schliepen".

"Later, we also produced 3D animated elevations which helped the submission to the planning department".

"The main benefit of using Revit on Phase II was its ability to visualise complex three dimensional situations and to co-ordinate these between the architectural design, structural design and MandE," he adds.

Levitt Bernstein is now in the final stages of design on Phases III and IV of Bermondsey Spa and is scheduled to submit plans in January 2009.

The GBP40 million project consists of 319 apartments - to include private, key worker, affordable and shared ownership - and 1500m2 of commercial space".

"The challenge in this project was that it consists of five separate blocks and a team of up to five was working on different aspects of the design simultaneously," says Schliepen.

"The accommodation was split between the blocks and we had to constantly monitor how a change on one block affected the design requirements of the others".

"We took an integrated approach where architectural design considerations on one block had to be responded to in the others".

"And we used Revit to create five separate models for the five buildings, plus one site model and a separate one for the underground car park".

"It was very useful to generate 3D images and perspectives to communicate the design process between members of the team and the client"".

"He continues: "3D is a huge benefit when presenting ideas to clients".

"When you can quickly do a 3D image with a bit of colour or shading and show that to the clients or the contractor in a meeting, or even just send it through as an image, it just helps communicate things and people understand much quicker what it's all about".

Levitt Bernstein has gradually integrated 3D Revit Architecture into their practice and now has 41 licenses under subscription".

"Says Schliepen: "I think we were always convinced that BIM was the future, but for us now, it is the reality.

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