PurposeThis study aims to propose a novel approach to developing an interactive and immersive virtual environment for design communication in the furniture, fixture and equipment (FFE) sector. The study further investigates its effectiveness in enhancing the design communication and coordination between the stakeholder.Design/methodology/approachQuasi-experimental research was adopted involving 12 FFE professionals, designers and end-users in single-group pre-test-post-test design. The tests were performed primarily to ascertain the impact of the application of interactive virtual reality on delivering furniture design selection and coordination tasks. Further interviews were used to elicit participants' views on the functionality and usefulness of the proposed approach.FindingsThe findings indicate that an interactive immersive virtual FFE environment: enhances the productivity of the design team through a collaborative virtual workspace offering a synchronised networked design testing and review platform; reduces the time required for the stakeholders to comprehend the design options and test those; enhances the design communication and quality of the design and encourages the collaborative culture in the industry; improves the design satisfaction of the stakeholders; and finally, requires significantly less time for design decision-making when compared to traditional methods.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should incorporate space planning concepts and explore non-experimental methodologies in a real-life FFE project setup.Practical implicationsThe proposed approach provides opportunities for enhanced interpretation of design intent in FFE as well as efficiency in design selection and coordination tasks when compared with conventional two-dimensional methods of communication.Originality/valueThis study proposes a step change in the way furniture design is communicated and coordinated through an immersive virtual experience. Previous studies have not addressed the issue of impact on design coordination instead focussed on marketing and sales.

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Emerging frameworks of BIM implementation have proposed several attributes as measures of macro-scale BIM maturity within countries. Such macro-scale BIM maturity indicators determine the policy and institutional imperatives for BIM diffusion at the national and market levels. Although macro-scale initiatives are enacted to ultimately drive micro-scale (organisational) BIM adoption, it remains unclear whether they have been effective in practice. To ascertain this, the macro-scale BIM maturity of two countries (Qatar and the United Kingdom) are examined in order to identify the influence of the key macro-scale maturity factors on implementation at the micro-scale. Based on expert BIM maturity evaluation and interviews (n = 16), the maturity of both countries was ascertained and compared. Subsequently, a survey (n = 73) of construction businesses was used to solicit opinions about the relevance of macro-BIM maturity factors to implement at the microlevel. The study further identifies peculiarities with respect to the maturity levels of both countries. The findings indicate that both Qatar and UK have generally comparable levels of macro-BIM maturity, although, in some areas, both countries failed to meet the expectations of organisations in terms of facilitating their BIM adoption at the microlevel. Qatari organisations were of the opinion that further maturity is required in relation to champions and drivers, as well as regulatory frameworks. Similarly, in the UK, organisations were of the view that there was a need for more in terms of champions and drivers as well as noteworthy publications in order to facilitate micro-scale adoption.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) and its associated technologies have proved to be one of the most promising developments in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Over the past few decades, the AEC sector has been restricted in its communication of design as a result of single interface methods based on 2D and 3D visualization of information. Thus, most issues with respect to construction are identified fairly late, resulting in costly changes. With the introduction of BIM, many other approaches to data visualization can be leveraged including Mixed Reality (MR) applications for the virtual representation of spaces and objects beyond 3D. MR offers a revolution in the virtual representation of objects and space through context awareness as well as the incorporation of information beyond 3D offering countless opportunities for more effective design visualization and coordination. Despite the capability of MR, however, few examples exist of its application to design coordination in the AEC. In addressing this gap this study proposes a novel methodology for the application of MR in design coordination as well as investigates the impact of introducing MR into BIM workflow with a focus on the identification and avoidance of clashes. A prototypical model of the MR design coordination is presented and discussed. Findings indicate that MR improves design productivity and quality but also highlights potential infrastructure issues inhibiting the mainstreaming of MR for design practice.

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