The complexities of managing historic buildings with BIM

Abstract

PurposeThe adoption of building information modelling (BIM) in managing built heritage is an exciting prospect, but one that presents complexities additional to those of modern buildings. If challenges can be identified and overcome, the adoption of historic BIM (HBIM) could offer efficiencies in how heritage buildings are managed.Design/methodology/approachUsing Durham Cathedral as a case study, we present the workflows applied to create an asset information model to improve the way this unique UNESCO World Heritage Site is managed, and in doing so, set out the challenges and complexities in achieving an HBIM solution.FindingsThis study identifies the need for a better understanding of the distinct needs and context for managing historic assets, and the need for heritage information requirements (HIR) that reflect this.Originality/valueThis study presents first-hand findings based on a unique application of BIM at Durham Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The study provides a better understanding of the challenges and drivers of HBIM adoption across the heritage sector and underlines the need for information requirements that are unique to historical buildings/assets to deliver a coherent and relevant HBIM approach.

Urban Heritage Facility Management: A Scoping Review

“…The role of FM in historical urban development is infrequently studied, and its contribution to sustaining the operation of heritage buildings is sometimes problematic. Most studies stated that FM was mainly related to supporting core activities within a singleowned building(s) [9,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. In fact, FM could be understood from a broader perspective [40], for example, understanding FM from urban scale viewpoints.…”

“…From the examined papers, this study found out that 71.05% of the literatures were from the heritage management or conservation field, while 28.95% of them were FM oriented (Figure 6). From the combined field of works of literature, it was discovered that BIM-GIS related topics were discussed the most [33,34,[36][37][38][39][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] and represented 21.05% of the examined papers. Only one article (1.32%) directly addressed a financial issue of urban heritage facility management [64].…”

“…The discussion around the first step of the HUL approach, mapping resources, was dominated by the usage of building information modelling (BIM, H-BIM, ACTIVe3D, BIM4FM) as an information management tool within the "civic engagement", From the combined field of works of literature, it was discovered that BIM-GIS related topics were discussed the most [33,34,[36][37][38][39][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] and represented 21.05% of the examined papers. Only one article (1.32%) directly addressed a financial issue of urban heritage facility management [64].…”

“…The discussion around the first step of the HUL approach, mapping resources, was dominated by the usage of building information modelling (BIM, H-BIM, ACTIVe3D, BIM4FM) as an information management tool within the "civic engagement", "knowledge and planning", and "regulatory systems" [36,37,54,62,63,65]. The usage of BIM technology was not stated by any author regarding the financial aspect of the HUL supporting tools within the mapping resources step, although it is important for efficiency [58] and costsaving in the long run.…”

Guest editorial

“…Elghaish and Abrishami (2020a) presented an integration of several methods to support automating risk/reward sharing amongst project parties thus enhancing IPD core team members' relationship by proposing a centralised cost management system and exploiting EVM and ABC within IPD. Charlton et al (2020) suggested that the adoption of BIM in managing built heritage is an exciting prospect, but one that presents complexities additional to those of modern buildings. Qian and Papadonikolaki (2020) examined how trust is affected by the introduction of blockchain technology in construction supply chain management in shifting trust in construction supply chains through blockchain technology.…”