Darlington architects reaffirm vision with Vegas trip

A firm of Darlington architects say a recent trip to a top technology conference in Las Vegas opened their eyes to how innovative they are.

Johnathan Munkley of Niven Architects recently visited an Autodesk event at Las Vegas’ The Venetian, expecting to be overawed with the level of technology on show.

However, the Building Information Modelling (BIM) expert said: “I was really surprised that there was very little being discussed that we are not already doing.

“I expected to hear things that were mind-boggling in terms of what other firms were doing. But instead it simply reaffirmed how far ahead we are in the game and that we have the infrastructure in place to press ahead with BIM.”

Niven have been working with Teesside University’s Knowledge Transfer Programme on BIM practices - a system that allows contractors to access information on all aspects of design and construction.

The firm also gained exposure at another global conference in London looking at the future of building design and delivery.

Johnathan said more valuable at the conference had been the chance to network with the likes of the chief engineer of the £12 billion Shanghai Tower, currently being constructed in China, and the BIM manager of leading global construction company Skanska.

He said he was particularly excited about the development of sustainable design solutions which used BIM to accurately predict the running costs of a building for the next decade and allowed clients to make huge savings.

He added: “I believe we have now overtaken the US in the development and implementation of BIM, helped by the Government’s mandate.

“Next year I would like to present at the conference confident that we are in the vanguard of technological development globally.”