BIM Show Live 2013 has just ended. It goes from strength-to-strength - and with 600+ delegates this year it probably has now crept into the lead as the UK's biggest BIM event.

Looking back on the two days, I maybe didn't get the chance to see as many classes as I'd have liked - too much time spent demonstrating our BIM content and software at our stand (which I love doing). So this blog post isn't particularly content heavy - but a few pictures below to give a taster of what it was like.

1. The event
The event was held at the fantastic venue the Park Plaza on the opposite side of The Thames to Big Ben. As gold sponsors, we had a great NBS stand in the main communal area from which we demonstrated NBS Create and National BIM Library.
BIM Show LiveThe NBS exhibition standThe event itself opened in style - lights, music and David Philp Cabinet Office/Mace Group giving an inspirational speech. Rob Charlton CEO of Space Group then welcomed the delegates and gave a "state of the industry address". One slide in particular was put out there to provoke discussion. What professions are leading the way and what professions are lagging behind when it comes to BIM adoption? From what I remember the slide showed:

• In denial - Quantity Surveyors
• Resistance - FM, M+E, Manufacturers
• Exploration - Main contractors, Architects, Sub contractors
• Commitment - Clients, Structural Engineers

Obviously there will be exceptions within each profession up and down the curve. But if anyone has any views based on their experience - please add comments to this post.
It was also really good to see the "Class of your own" BIM kids demonstrate their secondary school construction projects looking at BIM. Great that the next generation got this showcase platform and maybe a little push for the current generation to adapt.@SpaceGroupRob - The State of the Nation 2013Back in the Exhibition Hall it was good to catch up with Soluis and see how they continue to progress our NBS Lakeside model in their interactive environment. And back at the NBS stand, BIM 2050 member and Technical Author Stefan Mordue had the media interest - talking about BIM innovation and future gazing.Soluis with the beautiful NBS Lakeside model designed by our friends at HOK using National BIM LibraryThe next Kevin McCloudOne thing that was really nice to see was really intelligent debate around IFC and Open BIM. No extreme drum banging on either side of the argument - just great sensible analysis. I managed to catch a good portion of the Metz Architects, the Rob Jackson/Nigel Davies and the Adam Ward classes. The Metz/BIM Academy work on using IFC to transfer parametric objects was fascinating (and something NBS are involved in with Prof Lockley). The #LockleyIFCChallenge "B I M !" model was demonstrated. Can this be used for IFC certification? Maybe ten points for each geometry type, points for property sets, points for colour display? This would give a #LockleyIFCChallenge score out of 100 for each geometric BIM tool starting next year?
Rob and Nigel's session looked at real life project BIM and the challenges and successes of transferring data "warts and all" using IFC. Finally, Adam looked at a real life project BIM and how as BIM technology specialists they have taken data through to a SQL FM database using bespoke software and exports.
My favourite quote from all of this was Rob Jackson, "It's nice to be able to talk about IFC without people throwing things at me" :) How things have changed in just 12 months.
Oh, and I also did my Technology Hall live demo showing IFC from a geometric model being augmented with key performance data from the NBS Create spec. Maybe this is one for another (video) blog post.The ACID3 test for BIM geometry toolsThe IFC and COBie debate continues - where it will be 12 months from now?...and of course, it was work hard - play hard - so a few pictures below from the fun side of things...
2. Cool Britannia
I've been down in London a bit recently. I always love walking around whenever I can and not taking the tube. One or two pictures below...
Graffiti at Old StreetThe old and the new - what a great CityInspirationalLove walking along the Thames3. Retro Technology
There has been a lot of twitter chat from the #VeteranBIMCrew about the olden days. Nice to see some old  computers and game consoles on display. Even though the BBC B was not plugged in - I sat by it and typed into the (not switched on) keyboard and re-lived the old days of 10 PRINT "STEPHEN" and 20 GOTO 10. Also the feel of the keys under the fingers of Z and X and ? and @ for left, right, down and up as if I was on Mr Doo or Sabre Wolf brought a smile to the face.
ZX81Nostalgic tears came to the eyes
In fairness, this was always a bit crap :)Back to being a student at Uni in 1992 - Where are the Pot Noodles?4. #BIMPartyLondon
...and squashed into all of this there was *still* time for some banter and a beer or two. One or two people commented on how good the camaraderie is in the BIM community even though many organisations are competing hard...
Nice of Pizza Express to match the wall paper to Mordue's shirtCannot understand him and he's very hairy. Chewbacca and Storm Trooper meet senior members of UK BIM Task Group
The best sport in the business. DP gets 3D laser scanned after a few beers.The secret to success in BIM - change your first name to "Rob"...and a final thought. 40 years on... are we getting closer to achieving the following? (this is the inlay from the very first 1973 NBS). Maybe we are but now using well-structured data and intelligent software?
Coordinate your project information throughout the project timeline

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The Royal Institute of British Architects has published the results of the March 2013 Future Trends Survey.

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The RIBA Plan of Work 2013 online will be launched later this month. The countdown clock is now ticking at www.ribaplanofwork.com.
RIBA Plan of Work 2013To learn more about it - please watch the NBS TV video of Dale Sinclair presenting its benefits.
- http://www.thenbs.com/topics/designspecification/videos/bitesized2013_PlanOfWork2013.asp
Dyer's Dale SinclairDale is director at Dyer and chair of the Large Practice committee at the RIBA. He also wrote an article on RIBA Plan of Work 2013 and what it means for BIM. Well worth a read...- http://www.thenbs.com/topics/BIM/articles/RIBAPlanOfWork2013andBIM.asp

At NBS, we have designed and developed the accompanying online web tool. Look out for my article in the RIBA Journal coming soon. I'll also blog it here.

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A new subway line through an old informal neighbourhood in Buenos Aires is shaping up to be a political battle between social idealism and engineering pragmatism as Drew Reed discovers in Villa 31.

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The Growth through BIM Report authored by Richard Saxon CBE was published by CIC last week. This
Richard Saxon - CBEwas a UK Government (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) funded report to report on how best to turn the UK BIM Strategy into economic growth in the home and export markets.
- http://www.cic.org.uk/news/article.php?s=2013-04-25-cic-publish-growth-through-bim-by-richard-g-saxon-cbe

To me, this report seems like a more in-depth look into the subjects covered in the end of year BIM Pipeline for Growth report.

Having someone of the calibre of Richard Saxon CBE writing the report gives a huge amount of weight to the subject. Richard has been chair of BDP, president of BCO, Vice President for Practice at RIBA and is now “BIM Ambassador for Growth” for UK Government.
CIC BIM Report
So a pretty good CV :)

Reading through the report, there are two very loud and clear messages.

1. Through BIM we can provide better quality construction more efficiently at home.
2. Through BIM we can be a big exporter of professional services abroad.

Usually, as a nation, we are very modest. But there is a certain strong confidence about this report that is good to see. As mean of an overview, I include a number of screen grabs below.

UK in a BIM world leadership position
Export of professional service opportunities as the world develops
When it comes to exporting professional services - UK is already second in the world
The need for UK manufacturers to embrace and lead with BIM
Not just cheaper construction through BIM - but greener construction
How we'd love to win the first "Digital Built Britain" award this year with NBS Create
BIM and offsite manufacture going hand-in-hand
Richard Saxon's 10 secrets to success
Recognition that an open data mandate from the Government is helping stimulate innovation in the market 
Standards will help everyone and and the finalisation of Uniclass 2 is key to thisI've never seen this research, but great to see the NBS offerings getting fantastic usage well within a year of launchFinally, the report starts with a quote that is over one hundred years old. Quite a good one..."Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations we can perform without thinking about them" - Alfred North Whitehead 

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If you are attending BIM Show Live 2013 then please come and see NBS at our stand P15 located in the Software Lounge. If you are interested in BIM and specification, want to see a demonstration of NBS Create or National BIM Library then please come and say hello.

BIM Show Live 2013On the Monday, Pantelis Ioanndis and Stefan Mordue will join me on the stand. Pantelis is an Architect who delivers expert training in NBS Create and also BIM. Stefan is also an Architect who works as Technical Author at NBS writing content for NBS Building, Create and National BIM Library. Stefan is a member of the BIM Task Group's BIM2050 group and has a particular interest in BIM and Health and Safety.

NBS colleagues at BIM Show LiveOn the Tuesday I will be doing a live demonstration of NBS Create and National BIM Library content on the Technology Stage. I'll show how you can take a design model, link it to a specification model, generate a single combined IFC model and then finish with a COBie dataset. All in 15 minutes. I will do it all as a live software demonstration too - so I promise no Powerpoint slides (not sure I can promise "no blue screens of death" - but that's what keeps things interesting :)).

So - date for the diary - Day Two - 1st May - 12:30 Technical Stage
Specification content from NBS Create in IFC formAlso on the Tuesday Ian Chapman will join me and Pantellis. Ian is an Engineer who heads our Technical Team. Ian is also a buildingSMART UK director so he's perfect for any questions about IFC and the buildingSMART Data Dictionary.

Ian is also leading out the creation of hundreds of generic MEP objects for the National BIM Library. This work has started now - Ian may be able to give you a sneak preview of this and even invite you onto our steering group if you are interested.
National BIM Library - Next step on the journey - generic MEP objectsFinally, Drew Wiggett is not able to attend this year. Little Drew is due to be born any day now :) Level 4 data drop on the way.

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