ADDING HEIGHT AND LIGHT
Comprising six storeys and a basement level, the original building
was a concrete structure with brick façades. The project involved
an extensive overhaul including the replacement of two of the
façades, substituting the brick with an elegant Portland stone,
enhanced with powder-coated aluminium floor-to-ceiling glazing.
The two upper floors provide penthouse accommodation with full-
height, double-glazed façades, offering uninterrupted views of
the river Liffey and surrounding area. External roof terraces at the
penthouse levels offer attractive landscaped outside space.
According to Ronan Carroll, associate director at Lafferty, the floor-
to-ceiling heights within the building were a complex challenge.
As the original building was constructed with concrete, there was
little opportunity to change the heights. This was of particular
concern to the client, who was keen that the new space should
feel both light and open.
After several investigations, Lafferty’s solution was to route the
ventilation and services through the recessed profiles on the
underside of the existing concrete slabs, instead of via the ceiling
void, saving valuable height along the way.
“ARCHICAD has been invaluable for this project,” explains Ronan.
“The ability to view the building from all angles and to understand
its complexity and geometry – I can’t imagine how we’d have done
this using old school 2D.”
COMPLEX PROJECT REQUIRES TEMPORARY STEEL FRAME
As part of the renovation, Lafferty worked with the structural
engineer and steel subcontractor to construct a replacement
structural frame on the two principal facades of the building. This
required the construction of an additional temporary steel frame
to hold up the floors until the new structural frames were put in
place Every Friday the different parties shared their respective
models via IFC and every fortnight Lafferty hosted a formal BIM
coordination workshop with the BIM consultant. In between, the
teams shared information via screengrabs and email.
The structural and services engineers produced their model using
Revit and this, was transferred to Lafferty’s ARCHICAD model via
IFC. Lafferty has also been heavily involved throughout the
construction phase due to the complex nature of the project.
In this way, the team was able to coordinate the models and check
for any coordination issues early on and throughout the project.
During construction the steel fabrication model was provided
for approval in a 3D format which greatly assisted the approval
process.”
In addition, Lafferty used ARCHICAD’s renovation filters extensively
throughout the project, which made it much easier to immediately
see the impact of alterations to the design.
BIM COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION
Lafferty employed an external BIM consultant for the project, who
undertook the clash detection between the structural, architectural
and services models using Solibri. Lafferty worked on the detailed
design stage until the end of July 2017. IFCs extracted from the
structural and mechanical and engineering models were imported
into ARCHICAD and overlaid.
CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH THE BUILDING CONTRACTOR
Ronan says: “There were no straight lines in the existing building,
so it’s been a constant work in progress – we’ve continued to
regularly update the BIM model and worked closely with the
main contractor, Flynn Management, at every stage throughout
the build.”
Ronan says: “Although this project wasn’t tendered as a BIM
project, we have in fact followed the BIM process informally at
every stage throughout. This has proved very useful in enabling
us to deliver such a complex renovation.”
Collaboration, communication and coordination have been
the critical factors throughout this challenging renovation. The
end result will be an elegant building that both respects and
enhances its prominent location in the historic Liffey Quays area
of Dublin.
www.lafferty.ie
www.graphisoft.co.uk
THE ABILITY TO VIEW THE BUILDING FROM
ALL ANGLES AND TO UNDERSTAND ITS
COMPLEXITY AND GEOMETRY – I CAN’T
IMAGINE HOW WE’D HAVE DONE THIS USING
OLD SCHOOL 2D.