The Art of Communication in Design
bbb architects Ottawa is an award-winning Canadian design practice, founded in 1985, with expertise across diverse building types and projects nationwide.
- Location
Canada
- Project Type
Government
- Project
Energy Services Acquisitions Program (ESAP)
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Canadian architecture firm draws on Revizto to power up conceptual and collaborative connections
bbb architects Ottawa Inc. (bbb), an architectural firm that specializes in large public and private sector projects, is an integral part of the design team for the multi-billion Energy Services Acquisitions Program (ESAP) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The mission of the program is to modernize multiple energy centres in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. A key component of the overall effort is to rebuild several facilities to support more sustainable energy systems that reduce greenhouse gas emissions within a structure that honours and protects the region’s heritage while ensuring harmony with the community and environment.
It is a complex challenge that requires considerable coordination with the owner, stakeholders, project partners and the community. bbb looked to Revizto for support on BIM design development from early schematic design through coordination and clash detection and now even into construction with the larger project team.
We wanted a solution, a progressive data container, which allowed us to connect and visualize every bit of data from many different sources. That includes 3D and 2D model data, sketches, PDF documents, aerial imagery—essentially the gigabytes of data that go into designing the best possible solution. That’s Revizto.
About bbb architects Ottawa Inc.
Established in 1985, bbb architects Ottawa Inc. is an architectural firm of 20 staff that works across the National Capital Region and eastern Canada on complex commercial projects. Most recently, the firm designed all 13 of Ottawa’s new light rail train stations as well as the refurbished Cadillac Fairview’s Rideau Centre exterior facades. The firm is known for its commitment to improving the pubic realm and image of Ottawa, most significantly with the YOW Ottawa Macdonald Cartier International Airport, and the Ottawa Convention Centre / Shaw Centre along the Rideau Canal. Other bbb work in Ottawa includes the master plan and architectural design guidelines for the Lansdowne Park Revitalization, the entire eight building campus design for La Cité collégiale, and the design of the headquarters for both the National Capital Commission, and the Medical Council of Canada.
In Search of Power, Performance and Perspective
ESAP is an ambitious multi-billion program initiated by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to modernize the five district energy centres across the Ottawa-Gatineau region. Once complete, these facilities will deliver high temperature hot water and/or cooling water to over 80 buildings in the nation’s capital through a combination of service tunnels, direct buried piping, and bridge crossings. As part of the program, the Cliff Plant, Tunney’s Pasture, NPB Pumphouse, and Modernized Gatineau Energy Centres will be new construction, while the Confederation Heights Energy Centre will be completely renovated to accommodate modernized equipment.
ESAP is North America’s first conversion of a large network from steam to electric for cooling and low-temperature hot water for heating. The new District Energy System will phase out ozone-depleting refrigerants and reduce operational costs to deliver essential temperature control to the Parliament Buildings and 80 other government buildings in downtown Ottawa.
A public-private partnership (P3) was put in place to manage the modernization effort. PSPC selected the P3 consortium of PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Equans Services Canada and Black & McDonald, with WSP Ottawa as the primary engineer and bbb as the prime consultant and lead architect.
In particular, bbb architects Ottawa Inc. played a central role in the planning, design and execution of the Cliff Plant, Tunney’s Pasture, and Modernized Gatineau new builds. The firm has worked closely with WSP and the consortium of project partners and stakeholders to address base building requirements and to investigate the cost benefits of natural gas, electric and biofuel equipment.
Parallel to the intricacies of the functional requirements of these massive buildings, the design requires a delicate touch on the building architecture to ensure harmony with the context and environment. The bbb bias was always to place the public realm creation ahead of the building expression.
Mohamed Khalil, bbb’s Architectural Technologist for this project, said, “The idea is that the structure does not look like a power plant from the outside. The majority of the mechanical equipment is contained within concrete buildings below grade—and then above grade is prioritized by gardens, walking paths and connections to the public realm.”
Sharing that design vision across the team would prove to be a challenge with so many stakeholders and project team members on a project of this scope and scale.
Khalil said, “I had used Revizto in my previous job on projects with similar challenges. I supported using Revizto as the primary coordination tool. Not only is the platform able to handle large amounts of data, with tools to collect, connect and visualize data, but it is fast, both for access and analysis, a capability essential when dealing with gigabytes of data.”
He further noted that the data management, coordination and visualization task goes well beyond the 3D model.
Any data management tool to support architects must be able to work seamlessly with 2D models, PDFs, sketches, etc., from a variety of tools and file types—and that’s Revizto.
Schematically Speaking
The ability to communicate across disciplines, organizations and stakeholders with Revizto proved invaluable in the early stages of the modernized Gatineau power plant development stage. A fully electric power plant.
“One of the big selling points of Revizto for an architect is its value early on, even in schematic design,” said Khalil. “The designers even use it to check the BIM model from a details and design intent point of view.”
For instance, the Cliff Energy Centre is identifiable by actually not being identifiable as a plant. The architecture serves to create soft, rolling, natural landscapes moving seamlessly from the forecourt landscape of the Supreme Court to the new roof gardens and public esplanade of the roof of the Cliff Plant that effectively hides the heavy, industrial plant massing. The architectural design features a unique mesh curtain along the Ottawa river face that mimics the rugged cliff face of Parliament Hill as well as the curved stainless steel stacks and theatre box observation decks accessed by a feature staircase and glass elevator. The planning concept was to connect the upper and lower plateaus of Parliament Hill with a dramatic and memorable series of public spaces and spectacular views of the Ottawa River.
Khalil recalled, “Every feature was discussed during the initial schematic design phase. With Revizto, we were able to overlay hand sketches or SketchUp design models, over the model within Revizto to see differences, recommend modifications, incorporate new ideas and even markup up sketches. It was quick, easy and a great way to communicate with the rest of the design team.”
He noted that Revizto’s overlay feature was a huge help during the massing of all three of the new plant designs from an architectural perspective. “We can have the architect sketching something meaningful behind a massing, then run studies and move right into more advanced modeling,” he continued. “We can take snapshots, run different templates and present them to stakeholders for design studies, highlighting certain areas. One of the best things about Revizto is the same tool we use to collaborate in schematic design provides a foundation as we move into the design development phase.”
Issues, Interactions and a Vehicle for Resolution
As the various energy centre projects moved from schematic to design development, bbb continued to lead regular meetings with the consortium team, consultants and the general contractor.
“We do all of these meetings with Revizto,” said Khalil. “It’s like navigating through a video game. Whether we’re talking about the fire suppression system or a beam impeding a utility connection, every discussion, no matter how technical, is handled through a Revizto-enabled presentation.”
The bbb team regularly uses Revizto’s Issue Tracker feature to identify and manage model-based issues in the 3D space and 2D sheets. He said, “It’s easy to mark potential issues, collaborate with the design team and the contractor, and then prepare a final design solution that is sent to the contractor.”
One area that’s realized noticeable benefits was the interaction with the steel manufacturer on the Cliff plant. In this case, bbb used Revizto to check interferences with ceiling, curtain walls, etc. using the highly detailed and accurate 3D model to ensure that the building envelope wraps nicely around that steel structure. The platform is also used to connect the 3D model with shop drawings and RFIs from the contractor.
Without Revizto, this task would have required four times the effort at four times the cost. With Revizto, we are faster, more efficient and more confident in our design. The utilization of the data within Revizto is a massive benefit.
Another benefit of Revizto as a central source of data management is that bbb has all of that data stored in Revizto if needed in the future. Khalil added, “From a data management, and legal perspective, that’s critical for any architect.”
Seeing is Believing
When asked about the benefits of Revizto to the rest of the team outside of bbb, Khalil has found surprising benefits.
Especially on a complex project like ESAP, people are often reluctant to try another technology. Familiarity is a comfort. But our technologists and designers found that because Revizto is so easy to use, the team and external partners are comfortable very quickly. The user interface is definitely very well thought out in Revizto.
That comfort level continues to grow. In the first week of using Revizto across the ESAP project, Khalil saw limited use of the tool. After the first month, every team member had Revizto pulled up on their devices, even those team members who do not use 3D or BIM tools.
Khalil said, “Now, they’re using it on a regular basis to navigate, check dimensions, take snapshots, share with other team members, create issues, etc. For me, that comprehensive utilization was mind-blowing because these are not BIM or modeling experts. It’s great to see people who never worked within BIM now able to understand and utilize that data on a daily basis.”
Khalil is also using the new Revizto Phone App, as well. Purpose built for the architecture, engineering, construction and operation/owners (AECO) industry, this app puts data at users fingertips, empowering them to access, manage, and collaborate on construction and infrastructure projects from anywhere.
“I can take screenshots whenever I want with my phone and then easily overlay onto a snapshot of the plan to convey an idea that I want to share with the project team. I’ve also used it to share a draft proposal with the mechanical engineer. I love it,” said Khalil.
When asked about the ROI of Revizto to the ESAP project, Khalil noted that it’s difficult to measure, but it’s considerable.
But it’s not just cost savings. The main concern for any architect is to have his or her creation healthy and functional. To do that, we need a way to coordinate with contractors. If you care about your creation, then you go with Revizto because it will be your data backup throughout the design process and even across the lifecycle of the structure.
