Modern Building Services

12 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES FEBRUARY 2023 B IM is the construction approach comprising best practice processes to manage detailed information around the design and delivery of new developments. This is widely deployed in healthcare beyond the NHS, BIM is not just about delivering a smoother and more collaborative construction process through the control of information: it is also about ensuring the enduring value of an asset, which means developing a building that performs economically, with optimal smart functioning and minimal environmental impact. The 2016 Government mandate on BIM requires a collaborative 3D approach, which has become a game changer for healthcare settings. Commissioning teams and facilities managers can now ‘explore’ a new facility, making it much easier to assess whether the design will work in terms of functional flow and personnel movements. However, although 3D design is a significant part of the process, BIM can go well beyond 3Dmodelling. At BES Ltd we have developed an approach to working on projects with an integratedmulti-disciplinary team, to provide a full ‘end-to-end’ turnkey service across design and construction. But now, we also utilise sophisticated digital technology that dovetails with our existing processes, allowing us to gomuch further in tailoring andmaximising project delivery. We havemade investments in software as these have been helpful in enhancing an efficient design, construction and commissioning process, ultimately delivering a faster outcome. Working with clients including NHS trusts and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, such as AstraZeneca, we have found this form of digital twinning particularly useful in both healthcare and pharmaceutical projects, where they have contributed a real value by refining the BIM process to overcome some of the issues particular to legacy management and operational costs in this sector. By adding in extra digital technology, we can embed data that allows improved collaboration between both the estates team and the end users, including doctors, nurses and patients, often preventing problems that may hold back the functioning of a facility. Priorities in healthcare Building validation and design for healthcare projects can be especially complex as particular consideration needs to be given to aspects such as patient safety and infection control. Facilities must be designed in line with Health Technical Memoranda (HTMs) and ‘Health Building Notes’ (HBNs) specifications, while facilities for in-house pharmaceutical treatments must also comply with GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) guidelines. Key aspects that need to be taken into account from the start of the planning process in hospitals are patient pathways and clinicians’ requirements – clinicians will be concerned with robust details on howpatients access and then exit the space inwhich their procedures take place. Spatial and equipment layouts are therefore critical: for example, the placement of the operating table in an operating theatre or laminar flow cabinets in aseptic pharmaceutical preparation areas; the flowof materials into a pharmacy and back out as a prescription; how people enter and exit an aseptic or cytotoxic preparation area within the constraints of the airflow pressure. Lifecycle costs and a project’s carbon footprint are also crucial considerations. While the involvement of clinicians in the initial design stagewill ultimately deliver the best design for workflows, this hasn’t always been the case and has on occasion led to drawbacks in plans for some facilities. Gavin Statham , Business Development Director and Mike Robinson , BIM Manager at BES Ltd, discuss Building Information Modelling (BIM) being used for all publicly funded projects, including healthcare facilities. The sophistication digital technology brings to project design FEATURE VERTICAL FOCUS Mike Robinson, BIM Manager Gavin Statham, Business Development Director