Lombardini22
Italy
Lombardini22 operating model is based on the concept of Design Thinking, featuring the interaction of the different disciplines necessary to the planning process and the active involvement of the final client, throughout all developing phases. BIM plays a crucial role, not so much as a planning instrument (software), but as a business process. The adoption of BIM helped us achieve more transparency during the planning process, promoting more cooperation between involved parties.
About
Lombardini22 is a dynamic and creative community made up of more than 340 professionals – a diverse time of experts specialised in different disciplines. Lombardini22, a leading Italian architecture and engineering firm, operates internationally through its brands: L22, focused on architecture, engineering, and sustainability; DEGW, leader in strategic consulting and planning in the workplace environment; FUD, specialised in Physical Branding and Communication Design; CAP DC Italia, dedicated to Data Center Building and Refurbishment; Eclettico Design, regarding hospitality and Luxury Interior Design; Atmos, dedicated to the planning of sensorial spaces; TUNED, aiming at applying neurosciences in architecture. Additionally, three R&D initiatives are dedicated to digital technologies (DDLAB), BIM and computation design (BimLand22), and alignment to ESG criteria at planning stage (L22 ESG).
Company size: Small (<50)
Sector: Architecture; Civil engineering
Technology: Building information modelling; Additive manufacturing (3D printing); Internet of
Things
Digital initiative
Lombardini22 operating model is based on the concept of Design Thinking, featuring the interaction of the different disciplines necessary to the planning process and the active involvement of the final client, throughout all developing phases. BIM plays a crucial role, not so much as a planning instrument (software), but as a business process. The adoption of BIM helped us achieve more transparency during the planning process, promoting more cooperation between involved parties.
Relevant construction projects
Project Vigentina 9, awarded at the Autodesk AEC Excellence Awards 2020, stood up for its complexity in redeveloping an existing building in the centre of Milan, a densely populated urban area. It included the overall internal and external redevelopment of the building, as well as its energetic re-qualification to achieve the LEED Plating certification level. The multi-dimensional planning has been developed on a digital model, which allowed the integration of structural components, developed in 3D, with plant components, cost and time analysis, and coordination of all the disciplines used.
Experienced benefits of digitalisation
Thanks to BIM implementation, our architects, engineers, structural and plant engineers, and computists can simultaneously work on the same model – which guarantees control over all disciplines while reducing errors risks, typical of the traditional planning approach. With regards to plant design, for instance, the modelling based on Vigentina 9 project allowed the calculation of a 40% average consumption saving, as well as additional optimisation of energetic and comfort performances. Moreover, by making design choices linked to architectural development – possible thanks to the verification of the performances of the technologies used, allowed by simulating the building behaviour with different weather conditions – it was possible to simplify certification processes. BIM models become storage for structural data, useful to evaluate sustainability factors at the design phase. Data-drive design, together with the possibility of interpreting project-related data, can lead to better-informed planning decisions, which can be iteratively updated to better adapt final outputs to desired performances.
The coordination take place at the level of “geometric” data when working with BIM models. This digital information is shared on a Cloud Platform among the actors of the project, from the architects, engineers, the construction company to the clients. Everyone can access, in viewing only or with editor user profile, and everyone has the capability to be informed on the progress of the project since source of the data is centralized and updated in real time.
Tips for effective implementation
The amount of data needed for the building process does not allow the management of all the information produced by a single entity anymore; rather, it requires an organised and integrated process involving all actors along the value chain. The main problem remains data sharing, with designers and customers being more prone than constructors to integrate into this process. Great benefits will be achieved once this system will reach the final stage – the building site.