BIM-Enabled Design Collaboration Processes in Remote Architectural Practice and Education in Australia

Abstract

Remote teamwork has become critical to the communicative and collaborative operations of architectural practice and education in Australia. Consequently, building information modeling (BIM) processes, which are core to both sharing and producing architectural designs, are evolving in response. The aim of this paper is to examine and identify ways to improve BIM-enabled design collaboration processes in architectural practice and education. Using data from semi-structured open-ended interviews (n = 25) undertaken during the pandemic, this paper identified six thematic categories of BIM-enabled design collaboration processes: (1) representation, (2) communication, (3) coordination, (4) collaboration, (5) technical operation, and (6) nontechnical operation. These themes, along with 48 codes developed from the interviews, are then presented as an integrated BIM process model. This model contributes to a collective understanding of recent BIM processes and areas where improvements are needed to support BIM adoption and implementation in the new era of remote working.