BIM: in search of the organisational architect

Abstract

The construction industry is going through a radical transformation on how projects are planned, developed and delivered. This change is being driven by the rapid adoption of building information modelling (BIM), a combination of an integrated virtual product and process model shared by all the players of the construction project coalition. It requires drastic changes in traditional design and project management disciplines. The development of the design and construction is done using an iterative and concurrent process in which an interdisciplinary team of designers and builders is integrated in a temporary organisation built around BIM technologies. A new dimension, the formalisation of this temporary organisation, is thus added to the management of building projects. Because of the complexity, fragmentation and heterogeneity of construction projects, we argue that a new role, that of the organisational architect, is needed to visualise, devise and implement the structure, process and technological environment for a successful BIM implementation.