Project management for large building designs benefits from both collaboration and effective digitalisation. On a landmark new office development in central Brussels, Assa Abloy’s Openings Studio software proved helpful in achieving the goals of excellence in design, balancing cost, delivery time and in alleviating sustainability concerns.
Quatuor is a multi-purpose office, events and coworking space in central Brussels, with an innovative design certified Outstanding by BREEAM. Designed and overseen by Jaspers-Eyers Architects, it was a large project with an ever-evolving nature. The final design incorporated 1,800 doors, of many different types and required standards.
For more than 15 years, Jaspers-Eyers has organised their projects around BIM principles. A successful BIM process maximises the efficiency of collaboration and communication between their stakeholders. To help deliver door and security solutions, they sought out a partner with in-depth specification knowledge and experience.
For Quatuor, working with local experts at Assa Abloy Opening Solutions streamlined project collaboration with the developer client; with contractors and subcontractors; and with the building’s final end-users, the tenants.
According to the company, the specification input from Assa Abloy was invaluable: “Throughout the project — from the call for tenders to site follow-up — Assa Abloy was present to provide assistance with updates, definition of new products and information,” says Gilles Bollens at Jaspers-Eyers. Specification for door and security solutions can be time-consuming. At Quatuor, Assa Abloy’s experience and expertise accelerated the process.
The local team of Assa Abloy BIM & Specification experts handled specification details and kept the central resource up-to-date and transparent, freeing up architects’ valuable time.
One key tool in successful collaboration was Assa Abloy Openings Studio. This software connected Jaspers-Eyers’ Revit designs directly with databases holding specification data for the varied door solutions which Assa Abloy supplied. These included Assa Abloy Cam-Motion door closers; architectural hardware; Litto Project locks and cylinders; and Abloy EL160 locks.
Openings Studio enabled rapid, accurate updating of in-process designs with object data and parameterisations. “The evolution of projects… makes this integration of configuration for objects — particularly hardware — essential,” explains Gilles Bollens.
“Use of the software is very intuitive. It is the only tool that enables the management of doors as a whole, in such a fluid and complete way.” Openings Studio is a key software tool for boosting specification efficiency on projects of any size. Its intuitive operation simplifies collaboration and information handling for all specifications around the door.
Seamless exporting of specifications to design packages including Revit and Archicad saves time. It replaces time-consuming updating via Excel and other manual methods, which Assa Abloy considers to be slow and prone to human error. Every change is logged in the software, so it’s easy to “rewind” to compare previous design ideas. Openings Studio also functions as a transparent communication channel for all stakeholders, available through a project and beyond via secure web login or a new mobile app.
