BIM Show Live 2020

In February, BIM recruitment specialist Jason Claxton from the Bespoke Careers London office, headed up to Newcastle for the annual BIM Show Live - a gathering of up to 400 delegates from within the built environment to exchange ideas in digital construction. This year’s theme was ‘BIM for Good’ - focussing on how architecture is changing for the better. 

Upon arrival, Jason met up with some fellow BIM enthusiasts (some of whom he had placed in their current roles) and they caught up over a coffee - which required you bringing your own mug this year! 

The first session of the day for Jason was ‘Using VR for Collaboration in the Architectural Process’ presented by Mauro Sabiu, BIM Senior Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects. The session discussed how there is no ‘one-size fits all’ tool that succeeds in being advantageous for all design stages, but there is a process by which technology is the driving force behind the tools that we work with and gave a great insight into what working in Zaha Hadid is like and the tools they use within the workplace. 

This was closely followed by ‘BIM For Good - Part 1 - Concepts and Principles’ by Rob Jackson, Associate Director and Emma Hooper, Digital Information Specialist from Bond Bryan Digital. This session covered information theory, openBIM and why huge documents won’t work anymore to manage the complexity of information. 

Jason then enjoyed a quick spot of lunch whilst enjoying the panel discussion around creating value with Marie Grieve, David Miller, Vicki Reynolds, Richard Waterhouse and Colin Bell. All were from different corners of the built environment.

Post-lunch, it was time for a live demonstration from Paul Tunstall of HLM Architects as he used four pieces of software (McNeel Rhino, Grasshopper, Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Epic Games Twinmotion) to show simultaneous modelling from scratch. The demonstration proved the concept of ‘dynamic interoperability’ through the creation of the same building model in 2 independent applications without any file exchange! 

The last session of the day was from Mikael Santrolli, BIM and Designs Systems Coordinator at Foster + Partners as he discussed ‘Working in BIM - The Automation Approach’ and the extensive sets of properties that make up BIM models. This was then followed by the networking reception where it was great to see so many familiar faces and get the opportunity to pick up a new brief (or two!) over a #BIMBeer. The UK Dynamo user group session was also on at the end of the day and gave an introduction to Dynamo and it’s uses as well as a more in depth look at the software, it’s potential applications and examples from more advanced users within the industry.

All in all, after visiting the BIM Show Live for three years in a row, it’s emphasised how much the BIM community has grown over such a short space of time and Jason had major FOMO having to leave to head back to London before the awards ceremony and the second day of the conference - particularly after almost 2 hours of train delays on the way home. Bring on next year! 

To learn more about BIM Show Live, visit their website here.

If you are looking for your next BIM role or are looking to hire a new BIM specialist, then get in touch with Jason Claxton (jason.c@bespokecareers.com)