Quality and accuracy are critical to delivering luxury developments which fulfil their promise and reward investment. At Six Senses, The Palm, Dubai — a five-star hotel and branded residences — award-winning architects Brewer Smith Brewer Group sought partners to streamline Building Information Modelling (BIM) and hardware specification. They chose Assa Abloy Opening Solutions experts and software.

Brewer Smith Brewer Group is a long-standing advocate for the BIM process. In their experience, it improves productivity and fast-tracks delivery. It has helped them create a portfolio which displays technical efficiency in both design and build.

They adopt BIM from concept stage, to coordinate information flow between designers, engineers and external contractors. The right BIM collaboration improves workflows to promote creativity and a methodical, technically astute approach to building design. It also ensures open, transparent communication for the duration of the project.

The wide-ranging expertise and knowledge of Assa Abloy’s specification teams made them the ideal partner to collaborate on such a prestigious project in Dubai.

A software solution to speed up project delivery
One key tool in optimizing collaboration between BSBG and Assa Abloy at Six Senses, The Palm, was Openings Studio software.

“Assa Abloy’s Openings Studio was the preferred choice due to its BIM integration with the Revit model development and the ease of communication between the architects and hardware specialists,” explains Adam Drawl, Senior Architect at BSBG.

Detailed door solution specifications can be delivered within Openings Studio then exported to design software when required by the project manager. Integration with Revit streamlines sharing of information and updating of hardware sets within the BIM environment. Openings Studio replaces double-handling of information and time-wasting manual implementation.

As the design progressed, Openings Studio made updating easy and prevented unwanted information loss. Data on hardware and certification requirements including fire and egress ratings were always available. The collaboration accelerated specification for a vast range of Assa Abloy solutions at around 3,500 openings — from steel and wooden doors to access control readers, electromechanical locks and door closers.

“Our specification teams can provide a whole suite of project support,” says Bala Vignesh at Assa Abloy Opening Solution EMEIA. ”Being based across Europe and the Middle East gives them in-depth knowledge on local standards and certifications — for green building or fire safety, for example. They also offer a range of tools to support collaboration and save time for architects and project managers. Not just Openings Studio, but also a BIM Library which is easily imported to support any design or build workflow.”

“The onboarding and after-care experience was excellent,” confirms Mr Drawl. “The Assa Abloy team was always readily available and proactive in developing the hardware sets and raising any concerns as they were occurring. Having their expertise is key.”