"Data-driven work actually makes architecture better!

Data-driven work and spatial quality do not bite each other, argues Pim van Meer in this latest installment of Pims digital maze. "Over 70 architecture firms, within over 100 projects, have proven that over the past 7 years."

We have now been working on MiniBIM for nine years. Last October, after two years of fine-tuning with AEDES, NEPROM launched this standard operating procedure as a minimal, uniform way to arrive at a 3D model that does exactly what is needed: provide insight into the feasibility of the case and spatially embody the developer's program table and foundation cost outline. Sounds technical. Isn't. And it's a lot more efficient than a "beer mat calculation."

In practice, it is surprisingly simple, it is a unified way of doing what almost all architects have been doing roughly: it works. Within VORM, we have been using it for seven years. On over a hundred projects. With seventy different architectural firms. And let's be honest: if it didn't work, it would have long since disappeared into the category interesting attempt, next. They didn't! In fact, on complex projects with other developers, we actually started sharing MiniBIM to settle difficult discussions. And we weren't alone.

BPD was thinking along similar lines. So were other parties. So MiniBIM has multiple fathers, multiple mothers, multiple architects and multiple consultants who have made it a success in practice. This is precisely why it has grown. Not as a hobby of one club, but as an answer to a demand for help, costing millions, that just really existed in the chain.

Meanwhile, there are several parties in the market that can carry this story. Several housing associations have received it, used it and confirmed that it works for them. That's exactly why AEDES became convinced three years ago to have the conversation about it in earnest. And in the meantime, it is being coordinated with other initiatives, such as Parallel Plans, IVBN's standardization process, BIM Legal and automatic building code review.
So no, this is not new to anyone. And that's exactly the interesting point.

Because what we're up against now is almost ironic. Precisely because MiniBIM is becoming successful, the people most vocal about it are increasingly being asked to help others with implementation. This is honorable, but also difficult to sustain. You could almost say that success here is starting to become a logistical problem.

And that's why I end up with two requests. The first request is to the whole chain:

Think with us.

What is the smartest, most scalable way to make visible Which parties worked on it; which architecture firms and consultants have proven they can do; Which software now supports this; and how to make all that insightful without building yet another maze?
In other words, how do we mature knowledge sharing here? Not as a rumor mill, not as a dependence on a few frontrunners, but as a transparent overview that really benefits the market.

The second request is much more direct.

Architects: sign up.

Indeed, I see in practice that MiniBIM has advantages for architects. Not only because you provide clarity faster, but especially because your position in practice becomes stronger when you objectively testable show that you answer to the agenda of the stakeholders: the developer who has to steer on feasibility, the housing corporation who has to steer on affordability and dream portfolio, and ultimately also the municipality and the end user who are judged on quality. That is architecture responding to the challenges of the future.

And let me be honest about that right away: MiniBIM is definitely not my success. If this working method has gained wide support, it is mainly because of the architectural firms that have shown over the past seven years, on VORM's prestigious projects and beyond, that it works. They have proven that data-driven work and spatial quality do not mix. Even better: that it actually makes architecture better. Steering by data is, by definition, quality.

I really get that this is still new to some people. And new is exciting. But new for one does not mean new for another. And that is exactly why we can help each other here. So: Do you have a suggestion on how to share that knowledge in a scalable way?

Subscribe via digitalisering@nepron.nl
Are you an architect and have you experienced in practice that MiniBIM improved your work, your position or the quality of the conversation?
Contact me directly or Thomas van Belzen. I'll make sure you get the stage you deserve.

Filing moment

New is expensive and exciting? What is new for your is not always for someone else. Share and participate, together we steer for quality.
And Pim also has questions for help

About Pim's digital maze

In this column, Pim takes you into the sometimes wonderful, tangled but rapidly changing world of digitization. He draws on the experiences he experiences as director of digitalization at VORM. Pim is outspoken, critical, but above all wants to help you. Are you stuck in the digital maze? Pim helps you find the way out....

Read more episodes from Pims digital maze here.