Jasmax takes a lead in the digital revolution
The digital revolution is one of the most powerful paradigms shifts in the design and construction industry today. New technology is the next step in creating the industry of the future, and as Heidi North of Jasmax writes, Jasmax is proud to be at the forefront of this revolution in New Zealand with a simple but powerful goal: design faster and smarter.
To this end, Jasmax has launched a website which details and showcases its sophisticated suite of digital innovation tools and services, which include Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and specialised Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Jasmax CEO, Sjoerd Post, believes these tools are crucial in an industry facing considerable change, with significant pressures of time, resources and budget.
Jasmax says new and emerging technologies allows for a more sophisticated collaboration with clients.
Head of Digital Innovation and Associate Principal, Tim Stephens, says: “New and emerging technologies are allowing us to redefine the way we design, collaborate and communicate with our clients.”
Virtual Reality (VR) is one of these technologies. “For me, VR is the common ground that designers, clients, consultants and collaborators have been waiting for. Short of actually building the project, using VR allows design teams to experience and interrogate a project in the most true-to-life medium we have access to. There is tangible comfort at the end of a VR project meeting that everyone has experienced the design in the same way, the team is on the same page; it’s de-risking the project to a degree”.
Digital tools also allow a high level of stakeholder engagement and allow a much faster, more accessible form of public engagement.
Jasmax used the Pano Tour tool to create an interactive website to communicate Panuku’s proposals for a future town square in Takapuna.
“These new technologies and tools we are using are leading to more meaningful conversations about how we shape our cities. For example, we used our Pano Tour tool to create an interactive website to communicate Panuku’s proposals for a future town square in Takapuna.”
This interactive online tool clearly demonstrated the proposed options at both urban design and street level. This allowed the public to gain an understanding of the design overall and how they themselves would eventually experience the design. “We knew it was essential to talk to the community in a language they understood,” says Stephens. “We used our new tool to present something that was tangible and relatable and allowed users to make an informed decision about the future of their community.”
For Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL), the largest ever transport project ever undertaken in New Zealand, digital communication and collaboration tools have been critical in keeping the project
‘on the rails’ in both the design and delivery phases. The project has won awards for its project management and stakeholder engagement.
Stephens says key to the project’s success has been the use of Jasmax’s Building Information Modelling (BIM), which is an intelligent digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a building.
BIM is one of the hottest tools in construction.
“Utilising BIM on a project creates a shared knowledge resource for information, forming a reliable basis for decision making during a projects life cycle. Working with this ‘one source of truth’ streamlines and reduces risk. A BIM-delivered project offers the client value long after the building is built – in that they can use the information to manage their asset and its operational efficiency – a huge benefit for large scale complex projects.”
Sjoerd Post says: “The difference between good and exceptional design will be the way we harness the power of technology and data. Jasmax is working on bold new ways to deliver the best possible design outcomes for New Zealanders. Watch this space.”