How could information gathering and management that BIM puts in the center of attention, lead to the creation of an eternally changing interior with the use of a single “smart” wall segment.
The majority of the existing building stock in Greece is worth maintaining. Our question was whether by following the principals of BIM and a BIM-based data gathering process, a mechanism for the interior space creation can be devised-only constraints would be the external envelope and the services (f.e. WCs, auxiliary spaces, etc.).
The case chosen to be examined was that of the reuse of the American Tobacco Company’s former factory in Volos, Greece in order to host the Centre of Research and Technology (CE.RE.TE.TH). First step was to create an element that contains all the necessary technologies for an office building that can be movable inside the space, and also programmed in such a way so that it accomplishes optional function.
So, a wall partition of 2.4m height, 1m. width and minimum thickness of 6cm, loaded with the adequate characteristics (lighting, heating, pressure and temperature sensors, air conditioning, desk, chair, battery, wheels, storage space, etc) was designed. Its management is based upon a based-on-data system which first gathers the information needed and then saves it in a preconfigured database open to the users to load it with personal preferences in every moment. This data leads to a series of rules and conditions that have been set for every room category, in order for any space scenario to be created automatically and derived from the information management’s results at any certain point of the building’s life cycle.
The result is an implicitly ever changing interior with the use of a single element that avoids having unused spaces or technologies, meets the users’ needs every moment in the best way possible in a both general and personal level and can be adjusted in every building only by changing the number of its users with no need of further study. It is a more sustainable and functional solution than it would be if it were designed by conventional means.
