As a result, there is less need for traditional office environments and a greater demand for more dynamic, flexible work spaces. There is still a requirement for meeting rooms but they have to be better equipped, offering full connectivity to provide reliable video conferencing with colleagues working remotely.
We have seen a similar evolution in education. Conference facilities and lecture theatres used to have projection rooms at the back of the room to house a bulky film projector. This equipment was made obsolete by the advent of LCD screens, and many institutions converted the space to increase seating capacity.
Now these same institutions want to reutilise the space again, this time to house a broadcasting studio that will give them the capability to record and livestream lectures to cater for students on hybrid learning courses.
Whether a single asset or an entire estate, and across all sectors of the built environment, digital technology is increasingly influencing the way buildings, old and new, are being used. It calls for a new approach to their design, construction, and management throughout their life cycle.
The solution is digital masterplanning, that is, planning a building’s physical spaces in unison with its digital strategy to create the best possible outcomes. Best masterplanning practice should now be based on an implicit understanding of the ‘phygital’ – the convergence or interaction of the physical and digital environments as experienced by occupants and end users.
From the very start of projects, be they new-builds or redevelopments, we therefore need to consider the impact advances in digital technology will have on a building’s purpose. How will it influence spatial planning, construction and operation? What provisions for network connectivity will we have to make? What’s the best way to retrofit digital infrastructure into traditional buildings?
High-speed connectivity can help take digital masterplanning to another level. It is key to harnessing the benefits of the Metaverse and the Internet of Things, now becoming known as the Metaverse of Things, in which physical objects are integrated into the virtual world to create a whole new level of interactivity.
With smart technology, we can create a digital twin, a virtual model of a building. Live data from sensors means that previously dormant elements of the physical infrastructure can in effect ‘talk’ to us.
Smart buildings can tell us the state of repair of their fabric and structures, essential information at any time and even more important in the wake of the crisis over reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
We can use historical data to simulate different operating scenarios to improve maintenance schedules and inform investment programmes, while real-time data from digital twins will enable us to optimise lighting, heating and cooling systems, helping to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, contributing to sustainability and net zero goals.
If I do make changes, what would it look like? What will the impact be to my physical environment that I could simulate through the digital environment as a precursor to actually implementing it?
Another benefit of collecting more and better data to populate a digital twin model is increased safety and compliance with regulation. In the UK, for example, the Building Safety Act introduces a requirement to maintain an accurate, auditable and up-to-date digital record of critical information – referred to as the ‘golden thread’ – about higher-risk buildings. Digital masterplanning will help to satisfy such regulations.
The vast amounts of data that smart buildings will generate means effective data management throughout an asset’s life cycle is a key element of digital masterplanning. And data management doesn’t just involve collecting and storing information, but using tools and software to interpret, measure and visualise datasets to enable more informed, data-driven decision-making.
This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can have a transformative impact. RLB is supporting industry-wide efforts to standardise data on building design, construction and management. If we can build registries of cleansed, high-quality, highly structured asset information, we can start to train machine learning models, an AI algorithm, to interrogate this treasure trove of data and run queries, extract fresh insights, and find new ideas to solve age-old problems.
At RLB we are already developing our own global data warehouse that will aggregate vast amounts of anonymised data – from cost estimates to BIM models, from numerous real-world projects – into one accessible and manageable repository. The synergy between data warehousing and AI can lead to significant improvements in cost management, risk management, project scheduling, embodied carbon estimation and space utilisation.
The buildings of the future don’t just need to be smart and digitally connected but sustainable, cost-effective, flexible and adaptable, and digital masterplanning will help us to achieve this. As the world continues to change, it will ensure buildings stay relevant to the needs of the people who use them.
Matt Sharp
Partner – Chief Digital Officer, RLB UK
matt.sharp@uk.rlb.com
Project
Location
There are many ways to describe Brookfield Place Sydney, but perhaps the best is “visionary”. It was the vision of Brookfield Properties to fund, design, deliver and maintain a new transit hall opposite Wynyard Station and to convert the ageing assets above into a premium-grade office precinct. RLB’s role on the project was to maintain a close eye on the budget and a laser focus on costs.
