16
INSIGHTS PRACTICE PROFILE Space Group
This Newcastle-based practice has built a reputation around the development of digital design services alongside project commissions, with a particular focus on harnessing the benefits of BIM. CEO Rob Charlton explains its ethos to Laura Shadwell
N
orth east based architectural practice Space Group was founded in 1957 in Newcastle upon Tyne, under the name Waring and Netts Partnership. Quick to move with
the technological times, the firm has evolved and innovated over the last 30 years to now offer BIM services and advice, as well as continuing to design projects worldwide.
After working as an architectural practice only for many years, and changing their name to Space Architects in the process, increases in workload meant a need to expand but also diversify. A shortage of architects in the early 2000s led the practice to invest in design software to improve efficiency, and in 2002 they committed to going with Revit BIM software – which had just been bought by Autodesk at that juncture. With BIM fully adopted throughout the practice, clients became more and more interested in learning about the project design co-ordination software, and the benefits of integrating it into their businesses. In response to the growing demand for digital support among clients, and aware of the increase in design challenges facing the sector, Rob co-founded a dedicated consultancy, which he named
BIM.Technologies, in 2011. At a similar point in time, the practice – now retitled Space Group – created an in-house library of BIM objects to populate the 3D models. It quickly became apparent that there was potential for adapting this as a commercial platform, and Rob and fellow founding director Adam Ward launched bimstore in 2011, alongside
BIM.Technologies. As time went on, and BIM was becoming more regularly used within the industry, great designs were being produced using the software containing a lot of data that could be of use in other projects. Identifying a lack of a place to access this data, post projects’ completion, Space Group developed a ‘digital viewer’ – a digital representation of a physical environment that collects real time data – and this was later launched as a ‘digital twin’ two years ago, called Twinview.
Under the Space Group umbrella are four brands, which are closely connected and share the same strapline, “Making Buildings Better.” All four (Space Architects, BIM technologies, bimstore and Twinview), focus on using technology to innovate and improve outcomes, as Rob Charlton explains. “We see the challenges of the industry as opportunities. That’s the way we’ve always seen it – to help our clients address those issues.”
Each of the four brands continue to evolve and innovate within distinct strategies. Space Architects’ key goal is to standardise processes for their clients to reduce cost risk; BIM technologies is
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
“If you’re trying to minimise carbon then the best building for our clients is the one they’ve already got” Rob Charlton
expanding into the smart building sector; bimstore is focused on building safety and how specifiers can understand manufacturers’ embodied carbon information. Twinview is more about people understanding the operational side of buildings on a global basis.
People & planet first Rob states that Space’s focus as a business is “to make a positive impact on the planet and the communities in which we work,” and this is practically borne out in projects, but also in how the business operates.
ADF JULY/AUGUST 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
