Benedict Wallbank, BIM strategy and partnerships manager at Trimble Viewpoint looks at how Trimble Viewpoint’s Field View increased safety, efficiency and productivity during Claridge’s Hotel construction
Kane has always embraced project innovation and utilised an “all hands on deck” approach to solving tough challenges. So, when the contractor faced the most logistically challenging project in its history – designing, prefabricating and installing the £12m Energy Centre for Claridge’s Hotel, a stunning art deco style luxury property developed by Maybourne Group in London’s Mayfair area – Kane relied on Trimble Viewpoint’s Field View solution to help go the extra mile.
“Claridge’s Hotel was Kane’s most logistically challenging project to date and our project team relied heavily on Field View for quality checking on site, pressure testing, HSE inspections, energisation requests and work permits,” said Martina Hawkins, business systems manager for Kane.
Claridge’s Hotel was a high-profile project, a massive undertaking and peppered with these challenges due to the project being located five-floors underground:
- Achieving quality communications between construction teams working in the energy centre – located five floors below ground – to project teams working in a Northern Ireland office and ground-level teams situated at the project site.
- Logistics of getting prefabricated project materials to and from the project site.
- Recordkeeping operations for health and safety, permitting, assembly, maintenance and commissioning.
Designing and building a project located five storeys below ground requires state-of-the-art project management technology
“Utilising Field View allowed our team to continuously deliver design-led solutions for our client,” relayed Hawkins.
“We chose to work with Field View and the Trimble Viewpoint team due to their knowledge, as well as the stellar digital solution they developed, allowing us to successfully execute our project.”
To execute the massive project in a safe, efficient and profitable manner, the team ditched the paperwork and went digital with Field View and Viewpoint for Projects (VFP). Kane outfitted the project team with tablets and general training on the Field View solution. Shortly thereafter, the team began utilising Field View and VFP for major project management tasks, including:
- Processing, storing, sharing, reviewing and marking up all project data – including models, drawings and documents – in a secure location that was efficient to access by all project stakeholders.
- Quickly opening and filling out customised online forms and sharing them in real-time with those who needed the information.
- Project managers conducted safety walkthroughs on site with tablets, noting and photographing issues from beginning through their rectification.
- Logistics of prefabricating materials in the Northern Ireland workshop, and then transporting and lifting them into position via a 3m x 3.4m opening to access the underground levels.
- Utilised offsite solutions, including virtual reality (VR) and noting anchor points to show the project team and client the methodology for safe transport and delivery of MEP systems.
The team also relied on digital technology to create and scan QR codes for tagging assets (ie boilers, valves, etc) for maintenance and commissioning tasks. Kane now uses these QR codes to manage its facilities management contract with Claridge’s Hotel.
“One of the primary drivers that led us to Viewpoint’s Field View was knowing we would increase safety and gain massive project efficiencies by utilising digital communications,” said Hawkins.
“The end results speak for themselves”
Through innovation and advancement across all in-house capabilities – achieving streamlined efficiency – Kane successfully delivered the challenging Claridge’s Hotel project, surpassing owner expectations and leading to an extended scope of work for hotel projects.
“From the very first meeting, when project stakeholders explained their vision and what they were trying to deliver for Claridge’s, we were hooked on the project,” said Cathal McMullan, managing director of Kane. “The end results speak for themselves.”
Kane logged 93,863 labour hours for the Claridge’s Hotel project, which included a basement area of 24,000m3 and 10,000m+ of pipework installation.
By the end of the project, the total document count was 5,156 between Kane and the 17 other contractors – including 247 drawings and 430 prefabrication drawings – and a project email archive of 13,973.
Kane utilised Viewpoint Field View to generate more than 2,000 QR codes and attached to plant assets for recording future maintenance checks.
Digital integration and team collaboration is key. Kane continues to deploy Field View across all of the company’s projects.
About Field View
Viewpoint Field View is a cloud-based and offline mobile solution that helps construction effectively manage projects by replacing pen and paper in the field for snagging, forms and permits, project delivery, handover and more.
Field View ensures construction teams are able to save time, resolve issues quickly, reduce risk and deliver higher quality projects.
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Darren Graham
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