Towards intelligent structural design of buildings: a BIM-based solution

Despite the unprecedented permeation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and collaboration platforms, architects and structural engineers, for the most part, act as separate entities. That is, linking architectural models with those of structural engineers remains labour-intensive and cumbersome; structural engineers can generate few alternatives for any given architectural model. This paper is an attempt to address these problems. It provides an automated procedure, computational details and the configuration of toolsets in the form of a proof of concept (PoC) prototype that: binds architectural models with structural ones for tall buildings; automatically generates and updates alternatives for structural models, based on the input extracted from the architectural model; and provides engineers with an optimum design that fulfils the set criteria. The prototype is developed based on an initial needs assessment study – to determine the requirements of practitioners. The practicality of the solution is assessed in a case project. The paper contributes to the field by presenting one of the first solutions capable of automated generation of optimised structural design based on architectural models. Designed for tall buildings to incorporate immense complexity, the solution acts as a blueprint in developing similar systems for simpler buildings.