Architects given a 3D picture

There's an art to finding the perfect bathtub. There's also a science to it, as Christchurch entrepreneur Scott Barrington has discovered.

While studying architecture Barrington saw a gap in the market for 3D modelling of manufactured products, so that architects could "fit" products into their 3D building designs.

In 2008 he "bit the bullet" and started his own company, BIMStop.

BIMStop works with manufacturers to build 3D models of their products, so architects can access 3D representations of manufacturers' goods anything from a set of blinds, to timber beams, to a bathtub.

What BIMStop is really doing is, as Barrington puts it, "providing a technical solution to a marketing problem".

Initially it was a bit of a "chicken or the egg" dilemma Barrington needed manufacturers on board so he had something to offer architects, but he needed to have architects interested to sell the idea to manufacturers, who are the ones who pay for the marketing service.

BIMStop takes the product information from manufacturers and loads all the data for the various models of bathtubs, for example the material it is made from, colour, dimensions, shape, and plugs in all that data so that architects can browse the site, and select the bathtub they want according to drop-down menus with the various specifications, and place it within the 3D model of the building they are designing.

To the lay person it may seem a bit like online shopping, except they don't actually buy the product from the manufacturer themselves.

Builders will often buy the items the architect has specified in his plans because those items were specified on plans submitted to the local authority for consent, and changing something like the type of support beam for instance, may require a costly or time-consuming amendment to an application.

What that means for a manufacturer is that four times out of five, if an architect has selected their product for their design, the manufacturer has a sale coming his way.

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Architects given a 3D picture