CONTENTS

VERTEX SYSTEMS

BUILDING INFORMATION MODEL (BIM) SPECIALIST VERTEX SYSTEMS HAS A TRACK RECORD AS A LEADER IN COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN AND PRODUCT DATA & LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS SPANNING 40 YEARS.

The company’s building design software, Vertex BD, offers a one-stop solution for designing and detailing steel or timber framed structures and is applicable to a broad spectrum of building and component typologies, from single-storey to multi-storey buildings through to prefabricated panels or modules. Vertex solutions are an end-to-end system encompassing sales through to production.

Vertex Architectural tools facilitate the design of houses, modules and pods as well as ancillary accessories, such as kitchen cabinets, ovens, toilet seats, sinks, basins, floor and roof tiles, HVAC and electrical outlets. The tools also offer unparalleled speed and efficiency in creating visual collateral and material for sales and marketing.

The same application enables walls to be automatically framed and floors, roofs and trusses to be modelled accurately, and can even pick information on how to add extra noggings from accessories added in the architectural design. Meanwhile a piping design platform enables the design of pipes and electrical cables, along with adding the necessary service holes to frames according to designated pipelines. All other wall layers can be automatically created in Vertex BD using the architectural model.

Significant features and benefits of Vertex BD include exact drawings and a cutting list for frames, battens, sheets and cladding, along with any layer used for walls, floors or roofs. Material reports can be easily created according to specific needs.

Vertex BD can also create NC data file for production machines in several formats, from simple profile data to cutting data for sheets and cladding.

CASE STUDY
Machiels Building Solutions (MBS) used Vertex BD to prevent errors in the production of facade filling walls for a seven floor residential building in Ghent, Belgium. The building has 500 student rooms and is situated on a multifunctional site. With the facade surface totalling 7800m, MBS provided two types of facade elements: vertical wooden battens were used on the recessed walls in the facades, while the overhanging walls were finished on site with white stucco to create visual contrast.

VERTEX BD PREVENTS PROBLEMS
While the original intention was to design the whole building as a BIM model, the supplied IFC model was not sufficiently detailed. MBS had drawn the concrete structure itself using 2D concrete plans. In some places, steel beams were planned for the concrete floors to give additional stability to the building. MBS had also drawn these in a 3D model. With all the major components designed in the model, MBS had already solved all possible problems and conflicts in the design phase and prevented delays at the building site. Vertex BD design software played a key role, proving highly effective in highlighting potential problems within a 3D environment. By using a BIM, each partner could see every node in 3D and track potential problems. Vertex BD is also fully linked to MBS’ ERP software, enabling the production department to calculate quantities for each material and to fully control the production line.

Seven-storey student accommodation building in Ghent. MBS used Vertex BD to ensure accurate production of the facade elements.

PRE-PRODUCTION TESTING
For major projects such as this, MBS runs production tests before inception. The company tested six elements for this project. By using Vertex BD, MBS could draw any project in 1:1 in a 3D environment. They could also communicate with BIM to the other partners and order the correct amounts of materials. According to MBS, “Vertex BD is an excellent program to make very accurate prefabricated wooden elements: you know that everything will fit on the building site even before you start producing.”■


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