The Pride company was founded in 2013. Its founders are professionals with vast experience in implementing large and technologically complex buildings. Today, the company employs more than 60 highly-qualified specialists, including 30 architects. Pride not only provides architectural design, but also master plan development, structural and engineering solutions. The company handles a full line-up of services: from creating concepts to leveraging urban potential; creation of design development (DD) and construction documentation (CD) of buildings and supervision of the construction phase.

One of the most important priorities for the company is the widespread use of building information modeling technologies. Performing complex tasks requires a comprehensive BIM solution that can serve as the principal tool for coordinating the work of architects, designers, and engineers of all related specialties. BIM technology provides an integrated design approach throughout all the stages of the building life cycle. The desire to offer customers unique architectural solutions and the ability to implement complex tasks was prompted by the company’s management and resulted in the implementation of Archicad: a program that doesn’t require a time-consuming setup.

One of the recent projects developed by the Pride company is the Irina Viner-Usmanova Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, completed in 2019. The center, which is in Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic Complex, seats 4,000 and is ready to host competitions and training events. Its features include partially transformable tribunes and VIP boxes. Its appearance conveys a unique roof shape resembling the wave of a gymnastic ribbon.

During the initial stage, we created a preliminary concept rather quickly, consisting of several completely different solutions, such as extraordinary forms, or a more geometric appearance maintaining a clear rhythm of the façade. The customer chose the form of a ribbon fluttering above the ground. We were able to develop the first 3D model in less than a month,

says chief architect of the Pride company, Elena Myznikova.

At a construction site, we always go with the tablet that contains an Archicad model. When discussing our solutions and ideas with our clients, we usually use the BIMx mobile app. BIMx is also indispensable when you need to focus on a certain part of the project and to monitor the progress of construction. Using BIMx, we can easily access all the necessary specifications of BIM model elements,

says chief architect of the Pride company, Vitaliy Krestianchik.

Each project starts with a concept and brainstorming session. The first pencil sketches were recreated in Archicad as a 3D model. Visualization was created using 3ds Max. The process of BIM design started at this stage: the model contained essential information about the materials needed and became the basis for the first client meeting.

During the concept stage of development, the floor areas, ceilings and floor finishes, opening quantities and other common parameters were defined. For coordination of the concept with the general designer, Mosinzhproekt, and the client, Pride used BIMx – a handy tool for viewing BIM models on mobile devices. All project files and documentation drawings were combined into a single Hyper-model and displayed using BIMx. Thus, the Pride company was able to rotate the project in a 3D environment to allow consideration of additional details.

After approval of the concept, the architectural model was transferred to the relevant consultants using the IFC format. For each contractor, the file was prepared separately in Archicad: some subcontractors didn’t need a roof, while others didn’t need concrete structures. To locate errors, the Solibri Model Checker application was used to perform collision detection analysis of information models.

At the same time, we made a parametric model of the roof using the Rhinoceros and Grasshopper-Archicad Live Connection, which determined the options for the optimization of the metal frame elements. With this information, the manufacturer of the standing seam roof presented examples of the roof panel arrangements that were possible, based on the load-bearing capabilities of the metal sheets. The calculated parameters helped to determine the optimal shape of the roof.

Building information modeling doesn’t mean you have to model each detail. To calculate the amount of materials needed to complete a project, Archicad can import various manufacturers’ data (floors, doors, windows, etc.), and the schedules are automatically generated,

said Vitaliy Krestianchik, chief architect of the Pride company.

The building engineering systems were developed in Revit and MagiCAD. The IFC translators to save and import the first versions of these models – obtained from the engineers – required several days to set up. For the engineers, it was important to correctly save, and for architects to correctly import the data. After an exchange of models, collision detection, and further error corrections, the documentation development began.

Despite the complexity of the facility, thanks to Archicad, the company managed to complete the project without hiring additional employees or BIM specialists. General BIM coordination of all disciplines and the workflow management during the DD and CD phases was carried out by a single architect. His tasks included the organization of teamwork in a single common shared project file. This entire process was based on the Archicad Teamwork feature.

The architectural part of the project was done in Archicad using Teamwork, a feature that allows each architect involved to see the entire project, track all the changes and avoid errors. No matter what city or country an employee is in, it’s not a problem for Teamwork,

says Vitaliy Krestianchik, chief architect of the Pride company

Data security levels and access rights to the model were determined by the BIM coordinator and depended primarily on the experience and skill of the technician. The BIM coordinator also placed limits on the creation and configuration details of layers in the project. The number of architects connected to the project at one time was no more than 15. Discussion of design solutions was streamlined with the help of the built-in Teamwork messaging service. The use of Teamwork significantly simplified the process of the model coordination. The processing time was reduced, and the performance of the team was significantly increased.

The architectural part of the project was done in Archicad using Teamwork, a feature that allows each architect involved to see the entire project, track all the changes and avoid errors.

Vitaly Krestianchik, Chief architect, CPU Pride

BIM made it possible to build the design exactly as it was envisioned and documented by the architects.

Nikolai Gordyushin, Chief architect and partner, CPU Pride