Karan: Give us a brief introduction to Menkes Developments.
Luis: At Menkes, we are committed to creating quality and innovative real estate solutions for living and working, drawing on the strength of our experience, relationships and trust. We are committed to raising the standards for outstanding quality design and superior value as a fully integrated, multi-disciplinary real estate development company. An integrated project delivery process using a building information modeling platform is the ideal method of achieving our objectives. It is the mission of this IPD/BIM process to align the standards and practices of all parties, so that the project team as a whole can leverage the full potential of the Building Information Model and maximizing performance and return on investment for the project.
Karan: Give us a brief introduction into your background
Luis: Mr. Luis Miguel Cevada graduated with honours from Sheridan College’s architectural technology program in 2001. In 2004, Mr. Cevada became an accredited member of both The Association of Architectural Technologists of Ontario as well as The Ontario Association for Applied Architectural Sciences. With over 10 years of work experience at Kirkor Architects & Planners, Mr. Cevada is responsible, as an architectural technologist and job captain, to develop large residential high‐rise and mixed‐use projects using Revit platform. He was involved in several phases of the project starting with the site plan approval phase to design development phase to working drawings and finally to construction contract administration. Driven to further develop his skills, he then joined the Ontario Building Officials Association in 2005 achieving The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s BCIN number. With a commitment to professional development and his determination for the pursuit of excellence in the architectural industry, Mr. Cevada then completed the University of Toronto’s Building Science Certification Program in 2008 and obtained the BSSO designation. In 2013 Mr. Cevada joined to Menkes Developments to obtain project management experience with the mandate to leverage BIM for construction.
Karan: What isMenkes' philosophy towards BIM as it pertains to your firm's projects (focus on BIM capabilities)
Luis: The mandate at Menkes is that all projects are to be completed/delivered in an integrate BIM platform. A BIM execution plan has been developed and forms part of the contractual obligations of all consultants. Trades/sub-contractors are also encouraged to participate to both contribute date/information upfront in the design phase and well as take advantage of the opportunities during construction. The residential high-rise construction industry is still evolving and has a long way to go to fully benefit from the BIM model however by Developer like Menkes pushing the envelope the trades are starting to understand the benefits.
Karan: Tell us about an interesting project or case study where BIM is being implemented or has been implemented.
Luis: 87 Peter Street Condominiums is Menkes’ first integrated BIM project and is currently under construction. Other projects that are currently in the design phase are also using this process.
Karan: What are some of the major challenges of the said project that BIM will help to overcome?
Luis: Not all of the trades in the residential high-rise construction industry have the expertise to take advantage of the BIM model. The models that are created by the consultant team need reflect what data is required to be extracted in later phases and if the objectives are not clear defined upfront then it becomes a problem later. Pre-fabrication is still a challenge with the tools currently being used.
Karan: Share information about your BIM strategy that is not available on your company website, in other words tell our readers something about your BIM strategy they should know they may not already know. i.e. why is BIM so important to your company?
Luis: Having a clear plan and defining the objective of how the model/information will be used through-out the life-cycle of the project is important to communicate upfront. We are also evolving on different ways to use the model for estimating/budgeting, construction logistic, pre-fabrication etc.
It’s an ongoing learning process!
Karan: Thank you Luis. It was a pleasure talking with you!
