GRAPHISOFT > Case Studies > Revitalizing Croatia’s Church of St. Martin with BIM Technology

Revitalizing Croatia’s Church of St. Martin with BIM Technology

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Virtual Private Cloud
Wearables - Virtual Reality Glasses, Headsets & Controllers

Applicable Industries

Buildings
Cement

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Building Automation & Control
Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing

About The Customer

Foretić Architects, the firm handling the restoration, was founded in 1995 and has 25 years of successful business tradition. The firm is small but boasts a team of designers, engineers, associates, and coworkers with more than 40 years of combined experience on significant construction and design projects. The mixed team of older and young engineers allows them to leverage their vast experience with a fresh, modern project approach. Some of their experts have a special 'Cultural buildings work certificate' from the Ministry of Culture, Republic of Croatia, allowing them to design and work on cultural and heritage building projects. They have been using Archicad since 1995 and use BIM technology in their everyday work.

The Challenge

The Church of St. Martin, a late Gothic-Renaissance style building in Croatia, was left in ruins after the great earthquake of 1880. The church, which is a protected cultural monument, suffered numerous structural cracks and partial or complete demolition of its vaults. Over time, the church was forgotten and never repaired. The challenge was to restore this historic building and revitalize the entire area. The missing elements of the building, such as the tower roof and the nave, needed to be restored. The masonry, cracks, and foundations in the bell tower needed structural repair. The architects also planned to add a new, contemporary dome and a spiral staircase or lift for access to the tower. The main nave’s function was to be restored by adding cubes made from contemporary materials and architectural forms.

The Solution

The architects decided to use Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, Archicad, and BIMx app to tackle these challenges. The software was used to develop an 'informational virtual walk' to present the old and renovated look of the church, along with basic facts about the structure, its location, and archaeological findings. The BIMx app was used to combine old and new 3D models of the church, the virtual walk, and an exploration of the 3D model with a thematic booklet. The BIMx Desktop Viewer integrated the background and the 'making of' renovation animation using a free publish/print screen movie program. Photogrammetry was used in Archicad to relay the real surface, which was more useful than point clouds. Archicad was used to model all the architectural elements like ornaments, baroque tower roof, cornices, etc.

Operational Impact

The use of Archicad and BIMx in the restoration project of the Church of St. Martin has been well received by the client. The project, which is still in the design phase, is already considered very successful. The architects have found that Archicad helps them work much faster than other BIM software, especially because of its 'easy to work in 3D space' ability, user-friendly interface, background processing, and other features that help maximize the strength of their workstations and save time. The firm believes that their success in becoming one of Croatia’s leading practices in the cultural and heritage area is the result of working with Archicad for so many years.

Quantitative Benefit

Archicad allows Foretić Architects to work at least 10 times faster than classic 2D drafting programs.
Using the same amount of time and energy, they get much more drawings, sketches, 3D and other analysis models and presentation materials.