Building Information Modelling (BIM) is playing a pioneering role in the realisation by Interserve of three new facilities for West Yorkshire Police in Wakefield and Leeds.

The police service is an enthusiastic advocate of the use of BIM by the international support services and construction group for the project. The facilities include two new divisional headquarters with associated custody facilities for Leeds and Wakefield Divisions, and a new Specialist Operational Training Centre at Carr Gate, Wakefield where the Operational Support Division is based. All are to be delivered to a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Expected to be categorised as BIM Level 2, there are a number of areas in which the way BIM is being used on the scheme is proving to be ground-breaking. Jacobs Engineering Group has produced just one integrated BIM model for each of the three facilities. This approach is unusual: projects usually incorporate a model each for architectural input, M&E input and engineering input, which are then combined. This integrated BIM model approach was made possible thanks to Interserve's decision to use Jacobs as a 'one stop shop'.


The scheme has seen Jacobs working with Autodesk to develop the capabilities of Autodesk Revit software in order to accommodate certain requirements of the project. For example, an application of Autodesk Revit was developed in order to produce automated room elevations. Jacobs is in fact using the West Yorkshire Police scheme as an example of BIM best practice.

Another example of a revolutionary approach to the use of BIM for this scheme lies in how it facilitates the close integration of construction processes with facilities management services right from the start. This means that looking at the lifecycle costs of the buildings as opposed to just the build costs is far easier. Even a detail such as the use of LED lights in the buildings' car parks in order to reduce long-term maintenance costs can be included. BIM on this scheme is allowing Interserve's Construction and Support Services divisions to work in partnership, sharing information at every stage of the build whose detail is unprecedented.

(CD/JP)