The work with Celsius gave Byggstyrning and White the nomination ”the world’s foremost BIM project”. It showed how the method can be used to get more value out of the BIM model. We take a closer look at the light courtyard that separates the office space from the laboratories.

– WE DID NOT WANT TO USE A 3D MODEL to just draw the building. We wanted to build a graphical 3D database to handle the entire construction process, explains Aksel Alvarez Jurgueson, responsible for methodology at White Arkitekter in Uppsala. The construction of Celsius is unique. In the project, the group for the project, led by Byggstyrning and White, decided to collaborate in a unique way with all stakeholders - architect, builder, suppliers and customer. A prerequisite for achieving that goal was to work with Building Information Modeling (BIM) in a much more comprehensive way than before. The BIM model that was developed during the journey was eventually loaded with so much information that it could be used as the only construction document for the entire project down to the smallest detail. The result was fewer construction errors and changes as well as a complete digital twin for future management. – We developed ways to get out quantities and costs and took steps on the way that also led to do life cycle analyzes directly in the model. At times, we also developed “Design-to-Build” solutions where the basis from the BIM model is so detailed that it works for both cost calculations, production and installation of building elements, says Aksel Alvarez Jurgueson. Uppsala Science Park is a campus owned by Vasakronan and home to about 200 companies in areas such as biotechnology, materials tech- nology, IT and medicine. The hub was first built there, which is a hub on campus with conference rooms and a restaurant. White Arkitekter was commissioned to design Celsius, an office and laboratory building of approximately 10,000 square meters that would complement the Hub. Celsius is quite simple in its shape so the exterior depends on subtle details and robust shapes to create identity. Inside the 48x48 meter house, there was a need for a floor plan that accommodates both  advanced laboratory equipment and offices, all in a flexible way to allow tenants to come and go, which is natural on a campus.

The floor plan therefore became two houses inside one shell: one house for offices and another for laboratories divided by an atrium. Stairs and elevators are located on the north side of the atrium and the west wall is slanted in plain view to create space for different types of tenants. – Paradoxically, Celsius is completely square but neither traditional nor symmetrical, says Aksel. Celsius atrium is a cut triangle shape of 28.5x 9 meters at the widest point and 7 meters where it is narrowest. The highest part of the atrium has a height of 24 meters. This means that the lower levels, despite the glass roof, do not receive as much natural light, especially around the main stairs, which are located on the narrower side of the atrium. Furthermore, the acoustics in such a large space together with poor lighting conditions would create an unpleasant room to stay in. In this narrow and high space with all the light coming from above, White wanted to create an atmosphere with personality that is cozy despite challenges in lighting and acoustics. – Atriums and light courtyards can sometimes be overlooked because it is about square meters of space from which the landlord does not receive any income. The atrium is seen more as a transport distance to and from the tenants’ premises, says Aksel and continues. In the Celsius project, we knew from the beginning that the Atrium would form a bridge between the inner houses and make its mark on the entire design. The expression would be unique and the culmination of the journey for Celsius. As the responsible coordinator of the Atrium part of the project, Aksel had two sources of inspiration as its input value. The first was the  machine hall in Guri Dam designed by Carlos Cruz-Diez (see picture on the next page). It is a larger room, but with some spatial similarities and problems. Proportions and light are equal. The need to cover hard walls from the rough building is similar. Cruz-Diez solved this by using a panel design, Color Additive Works, whose vertical lines create a dynamic rhythm that relates to the human scale and allows the visitor to find their place in the room. Aksel’s other major reference was the old town hall in Kiruna, where the contrast between brick walls and wool wallpaper creates a soft and warm space. – Introducing textiles as a material changes the character so completely. The sound and smells in such a room behave differently and take the space closer to the visitor in some way, says Aksel. The work deciding which colors and their placement on the walls was done based on “trial and error”. White used a function written in Dynamo to convert images into color patterns and inserted them into the BIM model so that the panels could be named and coded, which facilitated production and assembly. The goal was to find the right textiles in the right colours that would mimic the forest with its light that is gradually filtered down to ground level with deep shadows, but with a maintained feeling that the light comes through. Around the main staircase, a control system was used to dim lighting and control its temperature to give a feeling of natural daylight through the glass ceiling. Another thing that was only possible thanks to the BIM-based workflow was the coordination with Helenius who placed ventilation in an integrated way with the sound-absorbing wall panels from A.M. Acoustics, something that makes ventilation part of the design.  
– All the ideas, details and thoughts about integration risked going away if not all subcontractors were on the track, says Aksel. With a traditional way of working, this would have required lots of detailed drawings and meetings, but since everyone worked in the same digital ecosystem, the need for coordination meetings decreased drastically. Since everyone worked on the same 3D model, there was no need to interpret drawings. A next step was to deliver information in a way that was useful for subcontractors to calculate their costs, prepare their production. An example of how the work process worked was the panels of the atrium walls. The supplier Aros Akustik received documentation from White where the idea was that the panels would consist of a wooden board on wooden beams and insulation with tension cloth and textiles, a new variant that White had previously used in the construction of the Hub on the campus area. It became clear to Aros Akustik and White that this solution would be difficult and costly to implement. With support and understanding from the 3D model, Aros was able to present an alternative proposal based on EcoSUND, a sound-absorbing material from A.M. Acoustics. – With Aros’ idea of panels with fabric folds around the core material, the panels functioned as a kind of beautiful pillows. It became a perfect solution for the project where we could combine a sound-absorbing function with retained aesthetics, says Aksel. The panels also had a significantly lower weight and could be mounted on standing sheet metal profiles with Velcro, which dramatically reduced costs. – I’ve heard about Digital-Twis many times, but never seen it completely done, this is the first time I’ve seen it become reality and I have got to say – it’s very satisfying being a part of it. The process can be misunderstood as something that only was a part of the digital model. – There were many hours of discussions and handmade drawings that helped us define the details, identify the problems and point out the solutions, but we didn’t need to use traditional detail drawings to present to them because we solved all the problems while we modelled them in 3D. – My point is that model based design doesn’t affect the quality of the produced architecture because it’s all about knowing the tools, creating logical and clear systems to handle problems and challenges in a project, all while adding the creative skills we have. To work model based isn’t different from working on paper based projects. The big differens lies in the benefits where communication and cooperation are improved, Aksel Alvarez Jurgueson finishes. Proof of the effectivity of the process in the project with Celsius is that the building could be handed over to the customer before the scheduled time. The office and labb house Celsius in Uppsala was named the world’s foremost BIM project at buildingSMART Virtual Summit where Byggstyrning recieved the award.