Bela calls AGACAD metal framing and CNC solutions the “lifeblood” of its building design business

A cost-focused and energy-conscious Australian building design firm intent to extract all possible value from BIM considers AGACAD a key ally for the uniquely powerful and flexible functionality of its tools and solutions for Revit®.

Client Profile

BELA DESIGN BUILDING of Australia are BIM professionals offering building design and modelling, engineering expertise, and CNC services for prefabrication and modular construction.

Founded in 2003, they specialize in mechanised light steel construction with masonry concrete tilt-ups. Cost- and energy-conscious, the firm administers projects online, thus extending its reach to clients well beyond its home in Palmers Island, New South Wales.

Business Need

“BIM is worth its weight in gold” for 3D modelling power, documentation quality and reliable cost estimation, says Stephen Mezes, the Managing Director at Bela Design Building. But even if the Australian design firm is a huge fan of BIM, it came to realize that even the leading platform for BIM, Autodesk® Revit®, has limitations.

That’s especially true with industry-specific work like designing steel-frame buildings and feeding data to CNC machines for cost-effective offsite manufacturing of components and modules. So Bela was looking for more productivity and functionality in a solution that had to work well with the other systems it was already using

“We required easy-to-use, multi-functional and dynamic framing software that could link into Space Gass [the most popular structural analysis and design package in Australia],” Mezes specifies. Besides automating complex framing work, the solution also had “to allow manual editing of individual components and be able to produce CNC output for manufacturing.” he added.

Solution

So Bela began using AGACAD’s suite of BIM solutions for automated metal framing of walls, floors, roofs and more, its CNC exporter, and the T4R set of general productivity tools for Revit.

It found the software has a quite user-friendly interface. It creates all types of framing and panels using customizable configurations. It can frame even very complex openings, add structural materials, and generate shop drawings. Changes are easy, including updates of panels, shop drawings and numbering. Creation and customization of schedules is also simple. Exporting to CNC for production and going back and forth between Revit and Bela’s preferred structural engineering package were seamless, too, as promised.

“We could immediately detail and CNC-produce buildings from a local supplier with much more efficiency,” the company’s head notes.

Results

With AGACAD’s software, Bela gained competitive advantages, Mezes says: “It’s the lifeblood of our off-site prefabrication and module-building practices, reducing labour costs while increasing accuracy.”

What has the company found most useful? “Combining the advantages of synchronicity and technology for performing multiple tasks throughout a model all at once, with at the same time also being able to control the individual components, sections, properties,” the managing director says.

“Also, not being limited to detail for just one type of CNC production roll former,” he adds.

Mezes has only praise for AGACAD’s support and training services: “I have found AGACAD to be considerate, helpful, responsive, respectful – in a way unlike any other business that I have worked with. All our dealings with the AGACAD team have exceeded expectations and renewed my faith that there are still people out there with great business attitudes.”

This client relationship is a great example of AGACAD’s focus on “Building BIM Together” and securing all the benefits of BIM for the AEC industry.

Advancing building technologies for nearly 30 years now, AGACAD today is the developer of the world’s widest range of true BIM software for Revit® professionals, with 12,000+ users in 130 countries. AGACAD solutions incorporate top BIM practitioners’ insights and automate best practices.

For more information, contact us at info@agacad.com or +370 618 55 671.