The Shard at London Bridge
Sellar Property Group is the developer of the site. The project has recently started and Mace has been retained as Construction Managers. This places a major responsibility on Mace to deliver the programme on time and budget with a team of specialists they manage to do the work. To quote from the The Shard at London Bridge website: "Mace is a renowned global business providing management and construction services to the public and private sectors, with a reputation for finding the best solutions to complex projects. Mace has been responsible for the successful delivery of some of the most complex, prestigious and award winning projects including these in the UK: the BA London Eye, British Museum Great Court, the More London development, including City Hall, Heathrow T5, Heathrow Air Traffic Control Tower, RBS Gogarburn and the City of London's fourth tallest tower, 51 Lime Street." Why Synchro? Mace wanted a product which would promote comprehensive understanding through the delivery team. They selected the Synchro software application for a number of reasons: • The software was able to integrate all aspects of design with site infrastructure and display it back in a flexible way • The ability to improve the quality of communication with project stakeholders at all levels • Its ability to link the dynamic scene with different timelines and display the ongoing consequences of different strategies for building out the various structures • Its ability to bring in all the logistics implications of the programme to help position cranes, roads, parking, earth stores in a city centre site where logistics play a crucial role • The opportunity to compare visually different strategies to understand flaws and wins for one route over another and share these with different trade specialists • The interoperability with other planning systems • Speed and simplicity of the approach. What Synchro Ltd Provided • The conversion of 2D drawings into a 3D model or the assimilation of 3D models, when provided • Staff training • Creation of logistics items and linking of 4D programme from 2D planning schedule The Outcome To experience the power of Synchro, take our ten-day, risk-free, test drive. 
"Synchro provides the graphic simulation needed to deliver and improve construction solutions for our clients, along with a real time based 4D model for idea generation and problem solving within the project team." -- Rob Owen, Director at Mace Group Ltd, using Synchro for Tate Modern and the Shard,
On the south side of the River Thames at
The Client/Contractor
Background
As part of its best practice review, Mace concluded that Synchro had the best mix of qualities to provide support in "Visualised Planning" generally for its business and this project is seen to be one on which such a technique brings clear benefits.
To preview a Synchro .AVI on YouTube of the Shard at London Bridge click here.
Synchro's software enabled Mace to orchestrate the logistics of the project in real time and spot potential problems, which are commonly missed using traditional planning methods, such as:
-- The deployment of tower cranes had been scheduled too late into the project. Early discovery of this coordination gap enabled the problem to be rectified before it even manifested itself.
-- Issues in the MEP scheduling, such as omissions of certain components from the program, were highlighted before they became a problem, thus avoiding costly time delays.
The client is now able to contemplate adopting Synchro in house as a means of formulating, proving and articulating construction strategy, and then controlling the actual output with the agreed plan -- building in certainty and, therefore, optimising results. 
Instead of going through the process of developing software, which is costly and long, Cadvisual had the opinion that every good idea one has, somebody else has had before. Therefore, it was decided to import ready made, top of the bill or highly innovative, software systems and try and make them talk to one another in an object oriented and intelligent manner. The first product, EliteCAD Architecture, led to a company called DDS and Bjorn Stangeland. He gave a day long, lecture on the benefits of IFC, BIM and the IAI in general. As this immediately solved the communication problem, and gave the company access to many more innovative companies such as Jotne, Powel, Nosyko, Granlund and Octaga, the Cadvisual Group has grown exponentally ever since. The Cadvisual Group has been instrumental in the start up of the Benelux chapter of buildingSMART and promoting IFC as the means of data communication in the building industry in the 21st century. The company, in the Benelux market, is now regarded as the major force and market leader in offering solutions and services for systems and process integration for the AEC industry.
The Cadvisual Group conception is clear that the focus of the services and products must be on innovation of the AEC industry and contribute to the value chain of process integration.
