Extract

The paradigm shift towards use of digital tools in facilities management provides immense efficiency improvements for space planning. Growing demand for useable workspace invariably leads to hastened expansion into spaces for different purposes. This in turn leads to poor circulation, diminished access to natural lighting, restrictive airflow, lower productivity, improper storage and poor space planning. This study is leveraged on building information modelling-based VR (BIMBVR) using an activity-based workplace (ABW) design approach to provide better useable spaces within existing healthcare facilities in Wellington, New Zealand. A simulation-based methodological approach was adopted in this study. Using light detection and ranging equipment (LiDAR), a 310-point cloud scan was utilised to create 3D Revit models for four existing floors occupied by various non-clinical departments. Real time VR immersion was then utilised to collect feedback from the facilities management team on the redesigned layout using the FUZOR VR platform. The research asks how BIMBVR can aid in obtaining meaningful feedback from employees on potentially stressful workspace planning initiatives. The results revealed that BIMBVR enabled immersive stakeholder experience in both their existing spaces and then with the proposed design changes. Co-design strategies enabled improvements for better workplace organisation with far less stress and anxiety.

Keywords: Building information modelling (BIM), Virtual reality (VR), Activity-based workplace (ABW), Healthcare, Facility Management (FM).

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