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Less technology, more building?

How can a modern office building respond to climate change without relying on ever more technology? GEMA's new headquarters in Berlin combines architectural measures, materials with useful thermal properties and carefully targeted building services. Thermal simulations extending to 2045 helped shape a design that limits summer temperature peaks and prepares for future heatwaves.

Open-heart surgery

Klinikum Stuttgart is being rebuilt while the hospital remains open. Surgery, emergency care and radiotherapy continue as old buildings are dismantled and new buildings and deep excavations take shape. Alongside the construction work, the hospital is establishing a continuous flow of digital information from design to facility management. The redevelopment is becoming a pilot project for BIM2FM.

Physical AI on the BIM construction site

Robots that first learn their tasks on a virtual construction site and then transfer what they have learned into reality: What sounds like a future scenario becomes technically conceivable with Physical AI. Thomas Riedel, Head of BIM Strategy at OTTO WULFF, on BIM as a training environment, learning machines, and the crucial question of how well the digital world can map the real construction site.

Model-based condition monitoring: bringing digital twins to existing infrastructure

Digital bridge twins work. The Terfener Inn Bridge in Tyrol demonstrates this after more than four years of continuous operation. Yet permanently installed sensors often remain too costly and complex for widespread use. Contactless radar measurements were therefore tested at Italy's Olona Bridge to assess its condition from a distance. Both examples show how model-based condition monitoring can be scaled.

From megaproject to standard: how Poland is advancing BIM

Between Warsaw and Łódź, Port Polska is developing a new international airport linked to a high-speed rail and road network. The project is among the most ambitious infrastructure programs in Europe and is digitally organized from the start. BIM, shared data environments, and open standards are intended to bring together hundreds of project participants. In 2026, the country is the official partner country of BIM World MUNICH.

Hamburg Central Station: coordinating complex construction projects with a digital twin

Hamburg Central Station faces a complex programme of parallel construction projects. A digital twin supports efficient coordination across projects: 4D simulations identify conflicts over space and time while the station remains operational and help resolve them. The semantic data model and its integration with existing IT systems also connect construction planning with day-to-day building operations.

Excavators, robots and BIM: turning model data into machine tasks

3D machine control brings digital terrain models into the cab, layout robots transfer plans onto floor slabs, and the first construction machines already perform clearly defined tasks without a driver. BIM and machinery are becoming more closely connected, but the data flow is not yet seamless: a complex building model first has to become a task that a machine can understand and execute unambiguously.

BIM in vacant buildings: is it worth it?

Empty office floors and unused commercial properties often hold a problem for anyone planning a new use: too little reliable information about the building itself. Old drawings are out of date, alterations are only partly documented, and pipes run in unexpected places. Digital building surveys and BIM can reduce that uncertainty. The key is knowing which data the proposed use actually requires.

Assessing heavy rainfall during design: how BIM integrates flood retention checks

A path widens, a swale shrinks and suddenly there is no longer enough space for rainwater. How can designers spot this while there is still time to change the design? Using a real project, Nic Züchner shows how BIM links site areas, heavy rainfall data and flood retention calculations. His model reveals the effects of design changes while also highlighting the limits of today's digital tools. By the B4T editorial team

29.09.2026

"If your data is held hostage by a single vendor, you don’t have collaboration"

How can construction data remain reliably usable across tools, teams, and time? According to Antonio Cianciulli of ACCA Software, the answer lies in openBIM. The future of the industry depends less on which software prevails, and more on who owns the data - and whether we can trust it.

When the digital twin becomes a target

BIM, Common Data Environments, IoT and connected building systems make construction projects more transparent and efficient. Every new connection also expands the digital attack surface. Using BIM and digital twins throughout a building's life cycle therefore means planning their protection from the outset. Cybersecurity is not a feature to add later: it is a prerequisite for reliable digital construction processes.

A digital extended family instead of a digital twin

The digital twin suggests a single, perfect representation of a building. In practice, however, data resides in BIM, CAFM, ERP and many other systems. Lars Oberwinter of Plandata therefore prefers to speak of a 'digital extended family'. Digital Information Management, or DIM, is intended to ensure its members can work together.