Design team on top of the world

A specially constructed design team is celebrating after winning an international competition which saw them compete in a gruelling 48 hour challenge.

The joint team, made up of staff from Niven Architects, academics from Teesside University and four undergraduate students, triumphed in Build Qatar Live – winning the Multidisciplinary Team Award.

Build Qatar Live was an international design competition where teams from around the world were tasked with completing a building design within 48 hours using the construction industry's most advanced Building Information Modelling (BIM) software and workflows.

Teesside’s winning team was led by Johnathan Munkley, BIM manager at Niven Architects and the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) associate in a collaboration between Teesside University and Niven Architects.

Professor Nashwan Dawood, Director of Teesside University’s Technology Futures Institute and a world leading authority on construction, research and innovation, supported the team, along with Dr Mohamad Kassem, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Project Management at Teesside.

Penelope Tiffney, Associate Lecturer in Spatial Design at Teesside University, provided interior architectural input, along with four of her undergraduate students who were on the Build Qatar Live team.

Professor Dawood, who recently worked alongside Qatar University and multi-national construction technology company Hochtief ViCon to examine ways to cut costs and raise efficiency in the construction industry in the Gulf, said it was a fantastic achievement to win such a prestigious competition.

He added: 'In order to prove our international credentials, we have competed with the best in the world. This fantastic result will not only put us on the international map in terms of BIM collaboration, but also pave the way for more exciting developments in this research area.'

Part 2 Architect Jonathan is working at Niven on a two year Teesside University KTP where he is developing and implementing protocols for integrated BIM and lifecycle information flow. KTPs see talented graduates working in a business to help improve competitiveness and productivity through better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Businesses also get the benefit of specialist support from University experts.

'Build Qatar Live was a real collaborative effort and we were able to use specialist expertise from a diverse range of subject areas,' said Jonathan.

'To win such a tough and prestigious competition is a testament to the talent available at both Teesside University and Niven Architects.'

Build Qatar Live took place over 48 hours, concluding at 6.00am on Thursday 29 November.

Penelope Tiffney said: 'It was a really grueling challenge and everybody on the team deserves credit for working extremely hard.

'For the students, it was an amazing opportunity and allowed them to test their skills working on a live project under extreme pressure.'

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