AECOM Technology Corp., a provider of technical and management support services for government and commercial clients, has expanded its global use of building information modeling (BIM) solutions with its design of the $US60-million Roseisle Distillery, which is believed to be Scotland’s largest malt whisky distillery.
For the design, AECOM used structure-, architecture- and production-combined BIM to assist with the design of the facility. AECOM provided all non-process consultancy services for the distillery, which was certified as “Excellent” under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method.
“The challenge at Roseisle was to design a building that wrapped around the complex process equipment required to distill malt whisky while maintaining the high level of flexibility required for future maintenance and advancement of technology,” said Steve Ferguson, AECOM’s associate director for building engineering in Europe. “By using BIM and integrating the 3-D architectural, structural, and complex-process equipment models, the team was able to coordinate and manage the build solution in a virtual environment prior to constructing onsite, and the result was a fully coordinated, efficient, and collaborative process.”
AECOM, the lead consultant for the project, said it created a unique, flexible structure that allows the roof and walls to be removed when equipment needs replacing.
“The ceiling has structural redundancy, for when the fermentation units need to be replaced,” said Nathaniel Buckingham, a senior engineer for AECOM in Europe. “The client was concerned about the environmental impact of the replacement process, so we constructed a building that was able to reuse co-products from the distilling process to provide energy where, in the past, these residues would be removed and used as animal feed.”
AECOM also has used BIM for the design of England’s Chester Zoo; the BBC Pacific Quay Headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland; and the MHMC Hospital in Sharja, United Arab Emirates.
The distillery is currently operational.
