Our new collaborative design capability is truly revolutionary in ship construction and creates an open dialogue between YSA Design and its partners, enabled by our transition from 2D design based on deck plans to 3D Building Information Modelling. BIM allows digital representations of physical spaces to become shared knowledge and provides a basis for ship owners, yards and YSA Design to reach decisions as part of a collaborative process.
The drive to attract new talent to YSA Design continues, with seven new starters hired since Q3 2017, all with different areas of design expertise, and the current cruise ship workload certainly justifying our expansion. We are already making the first use of BIM as the lead coordinating architect in an ambitious project with one of our main clients, where the owner and the participating yard are seeing immediate benefits in better envisaging structures and technical installations, as well as error avoidance.
YSA Design is working with the tools at the forefront of our industry, such as the Autodesk-based Shipbuilding & Offshore Software Solution (including Lofting 3ds Max), so that all participants can continuously keep the ship’s entirety in mind. This is more efficient, but it is also bringing new ways of communicating with our clients and shipyards that, when considered in combination with the GA, deepen understanding for all. The virtual tour can take in ‘big picture’ spaces, such as the atrium of a cruise ship, down to the fine detail of a piping arrangement in an awkward space.
While the ship space walk-through may be virtual, online meetings to date have created an experience that has enough in common with reality to allow those ‘present’ to share perspectives, stimulating enriched discussions. It is possible, for example, to explore lighting options in a way that would not be useful if the discussion remained wholly theoretical.