Urban One Builders is a full-service construction company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and has built a reputation for its large-scale, mixed use and institutional projects. Urban One uses their leading-edge project delivery processes to bring a diverse range of projects to reality for their clients. Signature projects include: the UBC Brock Commons Phase 1 – Tallwood House project, one of the tallest mass timber projects in the world, the Cowichan Secondary School project, and large-scale mixed-use developments like the Jewish Community Centre.
"cmBuilder has completely transformed the way I plan and execute construction logistics. This exceptional software provides unparalleled ease and efficiency, allowing me to streamline the planning process and optimize my projects. The intuitive interface and robust features make logistics planning a breeze, with the drag-and-drop functionality allowing me to easily modify plans in real-time. One of the standout features of cmBuilder is its vast selection of logistics templates and customization options. This enables me to quickly create logistics plans that are tailored to the unique needs of each project site, whether it's managing construction equipment, materials, scheduling, or optimizing transport routes. The comprehensive set of tools provided by cmBuilder has made logistics planning a seamless process. Furthermore, cmBuilder allows me to visually share my logistics plans with clients and other team members, enabling them to better understand my vision and contribute to the planning process. Overall, cmBuilder is a game-changer for construction logistics planning. Its user-friendly interface and excellent customer support make it an indispensable tool for anyone involved in logistics planning. I highly recommend cmBuilder to anyone looking to streamline their logistics planning and optimize their construction projects."
- Daniel Visintin - Project Director at Urban One Builders
Urban One prides itself in its “one team” approach which revolves around combining the expertise of everyone on the team and fostering a collaborative mindset for every project, right from conception to completion. However, in today’s digital construction age, Urban One’s “one team approach” is not limited to human collaboration alone. Urban One utilizes cutting-edge construction technologies to enhance collaboration among internal team members as well as with external stakeholders. We sat down with Daniel Visintin, Project Director at Urban One Builders and superpower user of cmBuilder, to take a closer look at how Urban One is leveraging digital technology to take their construction capabilities to the next level.
As we touched upon Daniel’s preconstruction goals, speaking about leveraging digital tools to identify underlying issues and constraints at an early stage, he explained that analyzing the 3D model in combination with the project schedule flushes issues and challenges with respect to design to construction coordination, sequencing the build, timing (weather patterns are seasonal, etc.), and onsite space management. Additionally, from an in-house point of view, digital mock-ups and 4D site logistics simulations of the project allow the Urban One team to visualize the project from the beginning and share a common vision throughout the project life cycle with all the project stakeholders. Daniel highlighted that digital tools are a significant value-driver externally with project stakeholders as well because clients appreciate being able to see the “logic of how their project is being put together in a virtual environment”. With projects becoming larger, more complex, and tighter timelines, these visual communication tools have become critically needed visual aids for the client to truly understand the construction process.
This need for detailed site logistics planning and analysis of construction sequencing is where cmBuilder comes into play at Urban One. Daniel explains how cmBuilder provides a solution to the limitations of typical project scheduling methods - “Typically, we would sit down, have a project schedule, then verbalize, and make some notes about things like the crane placement and so on, but that limits us to the amount of logistics we can organize. Whereas, with cmBuilder, there is a lot more detail that can be organized during preconstruction and for the proposals too.” With Daniel’s lead, Urban One has taken their preconstruction planning to new heights with powerful 4D simulations of their projects, identifying potential risks well in advance of construction and also providing a fantastic communication tool with project collaborators.
In addition to the existing digital tools, we discussed the progress their team is making of further integrating other technologies at Urban One. With the deployment of Procore, the project management aspect has improved, and Daniel shed light upon how he has begun bringing BIM models to life with BIM coordination/clash-detection, as-built reality capture and even 3D printing physical models for their clients to see. Daniel and the Urban One team are increasingly integrating drones and 3D photogrammetry and assistance with site logistics planning, representation another value driver to the project. At Urban One, the future is now and cmBuilder is a cornerstone in their digital transformation journey.
