Platform on concrete and steel in construction
Frisomat completed a massive project for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy in Hull (United Kingdom): a 5,500 m² production hall where 115-meter-long turbine blades are manufactured for wind farms. BIM played a central role in this project, with Tekla Structures serving as the primary modeling software and Trimble Connect as the collaboration platform. The project was honored with a Construsoft BIM Award 2025 in the Industrial Projects category.
Katerina Nikolova, Senior Project Manager at Frisomat, immediately emphasizes the scale of the project. “The building is 38 meters wide, 144 meters long, and 14 meters high.” The project is also complex in terms of its steel structure, according to Niels Madereel, a work planner at Frisomat. “The building contains more than 4,000 different steel sections.”
The project required tight organization and close cooperation among all parties involved. “The biggest challenge was the schedule,” Nikolova explains. “We had to assemble the building in 45 days, and there was only limited storage space at the construction site, so we had to divide the deliveries into phases. So the assembly took place step by step, while at the same time we were working alongside other subcontractors who were handling the foundations, crane runways, ventilation, and electrical systems.” Madereel adds: “Another challenge with this project was that it included four massive doors measuring 9.75 meters by 9.75 meters. But aside from the project itself, it was simply a very pleasant collaboration with Siemens. It was a tremendous honor to be able to build this project for this client.”
According to Nikolova and Madereel, BIM played a key role in the design and construction. The structure and cladding were modeled in Tekla Structures, and Trimble Connect served as the platform for sharing all assembly drawings, instructions, and models. This ensured that everyone involved worked with the same, up-to-date information, allowing decisions to be made early in the process.
Nikolova is particularly impressed by the special labels that all models had in Trimble Connect. “These link to documents with assembly instructions—similar to IKEA manuals, really. They provide a clear sequence for assembly and list all the materials needed for each detail.”
For Frisomat, the scope of this project included engineering, manufacturing, delivery, and assembly. To minimize manual work, Frisomat developed its own plug-in that converts the calculations directly into a Tekla Structures model. Nikolova: “Our software automatically reads the geometry, the positions of the profiles, and all connection pieces from our calculation program. This way, we avoid duplicating work.” Because Frisomat works with its own cold-formed profiles, specific parametric components were developed for this purpose. These are based on Tekla Structures logic but adapted to their specific building system, so that the correct profiles and connections are automatically activated in the model.
The hall in Hull is constructed entirely of galvanized, cold-formed steel—the core of Frisomat’s building system. “With our cold-formed profiles, we save up to 30% of material compared to hot-rolled profiles,” Nikolova explains. “The transport volume is also 50% smaller, and CO2 emissions during production are 70% lower. And all the electricity used in our production comes from our own solar panels.” In addition, the building was designed according to the principle of Design for Disassembly. All components can be easily disassembled, repaired, or reused. This makes the building not only sustainable but also circular.
In just 45 days, Frisomat completed a fully digitized steel project for one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers, using a phased approach, strong digital coordination, and a circular design philosophy. ’Whether you win or not, participating in the Construsoft BIM Awards is positive publicity for your company either way,“ Madereel concludes. ”Above all, it’s a wonderful recognition for the staff who worked on the project.“
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Among other things, Construsoft supports concrete and steel builders by developing and delivering advanced software, providing extensive support and sharing knowledge. In doing so, we open doors to a digitized construction world with streamlined design and construction processes, optimal communication and collaboration. Construsoft delivers 3D BIM software in over 35 countries supporting the open BIM idea. We are the [...]
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