Surrounded by the waters of Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, Wynyard Quarter is being developed into one of the city's most exciting precincts. In keeping with this area's cutting-edge nature, the recently opened Wynyard 100 is a poster-child for digital transformation in construction.
asBuilt (Digital Engineers and Software Developers) worked with NZ Strong, Spark, and Microsoft to streamline the construction process by harnessing the power of technology. They developed a connected construction solution that combines Internet of Things (IoT) devices with motion sensors, environmental monitoring capability, and a simple-to-use platform that enables everyone across the project to collaborate.
To do this, a 'digital twin' of the construction site was created and hosted in the asBuilt Vault – a platform created with Microsoft Azure technology and accessible to all the Wynyard 100 team, from design to supply and project management.
New Zealand's first 'connected construction site' was instrumental in improving safety and efficiency, site communications, and enabling real-time decision making.
"Wynyard 100 epitomises the future of efficient construction in the cloud. The connected construction solution utilised IoT sensors and camera vision to provide a live feed of the site, which was 3D mapped onto the building's 'digital twin'. 3D spatial intelligence connected the whole supply chain and made for smarter and safer management of the plant, vehicle movement and people. Plus, council constraints such as noise control could also be accurately monitored," explains David Burton, CEO of asBuilt.
The technology partner, Spark New Zealand, managed a wide range of IoT devices monitoring temperature, humidity, and sound on-site, allowing NZ Strong to make informed decisions around safety for its workers and ensure compliance with council regulations for inner-city construction.
Spark's Future of Connectivity Lead, Renee Mateparae, says the digitisation of the construction site provided near real-time learnings for the project team as the build progressed. "Spark delivered a range of environmental sensors, including light and sound, which added to the ecosystem of connected devices on the site that linked up with Microsoft Azure cloud. This produced data insights that helped engineers and project managers who were overseeing the build."
Microsoft's senior Cloud and AI business lead Patrick Quesnel says many organisations are yet to appreciate the power of AI and what it can do for their business. "Wynyard 100 is a great example of how the cloud can help businesses rethink their processes and adapt to more flexible ways of working, improve productivity and reduce costs."
Microsoft offers organisations a personalised two-day Azure Innovation Workshop to showcase the power of shifting to the cloud, not only for data storage but to leverage technology and streamline business processes. Workshops help customers assess their unique business challenges and create custom technology solutions by bringing organisations together with Microsoft experts and its technology partners.
"Participants essentially engage in a 'hackathon' where they take a deep dive into their organisation's challenges and collaborate to create a tailored solution," says Quesnel.
Chris Hunter, a director at NZ Strong, fully understands the benefits of IoT. "Now I can see all the workers on-site in real-time, and that helps me manage their safety to a level that I – and the industry – haven't achieved before. It also provides real-time insights around productivity on the site that I can feedback to my procurement team and supply chain, helping to avoid wastage and reduce costs to clients."
A project of this scale, enabling all stakeholders to connect to one hub of real-time information, would have been impossible without Azure technology. It allows vast amounts of data to be captured and stored, and lets as many people as required to interact with the asBuilt Vault platform. Even site records, which used to be done by hand, are now captured automatically with complete spatial accuracy.
This revolutionary and transparent building process allows every invested party to work smarter and understand where they can make further improvements. It's these types of innovations that will pave the way for faster and more cost-effective builds in the future.
For more information on Microsoft's two-day Azure Innovation Workshops go to: https://aka.ms/innovatenz