About the project

Name/type of project: Heinrich Wagner Post Industrial building revitalization
Location: Tuwima 10, Lodz, Poland
Name of design firm(s): Grupa Bardzo Tworcza (concept) & arch3Designer (BIM survey, 3D work, animation)
Size (square meters/square feet): 1,990 sq meters / 21,420 sq feet
Software used: Twinmotion 2019, ARCHICAD 22, miscellaneous software for scanning and photogrammetry, Adobe Premiere

Introduction

The aim of the project is to reconstruct and change the scope of use of the building at Tuwima 10 to make room for City Hall offices.

The goal is to build the road right through the building, which will offer access to the following streets: Piotrkowska, Tuwima, Sienkiewicza and Moniuszki.

The public road project is simultaneously performed (by a separate entity) as a separate, complementary study. The subject of the entire study is the reconstructed administrative and factory building that will remain reclassified as an office building with services at ground level.

Design concept

The concept is to expose elevation details from the past with a touch of modern architecture.

Exposing the original brick on the northern and southern external elevation requires removal of the insulation and plaster. Insulation will be placed on the inside structural walls of the building.

As part of a separate project, land development, including dismantling fences, parts of one-story outbuildings and those that collide with the Project will be implemented by Road and Transport Management.

The historic chimney, restored in 2002, will be preserved.

Case Elaboration

According to Przemyslaw Gajowiak, the building at Tuwima 10, opposite Paris Commune Square street, is a former factory known as Heinrich Wagner and Sons. It is a four-story building with a basement and attic. It was built in 1881, in the area where previously (1853) a small cotton factory owned by Jan Wagner (Henryk’s father) was located. There is also a post-industrial brick chimney in the area built in 1881, which has been renovated. After World War II, the factory was nationalized. Components for textile machines were made there.

The structure is registered as an historic building and, as a result, the final concept must be approved by the Urban Conservator office.

A work in progress…

Work is currently underway on this historically important project.  Steps completed thus far include:

• Laser scanning and photogrammetry flights in order to archive point clouds and 3D models for context surroundings
• Preparations of the full BIM survey using ARCHICAD
• Conceptual work based on 3D surveys

Once these are completed, the next steps in the process include:

• Final touches to the building exterior
• Twinmotion model update, new renders and final investor approvals
• All other work related with plans, preparation for demolitions, building additions and interior finishes
• Landscaping

“Twinmotion became a great companion for us to help the clients understand our conceptual idea,” said Przemyslaw.  “After scanning and preparing the context surroundings, we were able to show the BIM survey as a complete 3D model set up in the scene. Many ground-breaking solutions were accomplished with this project. The result was a stunning before/after photo-realistic visualization. This helped greatly with getting the investor to accept the overall concept.”

Given the size and scope of the project, we were curious about how Twinmotion was used to convey the overall design intent.  “Twinmotion helped a lot with managing large textured models used for the concept planning. The model and streets can be explored in real time using VR Google glasses that we are planning to use for our future projects from now on!” said  Przemyslaw.

To complete this project assignment, in addition to Twinmotion, arch3Designer used mainly ARCHICAD 22 for modeling, updating models, etc. Also, software used for Leica laser scanners and drone photogrammetry.

Conclusion

According to Przemyslaw, the BIM survey, based on laser scanning and drone photogrammetry, helped a great deal in the later stages of conceptual work. “The plan was to create beautiful and professional photo-realistic visualizations that we had to produce as soon as possible after the survey work was finished. Twinmotion was a great help in decreasing the time spent on visualization preparations. It was a key tool in developing the conceptual work. The next step will probably be marketing once the building permits are issued.”