Willow, a global digital and services company, and The Durst Organization, a world leader in the development of high-performance commercial and residential buildings, today announced the companies will create a virtual replica of ‘Queens Plaza Park (QPP), in Long Island City, to create one of the City’s smartest buildings, improving operations and tenants’ experience.
The virtual replica will generate a precise digital twin of the development, merging both physical and digital attributes of the building together, across the entire life-cycle from construction through to operation and tenant experience.
The digital twin will capture more than 50,000 data inputs from QPP, from digital plans, 3D models and equipment and asset information during the construction phase, to live and real-time data, such as elevators, and air conditioning, once the building is operational.
For the thousands of contractors working on the construction of, QPP, this technology is game changing, and will fast-track inputting crucial building data into one system to provide a single-source of truth for building managers and owners.
This kind of visibility of information across the entire building life-cycle is new to the real estate industry. This capability unlocks the value of data in real time, providing powerful insight and analytics that transform the efficiency, compliance and standards of construction and operation of a building. As a result, owners develop more highly valued buildings and create innovative experiences for their tenants.
Willow’s deep industry knowledge and services are key to the development of an effective digital twin for QPP. Working with the project’s sub-contractors Willow defines the data standards and manages the compliance needed to collect and structure the digital information for the digital twin. Willow will also create the 3D geometric model of the building to visualise the static and dynamic data needed for the digital twin. The Willow digital engineering team partners with Durst and contractors to create, capture and integrate static data, such as 3D models, asset registers, operating & maintenance manuals, with dynamic data such as sensor / IoT data.
Joshua Ridley, Co-Founder and CEO of Willow said the company was proud to collaborate with The Durst Organization to future-proof QPP.
“QPP is an incredibly important development for the community and for the city. Behind the scenes, we are working with Durst to ensure that over the next decades, the building has the right foundation in place to capitalise on future advancements,” said Ridley.
Alexander Durst, Chief Development Officer of The Durst Organization said the company was committed to delivering world-class developments and working with partners such as Willow, to bring industry-leading smarts to construction.
“We are creating an iconic building that is being built to last. To deliver the highest standards design, construction and operation, we have had to look beyond industry standard view of building information,” Durst said.
“The Willow Twin should deliver previously unavailable visibility and insight. This development will be smart from day-one of construction, allowing for data capture that will streamline operations – saving time and making jobs easier.”
“Big projects like this have billions of dollars on the line and developers simply cannot afford to lose time and money by lagging in innovation. This is about having every piece of information at your fingertips, to ensure obligations are met and projects are delivered on time to the highest standards.” Ridley said.
President of Willow Shaun Klann said the Willow Twin will overcome the legacy paper-based processes of the construction industry. “The development of a new property takes hundreds of contractors and specialist subcontractors, working together to create a great building. And yet the industry often relies on manual processes, paper-based documentation and the handover of vital information on USBs and CD-ROMs. Developing the digital twin for QPP abandons the shambolic legacy paper process in the handover phase, in exchange for structured data environment that is ready for whatever the future may hold,” Klann said.
QPP is a mixed-use development including rental residences, retail, and office space in Long Island City. Projected to be among the tallest building in Queens, the new 900,000 square foot tower will house 958 residences, nearly 300 of which will be affordable. The site’s Landmarked Clock Tower building, built in 1927, will undergo a facade restoration and interior renovation to accommodate over 50,000 square feet of commercial and retail spaces.
The project is expected to be completed by 2021.
