Developing a collaborative HBIM to integrate tangible and intangible cultural heritage

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on the development of a collaborative Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) of a 19th-century multi-building industrial site in the UK. The buildings were Grade II listed by Historic England for architectural and structural features. The buildings were also a key element of the industrial heritage and folklore of the surrounding area. As the site was due to undergo major renovation work, this project was initiated to develop a HBIM of the site that encapsulated both tangible and intangible heritage data.Design/methodology/approachThe design of the research in this study combined multiple research methods. Building on an analysis of secondary data surrounding HBIM, a community of practice was established to shape the development of an HBIM execution plan (HBEP) and underpin the collaborative BIM development. The tangible HBIM geometry was predominantly developed using a scan to BIM methodology, whereas intangible heritage data were undertaken using unstructured interviews and a focus group used to inform the presentation approach of the HBIM data.FindingsThe project produced a collaboratively generated multi-building HBIM. The study identified the need for a dedicated HBEP that varies from prevailing BIM execution plans on construction projects. Tangible geometry of the buildings was modelled to LOD3 of the Historic England guidelines. Notably, the work identified the fluid nature of intangible data and the need to include this in an HBIM to fully support design, construction and operation of the building after renovation. A methodology was implemented to categorise intangible heritage data within a BIM context and an approach to interrogate these data from within existing BIM software tools.Originality/ValueThe paper has presented an approach to the development of HBIM for large sites containing multiple buildings/assets. The framework implemented for an HBEP can be reproduced by future researchers and practitioners wishing to undertake similar projects. The method for identifying and categorising intangible heritage information through the developed level of intangible cultural heritage was presented as new knowledge. The development of HBIM to bring together tangible and intangible data has the potential to provide a model for future work in the field and augment existing BIM data sets used during the asset lifecycle.