Guanglian Da, a leading digital platform service provider in China’s building industry, recently unveiled its BIM application secondary development platform, BIMFACE, at the 2017 Construction Industry Summit. This platform is designed to support software developers and enterprise information management professionals in the construction sector by offering essential technologies and tools for BIM application development, significantly lowering the barriers to entry. Notably, this marks Guanglian Da’s first launch of an open platform service.
BIM (Building Information Modeling) digitally represents the physical and functional aspects of a construction project. It relies on a three-dimensional model combined with diverse project data to manage the entire lifecycle—from design and construction to operation. While early BIM model creation has helped pioneers optimize design processes, the true value of BIM lies in its application throughout the project lifecycle.
Despite BIM’s growing popularity in recent years, its development in China has faced significant challenges, particularly due to immature software at the BIM application stage. A major obstacle is the high technical threshold for BIM software development. First, developers need to understand and parse original BIM data formats. However, the diversity of modeling tools and the proprietary nature of mainstream BIM file formats make accessing this data difficult.
Second, because BIM models are three-dimensional, displaying them efficiently on web browsers or mobile devices requires advanced computer graphics techniques to enable lightweight browsing. Additionally, most building information within BIM models is unstructured and voluminous, creating substantial challenges in data storage and retrieval. These combined difficulties often discourage many developers from entering the BIM application development space.
Guo Jianfeng, Vice President of Guanglian Da, spoke at the Digital “Architecture & Home” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecological Forum
BIMFACE offers a secondary development platform for BIM applications, enabling developers in the construction industry to build on the core features provided by BIMFACE and deliver more diverse BIM solutions. During the Construction Industry Summit’s sub-forum, the Digital “Architecture & Home” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecological Forum, Guo Jianfeng, Vice President of Guanglian Da Technology Co., Ltd., explained:
“BIMFACE equips BIM application developers with essential technologies to develop BIM applications quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. To illustrate, Baidu Maps provides basic map display capabilities on web and mobile platforms. Businesses like Meituan have built food delivery apps, and Didi has created ride-hailing apps on top of Baidu Maps. Both companies focus solely on their business logic, without needing to manage complex map technologies. Similarly, BIMFACE aims to be the Baidu Maps of the BIM world by offering model conversion, lightweight browsing, and model data management capabilities. Developers can simply add their business logic on top of BIMFACE’s foundation to create their BIM applications.”
According to information on the BIMFACE official website, the platform’s core functions enable developers to create BIM software applications with straightforward steps, improving development efficiency by over 90%. Notably, BIMFACE technology was applied in 2016 to the Wanda Group’s BIM general contracting management platform, developed by Guanglian Da.
This platform centers on Wanda Plaza’s comprehensive professional model, connecting multiple stakeholders—including the client, design general contractor, construction general contractor, and supervisor—on a unified platform. It facilitates coordinated project design, planning, cost management, and quality control, earning high praise from clients.
Currently, BIMFACE is in a public beta testing phase and is completely free to use. The official pricing model is expected to be announced in 2018, likely adopting a subscription-based service fee combined with resource usage charges.
Regarding BIMFACE’s future vision, Guo Jianfeng shared:
“We aim to transform BIM application development from a ‘high and low’ barrier environment into an accessible and inclusive one. By providing core BIM application development technologies as a service, we hope to engage more developers and collectively foster the growth of the BIM application ecosystem. BIMFACE is committed to creating the largest BIM solution platform in China, collaborating with industry partners to advance the construction industry into the BIM era.”
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