BIM application for the reuse of the Modern Heritage: The Galfa Tower

The reuse of historical building is one of the complex theme for the real estate. Owners, architectural, structural and mechanical designers need to work in an integrated process to reduce the design time and to produce affordable executive drawings and economic evaluations. The difficulty starts from the material and geometric survey, the integrated design where structures, architecture, energy analysis and mechanical component, need to be included in the same model to avoid errors or interferences. The Galfa Tower is a 60 years old high-rise building in Milan, representing one of its landmarks, and it is actually interested to a radical restoration. The owners need to transform the tower from office use to residential and Hotel, while adapting, at the same time, the building for structural and energetic aspects to the new standard requirements. In this way, an integrated model was developed where the survey of the as built tower meets the architectural solution, mechanical layout and structural analysis. The process starts from the comparison of different BIM guides; after that was enveloped the BEP which help to create the models. The process, the model and the results, together with their limits and peculiarities, will be addressed in the paper.