WOKING, England, July 1 /PRNewswire/ --
- UK Market Leader in SaaS Solutions Establishes Platform in USA
BIW Technologies, one of the world's leading providers of online construction project control software, is to provide its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) system to support the design and construction of the headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle.
Planning and consultations for the 500 Fifth Avenue North project commenced in 2005, and the initial phase - construction of the US$50m Seattle Center 5th Ave N Parking Garage - is scheduled for completion in mid-July 2008.
The project team used another online system to deliver the 1,020-space Garage project, but, needing to manage a range of complex business processes, opted to use the BIW system instead to support design and construction of the key first phases of the campus buildings. BIW's Document Management module has already been deployed to support drawing submittal and approval processes, and Change Control is now being configured to meet the team's demanding requirements.
The campus project is being developed in phases over 15 years, with a collaborative team, including real estate development experts from The Seneca Real Estate Group, NBBJ (architects), Arup (engineers), Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd (landscape designers), and general contractor Sellen Construction, working with IRIS Holdings, the Foundation's development subsidiary, to bring the project to life.
BIW chief executive Colin Smith says:
"Winning this project is a major landmark in the international expansion of BIW Technologies. We have already built a strong operation working for customers across Europe and the Middle East, and we were looking to establish a presence in North America. This project, won in the face of competition from other global firms, demonstrates that the BIW platform can be readily adapted to support large and complex schemes working to US standards and processes."
One of the most widely used systems in the UK and across Europe and the Middle East, the BIW platform has been deployed on over 10,000 projects. To date, it has accumulated a user base of over 110,000 users, drawn from more than 11,000 different organisations involved in the planning, procurement, design, construction and ongoing operation and maintenance of built assets.
Notes to Editors:
- Collaboration services delivered on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis by BIW Technologies (www.biwtech.com) were first employed in 1999 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury's. BIW believes it is the European leader in SaaS collaboration systems for the construction and property industry, measured by numbers of users, usage and volume of data.
- The BIW supply chain integration technology has been designed specifically for construction projects or programmes. Each client is provided with a unique, project or programme-specific browser-based toolset created around a knowledge database. With this, data can be made available securely to every team member - from the earliest concepts, through detailed design, buildability studies, pre-fabrication, construction, maintenance, operation and improvement to the eventual demolition or dismantling of the facility.
- BIW customers include United Utilities, Sainsbury's, BAA, housebuilders Crest Nicholson and the Peabody Trust, Marks & Spencer, the UK Ministry of Defence, the Wellcome Trust, O2, Mace, Bovis Lend Lease, Kajima, Gleeds and developers Nakheel, Land Securities, Ballymore and Garbe.
- BIW is a registered trademark of BIW Technologies Ltd.
More information from:
Paul Wilkinson, BIW head of corporate communications - +44-(0)1483-712620 or mobile +44-(0)7788-445920
More information from: Paul Wilkinson, BIW head of corporate communications - +44-(0)1483-712620 or mobile +44-(0)7788-445920
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