Applicability of BIM in Heritage Buildings

Abstract

Over the past four decades, building modeling has taken numerous forms utilizing available technologies and software. Building information modeling (BIM) has significantly developed with the continuous advancements in the information technology and hardware industries. The evolution of BIM has attracted many researchers to explore its possible applications in modeling buildings and facilities with a humanitarian heritage value. However, researches have not been limited to that, as they later expanded to test the applicability of BIM in progressing the fields of maintenance and rehabilitation, operation and management, and even checking the durability of such buildings against varying circumstances and usability as well. As a result of a deep literature review, this research is developed to provide a critique of the previous studies conducted on the fields of heritage building information modeling (HBIM), the relevant software and equipment used in those studies, as well as case studies and applications used to demonstrate HBIM capabilities. Also, two case studies of Qasr Al Farid and Al-Bugiry buildings in KSA were implemented in this research to demonstrate the capabilities of HBIM in preserving the heritage value of historic buildings and monuments and to provide possible means of archiving the heritage value of those buildings utilizing state-of-the-art technologies. This study is expected to aid governments and decision makers of heritage buildings in understanding the positive impacts of including the HBIM in their management and operational processes, and will also act as a beneficial guiding tool for academic researchers to identify the gaps and limitations in previous studies to work towards overcoming them.