Autodesk BIM 360 Design, part of Autodesk Construction Cloud, continues to add critical features and services, including a new Europe-based data center offering for primary storage of project data, and a connection to Collaboration for Plant 3D. Used in more than 150 countries and supporting approximately 40,000 projects, BIM 360 Design helps architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals collaborate in real-time from anywhere, and within their own company or with different companies and disciplines.  

The launch of a Europe data center supports the increasing global popularity of BIM 360 Design and the need for Autodesk customers to have more flexibility in where their project data is stored.  

“The exponential growth in BIM 360 Design cloud collaboration users over the past two years is an acknowledgment of the increasing complexity of projects and the teams working on them,” said Nicolas Mangon, vice president of Autodesk’s AEC business strategy and marketing. “In these unprecedented times, there’s a greater need for project continuity and flexibility of teams to stay on track from wherever and whenever they must work.”  

In fact, the number of BIM 360 Design subscribers approximately doubled in Europe since the beginning of Q1FY20 alone and the rate of new project creation in BIM 360 Design jumped approximately 350 percent globally since working conditions shifted from office to home in mid-February. As a part of Autodesk’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, BIM 360 Design for Revit is available for free until May 31, 2020 through Autodesk’s Extended Access Program.  

Dataset courtesy of BNIM.

“We are always looking to drive efficiency in our design process, so we have put cloud-based collaboration at the core of our practice,” said Alex Mortiboys, Head of BIM at Dutch architecture firm, Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). “With the confidence in a European data center, we can expand our ability to propose BIM 360 Design to our public and private clients in Europe and beyond. This will help us provide greater efficiency and transparency to our clients.”  

In addition to the Europe data center, BIM 360 Design now includes a connection with the AutoCAD Plant 3D toolset. Joining BIM 360 Design for Revit and Civil 3D in the cloud, Collaboration for Plant 3D enables plant designers and engineers to more effectively manage access permissions, helps project teams share files more securely and collaborate more effectively across time zones, disciplines, or multiple organizations. 

Black & Veatch uses Collaboration for Plant 3D to support cloud collaboration, enabling teams to share plant design files from anywhere and at any time. Image courtesy of Black & Veatch.

“With AutoCAD Plant 3D integration, the BIM 360 platform now provides a single location for all work-in-progress data – simplifying access for Black & Veatch’s global project teams and helping to increase both internal and external collaboration and communication without the need for specialized IT systems,” said Dave Reed, Technology Manager, Black & Veatch. Throughout our digital transformation journey, our partnership with Autodesk has been instrumental to our success.”  

Learn how BIM 360 Design, part of Autodesk Construction Cloud, may help your teams stay connected in the cloud and continue to deliver exceptional results for your clients.