The Houses of Parliament, digitalisation technology & SMEs
An interview with David Shepherd, Digital Product Manager for the Palace of Westminster refurbishment project
David Shepherd is an original digital construction pioneer and legend, widely recognised as a leading expert on the software products that have transformed the construction industry. He has been at the forefront of CAD technology since the mid-1990s and has implemented BIM for the likes of Arup, Mott MacDonald, Kier Group, BAM Construct UK and MWH, and has been Senior Technical Consulting Manager at Autodesk.
In his time with HOK, Dave authored the original report on how BIM could be used for the Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Project in 2013. Since 2019, he has been the Digital Product Manager and BIM lead for the UK Parliament In House Services and Estates implementing and integrating all sorts of digital tools, technology and innovations so everyone from master craftspeople and Tier 1s to parliamentarians can collaborate and contribute in a meaningful way to this landmark scheme.
To give you a sense of the size of the Houses of Parliament, you could fit 4.5 Wembley-sized pitches into it and there are:
- 1,100 rooms
- 100 staircases
- 3,400 windows
- 80km of telephone cables.
In this podcast...
- The unique and challenging set of circumstances an iconic project like the Houses of Parliament refurbishment brings about.
- What digitalisation in the context of a huge project looks and feels like.
- What the benefits are/will be.
- Why the diversity and inclusion of SMEs and specialist contractors across the whole of the UK will play a key role in the project delivery phase.
- How becoming an accredited Microsoft Power App developer led Dave to develop a simple set of information management tools that SMEs and asset owners can use to improve productivity – and reduce admin time – whilst ensuring the continuity of the Golden Thread of digital information and compliance with the Building Safety Act.
- Words of wisdom for SMEs looking to digitalise their businesses.
- Advice on where and when is the best place to start on the digitalisation journey as we look ahead to 2023.
Having such a fantastic guest who summed up in one episode everything we’ve been promoting for the past three years was a fitting finale to our 2022 podcast series!
Listen in…
This recording is about 65 minutes long. If you’re short on time, scroll through to the sections that interest you most (see timings below). When you’re ready, listen here (links open in new windows):
Short on time?
Listen to the sections you’re most interested in:
01:20 How Dave became involved with the Houses of Parliament project, and his own digital journey so far.
05:00 The scale, purpose and scope of the Palace of Westminster project.
10:00 The role of digitalisation in the project.
12:00 The range of digital tools being used on the project.
16:30 SME and Tier 1 engagement with digital tools and the importance of focusing on incremental gains when adopting new digital tools within a business.
24:00 The role digital tools play in creating consistent quality outputs.
35:00 The benefits/anticipated benefits arising from the implementation of digital tools on the Houses of Parliament scheme.
43:00 How to address and overcome any business technological limitations, and which digital tools and processes you should focus on first.
47:50 The digitalisation of the ‘Golden Thread’ and the Building Safety Act.
55:00 The culture shift and different approaches required in construction to leverage the power of digital tools.
1:05:00 Dave’s aspirations for 2023.
This podcast has been created thanks to funding from the CITB . The post appeared first on
Digital Construction Skills.
