BIM and architecture collective in Portugal. We work between the point cloud and the BIM model, and we design little, always out of what's already there.
We work in three overlapping layers: precise survey of the existing, its translation into BIM, and the frugal design of what's added.
High-density 3D scanning of existing buildings, converted into structured IFC models. LOD 200 to 350, with parametric families for heritage elements (masonry, timber framing, joinery). How much does it cost? See the S2B Estimator.
Preparing practices for a full digital workflow: ISO 19650, IDS, automatic BOQ from IFC, 4D planning. We diagnose with a questionnaire (see BIM Conforme) and support the transition.
Frugal interventions on existing buildings: balconies, greenhouses, lightweight roofing, thermal envelopes. More space for less money.
From survey to verifiable model: high-density point clouds translated into structured HBIM, with declared LOD and openBIM delivery as IFC.
Marinehaus and Schellack-Höfe, Berlin: historic roofs and facades scanned and translated into LOD 300 HBIM models, ready for design, permitting and construction.
Castles, mines and listed buildings: our densest models are published in the showcase, navigable directly in the browser.
Twelve web tools we use every day, some published, others still in production. Each one solves a concrete friction in our workflow.
Public showcase of our densest HBIM models: castles, mines, listed buildings.
Online diagnostic for practices transitioning to a full BIM workflow.
European aggregator of public architecture competitions, updated daily.
Full database of Portugal's listed monuments: crossing DGPC, SIPA and our own fieldwork.
Ongoing project presented as a navigable IFC model with linked BOQ and 4D planning.
Parametric configurator for rooftop refurbishments in Porto's historic fabric.
Potree viewer for browsing our publishable point clouds.
Cloud-to-cloud comparison for buildings scanned at different moments: deformation, loss, addition.
Automatic bill-of-quantities generator, straight from the IFC model.
Visual builder for Information Delivery Specifications, for IFC quality control.
Interactive €/m² estimator: a curve fitted to real 2021–2026 projects and public-tender reference prices.
Draw a plot on the map and get maximum floor area, footprint, storeys and a buildable envelope as IFC, DXF and KML — from the national land-use dataset crossed with the municipal plan in force.
A tender-ready BIM execution plan in 30 minutes for €99 — built around the BEP requirements of public procurement.
Independent comparison of CDE platforms: 23 datasheets, audited fine print and decision tools for the Portuguese market.
Who has been doing each project discipline, with evidence: consultants across the 15 disciplines of Portaria 255/2023 with a real public-tender record — contracts, wins and teams, by district and municipality.
Our own designs, built work and competitions. The design practice behind the modelling: those who model the existing know how it is built.
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We believe you can only transform well what is rigorously documented. The built stock is a dense archive, and our work starts by reading it, millimetre by millimetre, from scanner to model.
A BIM model is not a drawing: it is a verifiable database. Geometry with declared LOD, structured information in IFC, requirements per ISO 19650, from heritage to industrial.
And when we design, we design little. In the line of Lacaton & Vassal: never demolish, always add. The tools we build for this workflow stay published and open.
One core, one network. XYZ BIM works as a collective: an independent team for architecture and BIM modelling, assembled project by project.
