The importance of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in construction and facility operation is unquestionable, but there is a clear discrepancy between the data included in as-built BIM models and the expected use specified by customers. This disparity presents significant obstacles in properly using BIM for facility management and operational operations. The main goal of this research is to suggest inventive and pragmatic approaches that successfully address the discrepancy between the actual BIM model data, with a specific emphasis on COBie dataset, and the intended BIM applications outlined by stakeholders in the Employer’s Information Requirement (EIR) for facility management and operation. The study methodology is based on a comprehensive examination of current literature, demo case studies, as well as standards pertaining to BIM data, COBie.Type, and EIR requirements. The results of this study consist of a collection of standards, procedures, and suggested practices specifically designed to improve the utilization of as-built BIM model data for facility management and operation. These will closely correlate with the BIM applications stated by the client. Furthermore, the project seeks to enhance industry norms and practices, promoting enhanced cooperation and information sharing among stakeholders. This research has also investigated the efficiency of Solibri Model Checker (SMC) to validate the COBie type and component information provided by COBie.

The site of Al Ain Civic Centre consists of major vacant lands and scattered development. This site is facing many issues such as car dependency, disconnectivity, low-density development, poor quality of life, and lost identity. Even though Al Ain city is well known for its green and open spaces, yet still such spaces cannot serve this site efficiently. This is because of the poor connectivity among open spaces and oases in Al Ain. One of the suggestions is to provide major connectivity plans and functional open spaces to solve such a situation and revitalize the area as a requirement made by Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. This is achieved through the demonstration of green fingers in a way that collects/integrates the site as a whole with the surroundings. As a result, introducing green fingers is part of planned solutions as well as a requirement by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. Another issue is the major breakage that is represented by Al Slimi wadi. This wadi is known for its transverse site as well as its disconnected pedestrian walkways. Hence, connecting the two areas by a pedestrian bridge is one of the solutions presented in this research. More importantly, the site is considered to handle a neighborhood development with a challenge that aims to preserve, maintain, and protect the traditional Emirati housing. This kind of housing was demonstrated in Fareej form with all its required elements such as courtyard houses, Sikkas, barahas, and maidan. The project turned out to represent a master-planned community. The site claims to work as a zero-car neighborhood, with allocated accesses that lead to a parking space and a golf cart rental station. In conclusion, this neighborhood site plan/the design of this neighborhood can provide an efficiently designed urban plan that is highly walkable, friendly, accessible, and simultaneously protects the environment for its users. The concepts of connectivity and proximity are applied successfully while maintaining the heritage side and Identity of Al Ain.

The rapid urbanization and technological advancements in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have placed its modern architectural heritage from the 1970s and 1980s at increasing risk of being unrecognized and lost, particularly in Dubai following the discovery of oil. This research addresses the critical need for the documentation and heritage representation of Dubai’s modern heritage, a city undergoing rapid transformation within a globalized urban landscape. Focusing on the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building (Toyota Building), an iconic early 1970s residential high-rise representing the modern architecture of Dubai and a significant milestone in its architectural history, this study explores a replicable and cost-effective approach to digitally document and conserve urban heritage under threat. The existing building was meticulously documented and analyzed to highlight its enduring value within the fast-changing urban fabric. Through the innovative combination of drone photography, ground-based photography, and HBIM, a high-resolution 3D model and a semantically organized HBIM prototype were generated. This research demonstrates a replicable measure for identifying architectural values, understanding modernist design typologies, and raising local community awareness about Dubai’s modern heritage. Ultimately, this study contributes toward developing recognition criteria and guiding efforts in documenting modern high-rise buildings as vital heritage worthy of recognition, documentation, and future conservation in the UAE.

Building energy performance is largely determined during the early conceptual design stages. However, energy evaluation is often postponed until after key architectural decisions—such as massing and façade configuration—have been finalized, limiting opportunities for meaningful optimization. This study addresses this gap by demonstrating a Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based comparative approach for integrating energy analysis into early design stages. Focusing on residential villas in Abu Dhabi, UAE, three residential forms were selected for testing: compact, L-shaped, and U-shaped designs. Each form included multiple iterations representing the design progression process, namely the base building form, façade refinement (glazing and shading adjustments), and spatial layout and/or orientation adjustments. The analysis incorporated variations in glazing ratio and building orientation to evaluate their combined impact on Energy Use Intensity (EUI). Among the tested options, the L-shaped configuration achieved the lowest EUI (79 kWh/m²), representing the best-performing option, followed by the compact (81 kWh/m²) and U-shaped (82 kWh/m²) configurations. The results also confirm that orientation remains an important factor even after façade refinement. Overall, the findings suggest that BIM-based energy analysis is most effective when applied early as a comparative and iterative design-support tool.

The early design courses engage and hone students’ visual, spatial, and communicative skills so that first-year design students begin to understand composition, abstraction, hierarchy, development of process, and representation through experimental, process-driven exercises. Exhibitions have traditionally presented the students’ final work; however, virtual exhibitions allow one to push past the physical studio and present student work as a sustained pedagogical experience. A case study was presented of the development and curation of a speculative gallery-style virtual exhibition for process work by first-year students undertaking Basic Design and a Design Communication course. Rather than falling into the pitfall of functioning as a “digital stand-in for the gallery” approaches were considered where virtual curation becomes an educative space for being literate in the visual, mindful learning, and observer witnessing peer students enculturating themselves into identity. Using a practice-based reflective approach, to examine curatorial decisions (visual sequencing, categorisation, representation, and navigational design), exploring how exhibition design frames beginner work and communicates thinking and process rather than simply “polished” outcomes. It is argued that virtual exhibition, by allowing for prolonged engagement with works, scaling access, and encouraging a visual dialogue among peers, may extend the foundation of design learning. The study contributes to discourse on design pedagogy, digital curation, and the shifting educational place of exhibitions in foundation-level design education.