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For almost twenty years the AEC software world was centred around Autodesk Revit and its definition and workflow of BIM. The concept was to ideate, model detail designs and create all the necessary drawings in one monolithic platform.

But software typically has a lifespan, where it needs to be rewritten or rearchitected (for OS changes, new hardware, and to clean-up years of bloat).

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Following open letters from customers concerned at the lack of Revit development Autodesk explained that it was not going to rewrite Revit for the desktop, but instead would develop a next generation AEC design environment on the cloud, branded Forma (N.B. Carl Christensen, the Autodesk VP in charge of delivering Forma, will be presenting at NXT BLD on June 11).

This gap between Revit and what will come next has presented an opportunity for new software developers to rethink BIM and its underlying technologies, to bring the AEC design software into the 21st Century. Investors have become equally excited and NXT BLD and NXT DEV will provide a unique forum for multiple startups—Snaptrude, Motif, Qonic and Arcol—to present new commercial BIM 2.0 products, with more firms in stealth, probably in the audience!

While the velocity of the startups is impressive, we need to temper expectations by pointing out that competing against established desktop BIM applications, which are 20+ years old, will take years (and millions of dollars). Over the coming years, expect to see these tools become more feature comparative.

While BIM 2.0 shifts the focus away from producing drawings, there’s no escaping their continued importance to the AEC industry. That’s why there’s also a big focus on autodrawings, as this AI-powered technology promises to massively reduce the time spent doing the mundane boring work. Autodrawings could also mean fewer licences of BIM software are required. Both Snaptrude and Qonic have developments here. However, it’s quite possible that autodrawings and AI will become cloud services that don’t need to be in an all encompassing BIM platform.

At NXT BLD / DEV you can meet and engage with all these firms, plus many more individuals innovating in the AEC space, such as Antonio González Viegas of ThatOpenCompany and Dalai Felinto of Blender bringing the benefits of impressive Open Source tools to our industry. We hope that you will join us.

NXT BLD 2025
London
11 June 2025
www.nxtbld.com

NXT DEV 2025
London
12 June 2025
www.nxtdev.build

Arcol

Based in New York, Arcol is headed up by Irishman, Paul O’Carroll, who brings a games development background to BIM and 3D. One of the earliest to profile its approach as ‘Figma for BIM’, the company has attracted investors such as chief executives of both Procore and Figma.

Arcol has focussed heavily on concept design for its initial offering, enabling live in-context modelling with building metrics and data extraction and collaboration built-in. The software supports complex geometry, an easy to learn UI, board creation for presentations (which can be shared by just sending a link), live plans and sheets. It integrates with Revit, SketchUp and Excel. Reports are highly visual and Arcol see it as a replacement for PDF as well. The solution is aimed at architects, developers, general contractors and owners. Arcol will be officially shipping by the time of NXT BLD.

Motif

Motif is headed up by former joint CEO of Autodesk, Amar Hanspal, who has assembled the old gang to finish off a task he started in 2016 – the rewriting of Revit as a cloud application.

Motif is also pitched as Figma for BIM and is backed by Alphabet (Google) with a sizeable war chest. In stealth for the last two years, the company has been working with signature architects to learn what a BIM 2.0 application should be able to do – the idea being that by catering to the most demanding customers, the software should benefit everyone.

The company has just launched its first version but recognises the journey will take many years. The feature set of version 1 lends itself to design review and client presentations, taking aim at Miro, but with some Speckle and Omniverse like capabilities.

Qonic 

The origins of Ghent-based Qonic go back to TriForma, a BIM system which co-founder Erik de Keyser created and licensed to Bentley Systems. de Keyser then created BricsCAD and Bricsys – a DWG and formative BIM tool, which was later sold to Hexagon.

Many of the Bricsys team then started up Qonic, a cloud-based BIM 2.0 competitor which initially (and uniquely) focuses on the model and data interface between architecture and construction. Qonic can load huge Revit models and lets users fly through them with butter smooth refresh rates on the desktop or mobile. The program also has powerful solid modelling core for geometry edits, as well as supporting IFC component labelling. The initial release is exceptionally easy to use to see, manipulate and filter BIM data, as a CDE on steroids. The team is working on architectural tools, smart drawings and a range of features to expand capabilities.

Snaptrude

Snaptrude has the accolade of being the first BIM 2.0 startup that AEC Magazine discovered. CEO Altaf Ganihar was first to demonstrate cloud-based collaborative working on Revit models and has gone on to raise $21m in VC funding.

The New York-based company seeks to be a one stop shop for conceptual, detailed design and drawing production, while linking to all the common tools – Revit, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Rhino, as well as Nemetschek’s Archicad. Snaptrude currently offers the widest range of BIM 2.0 features from concept to AI renderings and drawings and looks as if it will probably be first with feature parity to Revit for Architecture, with plans to also support MEP and structural. With the biggest development team in the BIM 2.0 space the company is moving at pace to deliver on its aims. The company is soon to announce a range of major new features.

Main image caption: Antonio González Viegas, CEO of That Open Company, the creator of free and open technology that helps AECO software firms and practitioners create their own AECO software, will be speaking at NXT DEV again this year.

The post Future BIM voices at NXT BLD / DEV appeared first on AEC Magazine.

BIM 2.0: why it’s time to reinvent the tools that power the built world
Amar Hanspal, CEO, Motif

For more than two decades, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has promised to revolutionise how we design, construct, and operate buildings. At its core, BIM integrates geometry, data, and documentation into a single, intelligent model-envisioned as a digital twin of the built environment. The goal was clear: streamline collaboration, enhance coordination, and unlock data-driven decision-making across the lifecycle of every building.

But ask today’s architects, engineers, or contractors, and many will say: BIM hasn’t evolved much beyond its early promise.

Find this article plus many more in the March / April 2025 Edition of AEC Magazine

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Despite billions invested and years of adoption, the tools that power BIM remain anchored to outdated paradigms. Built for a PC- and LAN-centric world, most BIM workflows are still siloed, static, and sluggish. Collaboration is clunky. Interoperability is limited. And critical design decisions are often made using software that looks and feels like it hasn’t changed since the ‘90s.

Put simply: we’re trying to design 21st-century buildings with 20th-century tools.

It’s time for a reboot. Welcome to BIM 2.0—a new vision powered by platforms that are open, intelligent, and built for how teams actually work today.

From static to dynamic

BIM 1.0 delivered a meaningful leap: it united 3D geometry with metadata and documentation. But it was built on a foundation designed for an earlier era. Files had to be saved, exported, and shared manually. Collaboration was mostly asynchronous. Real-time feedback loops were rare. And too often, BIM software became glorified drafting tools—used more for generating drawing sets than driving design.

BIM 2.0 changes the equation. Built on modern, cloud-native infrastructure, platforms like Motif are replacing static file-based workflows with dynamic, distributed data models. Updates flow across applications and stakeholders in real time. Comments and markups stay connected to the source model. Simulations run in the background and return insights —eliminating the lags that kill iteration.

This shift isn’t just about speed. It’s about unlocking a smarter, more adaptive design process—where models don’t just represent decisions but help shape them.

From fragmented to collaborative

Ironically, one of the biggest failures of BIM 1.0 is how much it fractured collaboration. Teams cobbled together PDFs, whiteboarding tools, issue trackers, and disjointed 3D viewers. Design decisions were made in one app, recorded in another, and implemented in yet another—often without full context or continuity.
BIM 2.0 flips that script. Collaboration isn’t an add-on—it’s the starting point.

Motif centers its platform around a shared, infinite canvas where teams can sketch, annotate, present, and iterate together—on top of live models. Think Miro meets Revit, but with the intelligence of a connected design system underneath.

This unified workspace does more than streamline communication—it expands access. Clients, consultants, and extended stakeholders can participate from anywhere, with no downloads, steep learning curves, or risk of version drift. Everyone sees the same model, the same notes, the same design logic—in real time.

From manual to machine-learned

BIM 1.0 automated drafting. BIM 2.0 will automate design intelligence.
As machine learning enters the design stack, we’re moving beyond repetitive documentation toward systems that learn, suggest, and adapt. Imagine tools that:

• Propose design alternatives based on performance goals
• Validate compliance automatically
• Fill in documentation as you go
• Optimise layouts based on usage patterns, daylighting, or energy metrics

These aren’t sci-fi dreams—they’re becoming reality. Motif and its peers are laying the groundwork for systems where designers focus on high-level intent, and intelligent assistants handle the details. It’s not about replacing creativity—it’s about elevating it.

From rigid to open

The future of BIM can’t be built on closed formats and walled gardens. For too long, legacy vendors have controlled data flows and forced teams into rigid ecosystems. Interoperability has suffered. Innovation has stalled. And designers have paid the price in the form of rework, exports, and brittle integrations.

BIM 2.0 is rooted in openness. Motif is built on modern, API-first architecture that integrates with the tools firms already use—Revit, Rhino, AutoCAD, SketchUp, and beyond. Live links replace file exchanges. Data stays fluid, accessible, and usable across systems.

This openness is not just technical—it’s philosophical. It’s about giving teams choice, flexibility, and the freedom to build the workflows that work best for them.

Built for the next generation of designers

Ultimately, BIM 2.0 reflects a generational shift. Today’s architects and engineers expect tools that are collaborative, fast, and intuitive. They grew up using mobile apps, real-time multiplayer games, and intelligent productivity software. They don’t want to wait 30 minutes to open a model or export a PDF just to share feedback.
Motif embraces this shift. Its UI is clean, its workflows feel natural, and its early features—from 3D sketching to live-linked presentations—are designed for how designers actually think and work.

And this is just the beginning.

Led by veterans from Autodesk, Revit, Twitter, Vimeo and Onshape, the Motif team is building for the long term.
Just as AWS began with a single service and evolved into a foundational platform, Motif is starting with collaboration—and setting the stage for a full, intelligent BIM ecosystem.

Future releases will expand into predictive modelling, AI-assisted documentation, intelligent agents, and beyond—bringing us closer to the original promise of BIM.

The stakes are high

The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of global energy use and a third of greenhouse gas emissions. If we want to design buildings that are more sustainable, resilient, and human-centered, we need tools that can meet the moment.

BIM 2.0 isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s a creative, cultural, and ethical imperative.
By building open, intelligent, and collaborative platforms, we can empower the next generation of designers to build a world that works better—for people, for the planet, and for generations to come.
The tools are coming. The future is open. Let’s build it, together.

Read more opinions

The startups

Breaking the compromise in digital project delivery
Erik de Keyser, co-founder, Qonic

Beyond Buzzwords: the real future of BIM
Paul O’Carrol, CEO, Arcol

Beyond Legacy Thinking
Altaf Ganihar, founder and CEO, Snaptrude

The established players

Embracing AI and Boosting Sustainability Across Project Lifecycles
Daniel Csillag, CEO, Graphisoft

AI: Our Generation’s Paradigm Shift
Tom Kurke, VP, Ecosystems & Venture, Bentley Systems

The Future of BIM: Harnessing the Power of Data
Amy Bunszel, executive VP of AEC Solutions, Autodesk

Unlocking the Future of BIM with Interoperability
Mark Schwartz, SVP, Trimble

Design transformed: 2025 predictions from Vectorworks
Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO, Vectorworks

The post Rebuilding BIM: Motif appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Beyond Buzzwords: the real future of BIM
Paul O’Carrol, CEO, Arcol

When thinking about the future of BIM, it’s easy to fall back on familiar buzzwords—AI, automation, cloud computing, data-driven insights. Don’t get me wrong; these aren’t just trendy phrases. They represent genuine opportunities to radically transform our industry. But honestly, they aren’t the starting point for me.

When I think about what BIM should become, I focus on one essential thing: collaboration.

Find this article plus many more in the March / April 2025 Edition of AEC Magazine

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Rethinking collaboration from first principles

AEC might be the ultimate team sport. Every great project—from the homes we cherish to iconic global landmarks—isn’t the work of one person or even one discipline. It’s the outcome of many diverse, talented individuals working together, pooling expertise, and solving complex problems collectively. Ironically, despite our industry’s naturally collaborative nature, the tools we’ve been forced to rely on have historically pushed us into isolation.

Our current BIM tools are file-based, desktop-bound, and essentially built for single-user experiences. Even when they offer “collaboration,” it’s often superficial and awkward. True collaboration isn’t something you simply bolt onto a tool; it needs to be integral to every feature and interaction. Building genuinely collaborative design tools demands a fundamental rethinking, where real-time collaboration influences every decision, workflow, and user experience from the ground up. It also requires an extremely special technical team – we’re fortunate to be joined by lots of ex-Figma engineers (Figma is the company that pioneered real-time collaboration in a design tool).

There’s an essential distinction here: we must strive for collaboration rather than mere coordination. Coordination is reactive, aligning disparate efforts after they’ve been done. True collaboration, however, is proactive, continuous, and interactive, shaping the project together from the earliest stages through completion.

Unlocking the power of AI and automation

Once we have genuinely collaborative tools, we can fully leverage transformative technologies like AI and automation. Artificial intelligence holds immense promise—automating tedious tasks, optimising design decisions, and fuelling unprecedented creativity. Yet its true potential can only be realised when embedded within workflows designed for deep, continuous collaboration.

AI agentic workflows—intelligent systems autonomously handling tasks and streamlining processes—clearly represent the future of automation in our industry. Imagine AI agents independently managing routine tasks, predicting project bottlenecks, or even proposing innovative design solutions. But before we can effectively collaborate with these intelligent agents, we must first establish a foundation of seamless human collaboration.

Automation similarly offers enormous potential, especially in an industry burdened by repetitive tasks. Integrating automation into genuinely collaborative tools liberates designers, engineers, and construction professionals from mundane work, allowing them to focus on innovation and creativity. It’s not just about efficiency; it’s about re-humanising the daily workflow.

Data-driven decisions through collaborative BIM

Data remains central to modern BIM, but without collaboration, it quickly becomes overwhelming and disconnected. Collaborative BIM tools democratise data, making it accessible and actionable for everyone involved.

Real-time, shared insights enable smarter decision-making, reduced risk, and improved sustainability outcomes.
Seamless data integration across design, construction, and manufacturing fundamentally changes the game, cutting waste and unlocking innovative possibilities we’ve yet to fully explore.

Arcol incorporates zoning, program, and costing data that is tightly synced to your model, and we’re constantly working to improve how all project stakeholders can interact with and access this data.

Arcol’s vision for a collaborative future

At Arcol, we’re actively creating this future. Our browser-first BIM solution represents a fundamental rethink of collaboration in design, removing the limitations of desktop-bound, file-centric software. By enabling real-time teamwork and seamless iteration, Arcol isn’t just improving workflows—it’s redefining what’s possible.

Ultimately, our vision for the future of BIM is profoundly human-centric. Technology is powerful, but it’s only meaningful when it amplifies human creativity, innovation, and collaboration. At Arcol, our mission is clear and ambitious: empower people, foster real innovation, and facilitate effortless collaboration across the entire project lifecycle.

The future of BIM isn’t defined merely by exciting technologies—it’s about connecting talented people, cultivating groundbreaking ideas, and building a better, more sustainable world together.

Read more opinions

The startups

Breaking the compromise in digital project delivery
Erik de Keyser, co-founder, Qonic

Beyond Legacy Thinking
Altaf Ganihar, founder and CEO, Snaptrude

BIM 2.0: why it’s time to reinvent the tools that power the built world
Amar Hanspal, CEO, Motif

The established players

Embracing AI and Boosting Sustainability Across Project Lifecycles
Daniel Csillag, CEO, Graphisoft

AI: Our Generation’s Paradigm Shift
Tom Kurke, VP, Ecosystems & Venture, Bentley Systems

The Future of BIM: Harnessing the Power of Data
Amy Bunszel, executive VP of AEC Solutions, Autodesk

Unlocking the Future of BIM with Interoperability
Mark Schwartz, SVP, Trimble

Design transformed: 2025 predictions from Vectorworks
Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO, Vectorworks

The post Rebuilding BIM: Arcol appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Beyond Legacy Thinking
Altaf Ganihar, founder and CEO, Snaptrude

Beyond the Familiar Crisis: Understanding the Root Cause

We’ve all seen the reports. We know the AEC industry struggles with productivity. We’ve read the McKinsey statistics and heard about budget overruns countless times. Yet despite this awareness, the same problems persist.

Why? I believe we’re focusing on symptoms rather than the disease. The real issue isn’t just poor collaboration, it’s a broken information chain throughout the building lifecycle.

Think about it: decisions made during early design affect a building for decades. These choices impact construction costs, energy use, maintenance expenses, and occupant health. Yet our current systems break this chain at every link, especially in the critical early stages where decisions have the most impact.

Find this article plus many more in the March / April 2025 Edition of AEC Magazine

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The three-dimensional disconnect

The AEC industry suffers from what I call a “three-dimensional disconnect” that prevents smart decision-making:

1. Disconnected tools: Our industry uses specialised software that’s great at specific tasks but terrible at talking to each other. Existing tools force design teams to wait weeks to bring designs up to basic specifications before gathering feedback. Even tools from the same company often can’t share information without someone manually converting the data.
2. Fragmented data: Critical building information is scattered across dozens of systems in incompatible formats. Requirements, floor plans, 3D models, renders, and presentations exist as separate files in separate programs. This makes it nearly impossible to see how a change in one area affects everything else.
3. Isolated people: Most importantly, our technology keeps experts apart when they need to work together. For an industry that thrives on collaboration, with multiple stakeholders working across geographies, there’s no reliable platform for real-time collaboration. Architects, engineers, clients, and contractors use different systems that reinforce silos instead of breaking them down.

In an industry where the impact lasts for years, this lack of actionable feedback and limited collaboration causes decisions to get severely delayed, resulting in massive cost implications for retrospective corrections.

The cloud-native foundation

Seven years ago, we began with a dream of a connected ecosystem for the AEC industry, which evolved into our mission to connect people, data, and tools. We recognised that this would only be possible by building natively in the cloud.

This cloud-native foundation enables several critical capabilities:

• Universal representation of data across the lifecycle, enabling:
  –  Atomic changes to designs with real-time feedback on cost, climate, and carbon impact
  –  Seamless interoperability with legacy tools to enable easy transition from old workflows to new
• A powerful geometry kernel optimised for web-based editing
• Practical automations that enhance rather than complicate the design process

Today, I’m encouraged to see the entire industry, including incumbents and startups alike, converging on this worldview. The debate is no longer about whether we need a connected ecosystem, but how quickly we can create one and what specific approaches will work best.

Reimagining the early design process

We recognised that the most critical phase in a building’s lifecycle is the early design stage, from RFP analysis to schematic design. This is where the most impactful decisions are made, yet it’s also where our disconnected tools create the greatest financial strain on firms.

According to a recent AIA report, 15% of the work that architecture firms do is not compensated, a staggering amount of lost revenue. Much of this unpaid work occurs during early design phases, which have become increasingly unprofitable. While incumbents are rushing to rebuild legacy systems on the cloud, this approach misses the fundamental opportunity. The industry doesn’t just need faster horses, it needs automobiles.

Cloud foundations are like inventing the steam engine; they enable entirely new possibilities rather than merely improving existing ones. What the industry desperately needs is a reimagined approach to early design that connects the disjointed steps from requirements to presentation, a unified workflow that connects people, their tools, and the data they need for the most decisive phase of building design. By focusing on where decisions have the greatest impact, the early design process, we’re addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges head-on.

The AI inflection point for AEC

The emergence of advanced AI capabilities represents both an opportunity and a challenge for our industry. There’s a saying circulating that “people who use AI will replace people who don’t.” While oversimplified, it captures an important truth: AI will fundamentally reshape AEC workflows, but only in connected ecosystems with structured data that can leverage its full potential.

While the cloud foundations are like the steam engine, AI is like electricity, transforming not just how we power our work, but fundamentally changing what’s possible in every aspect of the design and construction process. We as an industry are uniquely placed to see this transition happen simultaneously, unlike other industries where it was clearly sequential. We’re witnessing large firms investing heavily in proprietary AI systems built on their internal data. While commendable, this approach is ultimately unsustainable. Building reliable, maintainable AI systems requires expertise that, while possible for AEC firms to develop, distracts from their core competency of designing better buildings.

At Snaptrude, we’ve invested heavily in AI for practical, urgent industry problems. For example, our agent that helps firms create program requirements by analysing RFPs gives teams a solid foundation to begin their design process. Similarly, our investment in AI-powered rendering tools achieves state-of-the-art performance in adhering to geometry and design intent.

Real transformation requires new foundations

The future of BIM isn’t about incremental improvements to existing tools but a fundamental reimagining of how we design, build, and operate the built environment. By creating a platform that connects stakeholders, streamlines workflows, and harnesses the power of data and AI, we can address the industry’s most pressing challenges.

At Snaptrude, we’re proud to lead this transformation, particularly in the critical early stages of the design process. Our platform is already delivering measurable value to firms today, with customers attributing project profitability directly to our deployment. But we’re just getting started.

The AEC industry has the potential to be more efficient, more sustainable, and more creative than ever before. By rebuilding our tools with collaboration, data, and openness at their core, we can create a built environment that truly serves the needs of both today and tomorrow.

No more broken chains. No more silos. No more disconnects. Just better buildings created through truly informed decisions at every stage of the process, starting with the most critical early design phase. I’m so glad to see that we as an Industry are moving towards this future and it may not be that far away.

Read more opinions

The startups

Breaking the compromise in digital project delivery
Erik de Keyser, co-founder, Qonic

Beyond Buzzwords: the real future of BIM
Paul O’Carrol, CEO, Arcol

BIM 2.0: why it’s time to reinvent the tools that power the built world
Amar Hanspal, CEO, Motif

The established players

Embracing AI and Boosting Sustainability Across Project Lifecycles
Daniel Csillag, CEO, Graphisoft

AI: Our Generation’s Paradigm Shift
Tom Kurke, VP, Ecosystems & Venture, Bentley Systems

The Future of BIM: Harnessing the Power of Data
Amy Bunszel, executive VP of AEC Solutions, Autodesk

Unlocking the Future of BIM with Interoperability
Mark Schwartz, SVP, Trimble

Design transformed: 2025 predictions from Vectorworks
Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO, Vectorworks

The post Rebuilding BIM: Snaptrude appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Breaking the compromise in digital project delivery
Erik de Keyser, co-founder, Qonic

For years, the AECO industry has struggled between big ambitions and everyday challenges. While many envision a future of smooth, high-performing digital project delivery, most professionals are stuck with tools that fall short — locked into compromises that waste time, money, and creativity.

Qonic wasn’t intended to be a better version of what came before. We started by asking: what if we could remove the compromises entirely?

Find this article plus many more in the March / April 2025 Edition of AEC Magazine

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The industry’s impasse

In recent years, the AECO industry has clearly voiced what’s holding back the future of digital project delivery. Open letters and software specs have highlighted the challenges and hopes for change. However, new tools merely put a fresh coat of paint on old problems, making minor improvements without addressing core inefficiencies.
Qonic was founded on the belief that patching old systems isn’t enough. The AECO industry needs a complete reset, a chance to rethink what’s possible and achieve new levels of efficiency.

Every day, designers, engineers, and constructors lose valuable time waiting for data, fighting interoperability issues, and over-investing in hardware that underperforms.

Teams fragment their information across multiple files and tools, sacrificing collaboration and clarity in the process.

At Qonic, we asked a simple question: what if we could start over? What if we could remove the bottlenecks of outdated tools and workflows, giving professionals back control? It’s not about adapting to legacy constraints, it’s about eliminating them altogether.

An evolution, not a revolution

Qonic started from a blank sheet, totally free from any legacy constraints. However, change is hard, and the industry has been through this before. The shift from hand- drawn lines to object-based modelling took years. Qonic understands that real change has to be as smooth as it is significant.

That’s why Qonic doesn’t just offer a clean slate, it offers a clear path forward. Its foundation is built on solid modelling and data handling that surpasses existing solutions while remaining accessible to existing workflows. Legacy models can be upgraded instantly and large 3D models that once took minutes to open now stream seamlessly.

The core principles of Qonic

We are guided by three core principles we believe will shape a better way forward:

• 3D solid modelling without limits
• Open and flexible interoperability
• Cloud-first collaboration

3D solid modelling without limits

One area ripe for change is 3D modelling. While many tools focus on early-stage conceptual design, Qonic delivers end-to-end capability, robust, high-performance solid modelling that works for the entire lifecycle of a project.
Traditionally, professionals have had to choose between flexibility and precision: free- form modelling tools for creative design or object-based modelling tools built for intelligent, data-rich models. At Qonic, we believe it is possible to combine the best of both worlds. Qonic is developing a unified modelling environment where designers can nimbly navigate between the two approaches:

Direct modelling: Users can push and pull the geometry freely, ensuring full accuracy and flexibility, not forcing you to adapt to the limitations of the software. Complex geometry? No problem. NURBS and solids are at the core, ensuring precision from concept through construction.

Intelligent modelling tools: With so-called automated modelling ‘procedures’, you streamline the development of real-life building systems. Combined with manufacturer details stored in structured libraries as components, Qonic enables high-detail 3D modelling with advanced automation.

Open and flexible interoperability

Qonic speaks the language of today’s most widely used design tools:

• Native import of Rhino and SketchUp models.
• Seamlessly handling Revit import and export.
• For structural, MEP, and other disciplines, full IFC support

But integration is just the start. Qonic transforms traditional file-based workflows into a database-driven approach. Instead of monolithic files, each BIM model becomes a dynamic collection of assemblies, subassemblies, and individual parts, where geometry and data are intrinsically linked and easily accessible.
For Qonic, openness also means the possibility to distribute this geometry and data using Application Programming Interfaces (API), and free it from monolithic BIM silos.

Taking a platform approach, Qonic empowers users to build custom workflows tailored to their specific needs, while maintaining full control over their data.

Collaboration without constraints

Qonic’s cloud-first platform was built to simplify how teams work together, no matter their location or role:

Effortless collaboration: Projects scale smoothly without friction, and unlimited team members can securely access the data they need.

Granular permissions: Fine-grained access controls ensure the right people have the right access at the right time, maintaining both security and control while enabling seamless collaboration.

Integrated conflict resolution: Built-in conflict resolution ensures that design and execution remain in perfect sync. Complete project histories and versioning allow teams to trace their steps and move forward with confidence.

Streamlined coordination: With built-in workflows for clash detection and issue management, Qonic enables teams to discover, discuss, and resolve coordination issues effortlessly, without disrupting workflows.

A new standard, not just another tool

Qonic isn’t aiming to be “Revit 2.0” or the next evolution of yesterday’s ideas. It’s about helping the industry rethink how digital project delivery can work when freed from unnecessary compromises. It represents a fundamental shift in digital project delivery, one that gives designers, engineers, and constructors the tools they’ve always needed.

By combining solid modelling, open interoperability and cloud collaboration, Qonic aims to make it easier for architects and contractors to model designs and deliver project outcomes (reports, drawings, etc.) with unparalleled accuracy, flexibility, detail, and intelligence.

And this is just the beginning. The structured, data-rich models created in Qonic provide a solid foundation for AI and machine learning. As models accumulate detailed geometry and information, machine learning algorithms analyse patterns, optimise workflows, and automate repetitive tasks. We are already delivering today our neural network capable to recognise 3D geometry and add missing classification information.

Our future roadmap

Qonic isn’t just solving today’s challenges — it’s building a foundation for the future of digital project delivery. Qonic is an agile, forward-thinking team, from both industry and with prior AEC tool development experience. We’re completely self-funded, built by industry experts, and free from investor or shareholder pressure to release an incomplete product.

With rapid development cycles and a commitment to redefining AECO software, Qonic continues to push boundaries, from automated drawing generation to a model quality hub. For those ready to leave compromise behind, Qonic isn’t just a platform. It’s an invitation to rethink what’s possible in digital project delivery.

Read more opinions

The startups

Breaking the compromise in digital project delivery
Erik de Keyser, co-founder, Qonic

Beyond Buzzwords: the real future of BIM
Paul O’Carrol, CEO, Arcol

Beyond Legacy Thinking
Altaf Ganihar, founder and CEO, Snaptrude

BIM 2.0: why it’s time to reinvent the tools that power the built world
Amar Hanspal, CEO, Motif

The established players

Embracing AI and Boosting Sustainability Across Project Lifecycles
Daniel Csillag, CEO, Graphisoft

AI: Our Generation’s Paradigm Shift
Tom Kurke, VP, Ecosystems & Venture, Bentley Systems

The Future of BIM: Harnessing the Power of Data
Amy Bunszel, executive VP of AEC Solutions, Autodesk

Unlocking the Future of BIM with Interoperability
Mark Schwartz, SVP, Trimble

Design transformed: 2025 predictions from Vectorworks
Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO, Vectorworks

The post Rebuilding BIM: Qonic appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Cintoo is adding new portfolio options to its Cintoo platform – the BIM and Twin Editions.

The Cintoo platform, which is focused on reality data, allows users to upload and stream huge 3D data files from any desktop or laptop via a web browser. Users can compare reality data to their BIM and CAD models or scans to scans for project collaboration and optimisation.

The new BIM Edition is designed for AEC-centric workflows and includes features such as progress monitoring and issue tracking for performing analysis and to help eliminate risk.

The Twin Edition of the Cintoo platform is aimed at huge industrial and manufacturing sites to help improve asset visibility, digital twin management, and optimise facility maintenance and rework.

Cintoo has also introduced a new look and feel to the Cintoo platform. According to the company, it’s now easier to access key tools and the updated head ribbon maximises project space, as panels have been moved to the menu on the right-hand side.

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AEC software specialist Allplan, part of the Nemetschek Group, has acquired, Manufacton, the US developer of an offsite construction platform that provides real-time visibility to offsite production and optimises prefabrication processes through AI and data-driven decision-making.

According to Allplan, the acquisition will enable it to capitalize on the potential growth in the modular construction and Design for Manufacturing (DfMA) sectors, strengthen its position in the US market, and provide Manufacton with a platform to expand its presence in Europe and Asia Pacific.

“We are delighted to welcome the Manufacton team to the Allplan family,” said Eduardo Lazzarotto, chief product and strategy officer at Allplan.

“Manufacton is a great fit and a perfect complement to our existing portfolio of construction solutions. This acquisition enhances our expertise in covering the entire product lifecycle and gives us a strong competitive advantage in the rapidly growing modular construction and DfMA markets.”

Manufacton provides integrated project management software for offsite construction and prefabrication. Its solution, used by general and specialty trade contractors, as well as modular builders, combines manufacturing production and construction project management software.

According to Allplan, this enables contractors to ‘seamlessly manage and track’ offsite construction and modular fabrication throughout the construction process.

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D5 Render 2.10, the latest release of the AEC-focused real-time rendering software, introduces several new features including real-time path tracing, AI-driven post-processing, a city generator, and night sky simulation.

The new real-time path tracing system delivers global illumination (GI) with ‘superior efficiency’, allowing for ‘cinematic-quality’ rendering in real time. According to the company, ‘instant lighting results’ reduce trial and error while minimising the need for extensive post-processing.

The real-time path tracing system enhances visual fidelity with physically accurate reflections, soft shadows, and indirect lighting with customisable GI precision, reflection depth, samples per pixel (SPP), and noise reduction. An accumulate mode progressively refines render output.

D5 Render’s new Geo Sky Day-Night Cycle is designed to simplify the process of rendering realistic night scenes, enabling ‘seamless transitions’ between daytime and night time lighting.

The software includes customisable Moon & Star Intensity for precise celestial brightness and positioning; Milky Way Simulation to add atmospheric depth for highly realistic night scenes; and custom night settings which allow users to fine-tune moon intensity, altitude, and phases for enhanced realism.

To further enhance realism, the update also introduces improved rain and snow effects. There are more detailed raindrop and snowflake particles, improved puddle and ripple effects for realistic ground interactions, and new water mist simulation that introduces a humid atmosphere for rainy scenes.

Elsewhere, the new City Generator automates the quick and accurate creation of real-world city layouts by integrating OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. There are customisable building heights, materials, and transparency, support for Shapefile (.shp) Import for GIS-based urban planning, and City Model Management Tools to allow for easy modification of roads, buildings, and urban layouts.

D5 Render 2.10 also expands its AI-driven functionality with a new tool designed to simplify post-processing, minimising the need for third-party editing software. AI Inpainting fills missing elements such as sky, vegetation, or water automatically; Motion Blur adds natural motion effects, including realistic vehicle taillights, while AI Enhancer improves text and logo sharpness. Furthermore, AI Style Transfer is designed to introduce refined artistic and realistic effects, while ‘AI Make Seamless’ optimises material tiling for smoother textures.

Other new features include an optimised terrain and scatter workflow for faster, more natural landscapes; animation enhancements for smoother, more intuitive motion; D5 for Teams, which offers enhanced collaboration and cloud integration (OneDrive & SharePoint) for easy project file sharing; and an expanded asset library, including 240+ hotel & resort models, including business characters, vacationers, and lobby decor.

Finally, as reported earlier this year, D5 Render 2.10 also includes support for Nvidia DLSS 4, an AI-powered frame generation for GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, boosting FPS by up to 4x.

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Graphisoft has launched Archicad Studio, a subscription plan tailored to solo practitioners working independently or with local teams.

Archicad Studio includes Archicad on macOS and Windows, local teamwork with BIMcloud Basic, Graphisoft AI Visualizer, BIMx mobile app for iOS and Android, BIMx Pro features.

It also incorporates Archicad extensions, like Python API, PARAM-O, Maxon Redshift, Library Part Maker, and additional Surface Catalog, plus training, support, and services.

“With AEC technology evolving at such a rapid pace, we want solo practitioners to have access to cutting-edge BIM software innovations as soon as they hit the market,” said Gábor Kovács-Palkó, senior director of product portfolio strategy at Graphisoft.

“Archicad Studio achieves exactly that — affordable access to Archicad’s powerful BIM workflow at a competitive price point scaled to the solo practitioner’s needs.”

Archicad Studio costs £159 per month.

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