Setl Group on Choosing Renga and Pilot-BIM for Multi-Story Housing Designs
Setl Group on Choosing Renga and Pilot-BIM for Multi-Story Housing Designs
Setl Group, one of the largest developers in Russia, is one of the top 5 developers in the country in terms of housing delivery. Over the years of its activity, the company has commissioned 372 residential buildings, which are more than 197,000 apartments. Setl Group is engaged in construction, design, and overall development of the territories where its projects are implemented. For such a large developer, using digital tools to improve the efficiency of business processes is a highly relevant issue. Using building information modeling technologys (BIM) is particularly important here. The tone is set by market leaders, whose experience and digital practices become an example for other construction and design companies.
When choosing a software solution, Setl Group decided in favour of domestic software in order to minimize the risk of sanctions. Apartment building in the City of Stars residential complex located in the Leningrad Region has become Setl Group first project completely designed in domestically developed Renga BIM system and Pilot-BIM software.
The City of Stars residential complex located in the Leningrad Region. Source: Setl Group
Pavel Sugak, head of the Setl City Architectural Bureau (part of Setl Group), explains the choice of Russian-made software: “We deliberately considered only domestically developed alternatives to minimize the risk of sanctions. Having spent over 30 years in the building industry, we have witnessed significant progress of domestically developed IT solutions. Their performance and functionality are in no way inferior to the foreign counterparts. Our experience with Renga has proven that designing with home-grown products is not only possible, but also advantageous."
The pilot project was a four-section residential building with variable number of floors (12/22/22/23 floors) in the "City of Stars" residential complex located in Novosaratovka, Leningrad Oblast. The total area of the building is 43 thousand square meters, and it is designed to house 771 apartments.
BIM model of the apartment building section created in Renga. Source: Setl Group
The project's distinctive features include:
- A comprehensive 3D model containing architectural solutions, structures, and engineering systems.
- Automatic generation of drawings and schedules.
- Accurate calculation of materials and areas.
- Team collaboration on projects in real time.
The software implementation process began in September 2023 with the training of the first group of 15 specialists. Within a few weeks, the team began the actual design work, despite having no previous experience with Renga BIM system. "One of the key factors when switching to the new software was the ability to easily master the program," notes Pavel Sugak. "In four months, we created full working documentation for 13 residential building sections."
Consolidated BIM model of the apartment building displayed in Pilot-BIM. Source: Setl Group
Key achievements of using Renga BIM system in the project include:
1. Process automation (drawings and schedules are generated automatically, precise calculation of scope of work and materials, a single information model available for all project team members).
2. Improved project quality (early detection of errors at the design stage, thorough elaboration of all components, meeting strict customer requirements).
3. Design optimisation (collaborating on the model in real time, ability for the management to control the design process, reducing the time spent on generating documents).
“It’s been a little over a year since we implemented Renga. Since then, we have come a long way. We had to learn how to work in 3D from scratch, design objects, and master new tools at the same time. What we can already say for sure is that Renga is perfectly suited to residential BIM design tasks. "Renga development team has paid close attention to our feedback and already implemented 20 functional capabilities," notes Pavel Sugak, head of the Setl City Architectural Bureau.
The Setl Group project marks a milestone in the development of Russian BIM technologies, demonstrating that home-grown solutions are ready for the complex challenges of large-scale housing construction. Read more about Setl Group design experience in the article at the link.