Atkins Expands Strategic Adoption of Autodesk BIM Technology

Autodesk, Inc., a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software has signed an enterprise licensing agreement with Atkins, the U.K.’s largest engineering and design consultancy and the world’s 11th-largest design firm. Through the £5.3 million (US$9.2 million) agreement, Atkins will increase adoption of Autodesk software for Building Information Modeling (BIM), an intelligent model–based process that supports the planning, design, construction and management of building and infrastructure projects faster, more economically and with less environmental impact.

“We are finding that a growing number of our clients are requiring BIM on their projects, mainly for its proven cost and productivity benefits and, most importantly, the significant reduction of costly on-site changes,” said Kevin Bezant, Group IS business partner, Atkins. “I believe we are seeing the global building industry on the threshold of a full-blown transition to BIM. Our new agreement with Autodesk not only facilitates our global adoption of BIM and our shift to 3D design, but provides Atkins with a competitive advantage by giving our design teams flexible access to Autodesk’s broad portfolio of design, visualization and simulation tools.”

Atkins plans, designs and enables the delivery of complex infrastructure, such as roads, airports, rail projects and buildings for clients in both the public and private sectors. The technology, flexible licensing and Autodesk Consulting services provided by the new agreement will make it easier for Atkins to mobilize cross-functional teams across geographies and provide them with access to the latest Autodesk design technology. These teams will then be able to use this technology with little or no additional capital outlay or training costs. The firm plans full BIM implementation on a range of design and engineering projects, which currently include master planning cities in China, new airports in the Middle East, and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where Atkins is the official engineering design services provider.

“Around the world, BIM is changing the way buildings and infrastructure are being designed, built and managed,” said Mark Paraskeva, vice president, Autodesk Europe, Middle East and Africa. “From multiflex enterprise agreements to our new family of design and creation suites, Autodesk has a range of solutions to help companies of all sizes realize the benefits of BIM and use a broader portfolio of design software.”

With this agreement, Atkins architects, engineers, designers, drafters and project managers have greater access to a broader range of Autodesk software solutions through multiflex licensing, including Autodesk Revit software products for BIM, Autodesk Civil 3D software, Autodesk Inventor software and the entire AutoCAD family.

“We are thrilled to strengthen our long-standing relationship with Atkins, an innovative firm setting an example for their use of strategic design technology,” said William Nicol, head of sales, AEC Major Accounts, Autodesk Northern Europe.