For nearly 60 years, SSH has played a leading role in shaping the Middle East’s built environment and infrastructure. Established in 1961, the company has evolved into one of the leading master planning, infrastructure, building design, construction supervision and project management firms in the Middle East, with a reputation for design integrity and a portfolio that includes several landmark projects in the region.

SSH has completed more than 1,000 projects and has been ranked the number one practice for fee-earning architects in the Middle East for a third year in a row by World Architecture Magazine. Along with its headquarters in Kuwait, SSH currently has offices in Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Bahrain, Dubai, London, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

At any given time, the firm is working on dozens of live projects, each with dedicated resources and personnel assigned– all utilising various Autodesk technologies that include BIM360 Design and BIM360 Docs.

“We have always been an advocate of 3D modelling and enhancing the information in our 3D modelling environment. The full implementation of BIM is a much wider context issue for the construction industry and there have been significant strides made to utilise models through the construction stages of delivery,” said Jason Palmer, Senior Architect at SSH.

However, with the adoption of remote working, the Leadership team at SSH has been faced with a raft of new challenges, requiring bold and innovative solutions that fully utilise the available technology.

There are two key challenges facing leaders across all industries; firstly, the need to adapt to rapidly evolving market conditions and, secondly, the importance of ensuring employee safety – both on site and in the office.

With employees being directed to work remotely, SSH’s top priority was to make sure all staff members are fully equipped for remote working, while ensuring that deliverables are on time, client expectations are met, and that business continued as usual.

This decision posed an additional challenge, namely, to move all projects to the cloud and make sure hundreds of employees were able to seamlessly access their projects and collaborate with other specialists and disciplines. For example, one major early challenge was an issue with connectivity speeds when attempting to access information on the native server.

SSH Operations Director Keith Hill observed, “Change is not without challenge and, for most of us, this always yields an opportunity. In our case, we were quite heavily bound to the traditional server-based ways, working only with some ‘cloud-based’ platforms. With remote working, SSH has fully embraced the BIM360 Design suite for our team in the UAE and found this to be much faster than the older, more traditional approach.”

He added that teams working on projects with BIM360, have found reduced downtime and improved synchronisation in their workflow, enabling more efficient remote working.

As a first step, SSH Design investigated the wider implementation of BIM360 Design by taking advantage of the Extended Access Program and ensuring all staff were trained to use the software. The number of users also grew by 80%. This transition took place over a two-week period, and the company is proud to confirm it has been successful in maintaining its standards through the employment and collaboration of cloud-based models.

“We were utilising many of Autodesk's collaborative applications, such as BIM360 Design and BIM360 Docs. When remote working was initiated as an urgent requirement, setting up models on the platform took no more than a day, making the transition a quick process. We have used this as an opportunity to enhance collaboration by using virtual systems such as BIM 360, which has proven to be beneficial in the time efficiency and productivity of our teams. We have been able to successfully deliver and keep up with project programmes, even while working remotely,” Jason Palmer recalled.

Software Asset Manager Huzaifa Hussain added, “One of the key challenges faced during this process, was to provide effective tools or methods for SSH’s teams to continue collaborating effectively while working from home. BIM360 and Autodesk’s PPU-based licensing model enabled the teams to interact and work collaboratively on the same design model, across various disciplines.”

Hussain also explained that this had occurred in isolation, with the teams having to face many hurdles when putting the models back together. In using a combination of cloud solutions, training and collaboration SSH has been able to maintain the teams’ dynamics. This proved crucial in overcoming communication challenges teams had encountered while working remotely in the past.

Jason Palmer continued, “We have been communicating with Autodesk regularly through a single point of contact to direct any queries during the remote working transition. This has enabled us to resolve issues effectively and in a timely manner.

“In addition, the periodic training webinars provided by Autodesk have ensured that our users continue to develop individual skills and knowledge by staying up-to-date with the latest BIM360 features and products. Consistent interaction with Autodesk has also enhanced sharing experiences and suggestions for potential improvements to existing BIM tech services.”

With these essentials in place, SSH’s Leadership then turned its attention towards briefing staff on deliverables and remote working best practices. They tested the model by asking employees to work remotely for a few days, and then applying the lessons learned to a company-wide implementation for remote working.

“The main challenges we fought to overcome, included personal team isolation, maintaining productivity, and ensuring team collaboration. Autodesk BIM360 allowed our teams to maintain dynamic interaction which led to a 46% productivity increase in collaboration-related tasks. For instance, tasks related to uploading, preparing and sharing models with internal and external stakeholders have improved twofold,” recalled Richard Toby, Head of Information Technology at SSH.

“We highly value the psychological support to our teams, and, for us, this is just as important as the technical support. Through the implementation of the right applications, we strive to overcome feelings of disconnection and isolation, as well as encourage collaborative working, as this significantly mitigates the psychological stresses on our teams,” he added.