Omar Assajer, Zigurat Alumnus and Design Director at dwp, praises the use of BIM for Interior Design
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Omar Assajer is an interior architect and design director at dwp who discovered the advantages of BIM back in 2013. Since then, he has accumulated many BIM certifications, among which the Global Master’s in BIM Management, and has collaborated in a number of projects executed with that methodology.
BIM, well-acknowledged among technologists and engineers, has never been embraced in the same way by designers. Because of the mental separation there is between construction and decoration engineering, using BIM to showcase one’s ideas to the client isn’t as common as it could be among interior designers.
Omar Assajer, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture from Damascus University and Master of Science in Project Management from Middlesex University, has worked in interior design for 18 years and collaborated in some of the biggest projects in the United Arab Emirates. His portfolio includes many impressive projects executed fully in BIM: the award-winning Banyan Tree Residences – Hillside Dubai, JA Lake View Hotel, Bluewaters Residences and Mosque, Repton Senior School Abu Dhabi, to name a few.
Omar Assajer knows that in his job, the learning must never stop as technology and trends continually move forward. That’s why in 2013, he began taking online BIM courses and pass on his new knowledge to the rest of the interior design team. The added value was apparent and being able to work with BIM on his work projects at BSBG helped to consolidate the base knowledge.
In 2017, he started at Global Master’s in BIM Management while working full time as an interior design manager for BSBG. During his 15 months’ in the program, Omar delivered 12 group projects. He and his team members were often from different continents and worked together in one file from different time zones. That meant that the communication and coordination between all parties had to be flawless. He recognizes that while his expertise in BIM practices improved vastly, it was his ability to work in this collaborative environment that benefited the most of such an interactive study program.
When we asked Omar about what are the major changes, he has witnessed during his many years as an interior designer, he named quite a few from the alphabet of architecture and interior design that have developed a lot in terms of regulations and standards to new tendencies in space planning, health and safety, design elements and the rise of more sustainable materials.
As for the way of working, he comes back to BIM: "From a technical perspective, the implementation of BIM is now a key in all fields of the engineering industry, it’s challenging but super beneficial." Omar believes that BIM methodology helps the designers to meet the expectations of the clients by delivering a best-in-class product at the end of the design process. If designers use BIM to its full capacity from the very start, they will find they can save time and cost for the client, and will ultimately achieve great accuracy in design.
Recently, thanks to his hard work and continuous training, Omar occupied the role of Design Director at dwp, an international BIM-oriented company that delivers hospitality projects designed using Revit and BIM 360. "This is very impressive. We can work globally from offices all over the world at full capacity," he explains about what he still finds fascinating about BIM after all these years in the industry.
However, since he now holds a more managerial and QA/QC position, he doesn't open Revit daily to design, but reviews and monitors the BIM/Technical teams. In his work as a supervisor and trainer, he has seen how more senior interior designers struggle to adopt BIM methodologies while the younger generation is doing courses and masters in BIM. "BIM is no longer optional, it's a requirement," he concludes.
As Omar changed companies and ascended professionally, he also changed his main design area. At BSBG, he worked mainly in Design Development for megaprojects. At dwp, the projects he supervises are those of design for the hospitality sector. Having distinguished experience in both, Omar appreciates the many facets of the BIM industry and the possibility of having been part of the design process of so many different projects.
Omar has a lot to be proud of in his career, but one of the main things is probably the versatility of his profile: "I take pride in my 18 years’ experience in appraising of Interior Design practice/division and developing to become an internationally well-known recognized professional who can offer high-end comprehensive services to the client in the specialty of Hospitality, F&B, Commercial, Residential, and mega/complex projects, the services included; Interior Design, FF&E procurement, tendering, construction and supervision."
