Stronger Virtual Design Means Stronger Construction Partnerships
Barton Malow’s VDC team coordinates 3D models, schedules, costs, and field conditions before construction begins, closing the gap between design and delivery so projects run as planned. Owners get a clearer picture of what they are building, when it will be ready, and what it will cost. Project teams get fewer surprises and more confidence at every milestone.
The work matters because construction projects fail in the gap between design and delivery: drawings get interpreted differently by different trades; field conditions diverge from the model; schedule slips compound; and costs creep. Our VDC teams close that gap by building, coordinating, and stress-testing the project virtually before crews mobilize, so conflicts surface when they cost hours to fix instead of weeks.
That work runs from pursuit through closeout, supported by data rather than assumptions.
Our VDC team’s Mission: Through collaboration and teamwork, we leverage technology to meticulously plan and execute projects, ensuring safety, quality, and productivity.
Barton Malow’s VDC Services
3D Coordination + Clash Detection
We build a federated 3D model that combines architectural, structural, and MEP designs into a single source of truth. Our coordinators run clash detection across systems before construction starts, resolving conflicts in the model rather than in the field.
This is where most of the project’s downstream cost and schedule certainty is created.
5D Cost Integration + Quantity Take-Off
We extract quantities directly from the model to support estimating, value engineering, and ongoing cost tracking. Quantities tied to model elements update as the design evolves, replacing manual takeoffs that go stale the moment a drawing changes.
Linking cost data to model geometry gives preconstruction and project teams a faster, more accurate picture of where the money is going.
7D Asset Management + As-Built BIM
When construction is complete, the model does not retire. We deliver an as-built BIM tied to facilities and asset management data, giving owners a digital twin they can use for operations, maintenance, and future capital planning.
This is where VDC pays off long after move-in.
Centralized Layout Services
Leverage digital models to support precise field layout and helping project teams translate virtual plans into real-world coordinate systems for execution.
Prefabrication + Modular Coordination
VDC is the foundation for getting work out of the field and into a controlled environment. We coordinate prefabricated assemblies — MEP racks, exterior panels, modular elements — directly from the federated model, ensuring fit-up the first time.
Prefabrication only works when the model is right. Our coordination process is what makes the prefab strategy deliverable.
Reality Capture + Data Analytics
We document existing conditions and in-progress construction with drone photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, and 360° walkthroughs. The captured data flows back into our coordination model, allowing teams to better leverage data to better communicate and better plan our work.
This is especially valuable on renovations, complex industrial work, and projects where as-built documentation matters for long-term operations.
Self-Perform Steel, Concrete + Civil Models
Our self-perform trades use VDC models to plan and execute their own work — not just to coordinate with others. Concrete pours are sequenced against the model. Steel is detailed for fabrication directly from coordinated geometry.
Because Barton Malow self-performs concrete, steel, and civil work, our VDC team and our trades professionals work as one organization — not across a contractual handoff.
Site Logistics + Safety Planning
Before crews mobilize, we model the jobsite — crane swings, laydown areas, pedestrian routes, delivery sequencing, fire lanes, and trade flow. The site logistics model becomes the basis for safety planning, neighbor communication, and daily coordination.
On constrained urban sites and active campuses, this work prevents the kinds of conflicts that drive incident rates and schedule loss.
Visual Scheduling + 4D Construction Planning
By tying the project schedule to the 3D model, we create a visual timeline of how the building will come together — sequenced, animated, and reviewable with the full project team. Owners see the schedule, not just read it.
Particularly valuable for phased work, occupied renovations, and complex logistics where the order of operations drives cost and risk.
Learn More About VDC at Barton Malow
Barton Malow has been investing in virtual design and construction since 2006, when the company first integrated Building Information Modeling into project delivery. Today, our VDC team supports projects across healthcare, sports and entertainment, K-12 Education, higher education, industrial, and renewable energy markets, with team members embedded in offices across North America. We are part of the Barton Malow Group of Companies, a privately held construction enterprise founded in 1924 and headquartered in Southfield, Michigan.
Contact our VDC team to learn how we can help you meet the cost, schedule, and performance goals specific to your next project.
Contact the VDC Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Virtual design and construction (VDC) is the practice of building a project digitally — in coordinated 3D models, with linked schedule and cost data — before construction begins. The goal is to identify and resolve issues in the model, where they cost hours to fix, rather than in the field, where they cost weeks and dollars. At Barton Malow, VDC runs from pursuit through closeout, integrating model coordination, reality capture, 4D scheduling, 5D cost integration, and field execution.
BIM and VDC are related but not the same. BIM (Building Information Modeling) is the technology — the 3D models with embedded data. VDC is the broader process of using BIM, plus reality capture, 4D scheduling, 5D cost integration, and field coordination, to manage a construction project from end to end. Put simply: BIM is a tool. VDC is how the tool gets used to deliver value to owners.
As early as possible — ideally at the same time as preconstruction. The largest cost and schedule benefits from VDC come from decisions made in design and preconstruction: selecting a delivery method, planning logistics, sequencing trades, validating constructability. By the time steel is being erected, most of the value VDC could have created is already locked in.
Our team standardizes on Autodesk Revit, Navisworks, BIM 360, and AutoCAD, supplemented by tools for reality capture, 4D scheduling, and visualization. We are platform-fluent — when an owner or design partner standardizes on a different toolset, we adapt to fit the project’s ecosystem rather than forcing ours.
VDC is an investment that typically pays for itself before structural work is complete. The cost of running coordination, reality capture, and 4D planning is recovered many times over in avoided rework, schedule compression, and reduced contingency draw. On most projects, the question is not whether VDC is worth the investment — it is how much earlier the team should have engaged.