Sai Sha – openBIM for Everybody, Everywhere

The Tai Po Town development in Sai Sha, led by Sun Hung Kai Properties in collaboration with Sanfield Management Ltd. and Strategic Building Innovation · bimSCORE, has earned the Merit Award in the Project Category at the 2025 Hong Kong openBIM/openGIS Awards. The project is a landmark demonstration of how open standards and digital collaboration can transform large-scale urban development.

A Vision of Integration, Sustainability, and Community

Spanning over 6.7 million square feet, the Sai Sha development is a mixed-use transformation featuring residential towers, road infrastructure, a welfare centre, and a flagship sports and recreation hub known as Go Park Sai Sha. This modern facility, featuring a golf course, football field, tennis courts, and extensive green space, is envisioned as a vibrant centre for wellness and community engagement.

Central to the project’s success was a commitment to sustainability. Through early site electrification, the use of low-carbon concrete, and holistic digital tree management, the project minimized its environmental footprint. Additionally, an innovative “Fabric Landscape” and “Lifted Village” design integrated greenery and elevated public space, reinforcing its ecological and aesthetic priorities.

openBIM as a Catalyst for Collaboration

This project exemplifies how openBIM, particularly the use of Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and open Common Data Environments (CDEs), can align diverse teams toward a unified goal. With over 5,000 IFC models exchanged, the Sai Sha project team effectively bridged software barriers and varied levels of BIM proficiency across over a dozen stakeholders—including architects, engineers, interior designers, and landscape architects.

By leveraging IFC and BCF (BIM Collaboration Format), the project avoided the need to re-author models when software versions differed—critical for smaller firms operating in tools such as Revit 2020 and 2022, SketchUp, Rhino, and Blender. This open approach allowed flexibility, lowered costs, and widened participation without compromising coordination quality.

Concrete Results: Zero Rework and Agile Design

One of the project’s most celebrated achievements was achieving zero mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) opening rework during the construction of key phases. This was made possible by enforcing a BIM-first construction protocol, where no concreting occurred before federated BIM reviews and approvals were completed by all major parties.

Interior design iterations exceeded 500 rounds, aided by intuitive modeling tools and open standards. This iterative design process, coupled with IFC-based checking tools like Solibri, enabled early detection and resolution of over 4,600 issues—ranging from clash detection to compliance with SHKP’s Ultimate BIM Guide.

Innovations with Geospatial Intelligence

Beyond buildings, the team employed drones and GIS tools to assess unit views, terrain impact, and site planning. These geospatial datasets informed stakeholder decisions, enriching the contextual understanding of site constraints and opportunities—an early nod to the growing convergence of openBIM and openGIS.

Toward a Smarter, More Inclusive Industry

The Sai Sha development serves as a template for scalable, sustainable, and interoperable construction. The project not only underscores how openBIM enhances efficiency and coordination but also reflects a cultural shift toward inclusivity—allowing multiple software ecosystems to participate through open standards.