Inside the technology: How Building Information Modelling is shaping Centre Block’s rehabilitation

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[Music plays]

(Text on Screen: Public Services and Procurement Canada)

[Drone travelling shot showing the upper part of Centre Block’s front façade.]

The Centre Block rehabilitation program is the largest rehabilitation program ever undertaken in Canada.

[Close up shot of the Peace Tower.]

[Zoom-in shot of the excavation area in front of Centre Block, showing reinforced concrete walls and columns that will serve as structural supports for a future building.]

It involves the restoration of the existing Centre Block building and the construction of a brand-new underground Parliament Welcome Centre facility.

[Medium shot of Siavash Mohajer standing on scaffolding erected in front of an exterior wall of Centre Block, speaking to the camera.]

(Text on Screen: Siavash Mohajer, Senior Director, Centre Block Rehabilitation Project, Public Services and Procurement Canada)

My name is Siavash Mohajer. I’m the Senior Director of construction, with Public Services and Procurement Canada.

[Wide shot of Centre Block from the west side, showing scaffolding covering the left side and two cranes positioned on either side of the building.]

(Text on Screen: Building Information Modelling, BIM)

[Animation of Centre Block’s 3D BIM model from the same viewpoint as the previous shot, rendered entirely in green.]

Building Information Modelling, or BIM is bringing together all the processes involved within the project into a 3D model to mimic the state of the building.

[Animation of Centre Block’s 3D BIM model showing an exterior wall with white bricks numbered in red, and some bricks highlighted in green or red.]

One of the big advantages that we get from the model is that we're able to look at things virtually.

[Animation of Centre Block’s 3D BIM model from the left side zooming in on the bottom of the Peace Tower, showing the building first in realistic colors and then in green as the user toggles between display options.]

We're able to allow all our designers and contractors to work simultaneously within the model to increase collaboration.

[Screengrab of the BIM software showing Centre Block’s 3D model in a sketch-style view, with numbered bricks.]

In the future, we'll be able to leverage the model to maintain the building.

[Close-up of a scaffolding post outside Centre Block, with the camera shifting focus to Andrew Macdonald walking on the scaffolding platform.]

I'm Andrew Macdonald, VDC Manager for PCL/EllisDon.

[Medium shot of Andrew Macdonald standing inside a scaffolding enclosure outside Centre Block, speaking to the camera.]

(Text on Screen: Andrew Macdonald, Virtual Design and Construction Manager, Centre Block Rehabilitation Project, PCL/ED, a Joint Venture)

I manage the PCL/ED BIM team and all tools, technology and platforms used on the project.

[Wide shot of Andrew Macdonald configuring a tripod-mounted scanning device to capture the exterior wall of Centre Block.]

The backbone of BIM is a database.

[Close up shot of Andrew Macdonald configuring the tripod-mounted scanning device.]

[Close up shot of the scanning device as it rotates on its own to scan the building.]

[Medium shot of Andrew Macdonald working on a digital tablet in front of the scanning device.]

[Close-up of the tablet displaying a digital 3D model of Centre Block as Andrew browses through it.]

We essentially take scans, photos, existing data and drawings, and we recreate the entire building in the digital format.

[Screengrab of BIM software showing Centre Block’s 3D floor plan with several rooms appearing on screen as selected.]

[Close up shot of a mallet leaning on a wall with the camera shifting focus to a mason working on Centre Block bricks.]

[Medium shot of the same mason inserting mortar between two bricks.]

[Drone travelling shot of the excavation area in front of Centre Block’s.]

Using the database and the 3D models, we can provide and create effective project management tools that allow users on site like our stakeholders, our trades, our architects, engineers, and our clients to visualize the data, do tracking, and manage all the assets on the project.

[Medium shot of Siavash Mohajer standing in front of scaffolding erected against an exterior brick wall of Centre Block, speaking to the camera.]

The stone on the building gives the building its iconic look and character and feel.

[Medium shot of a construction worker cleaning the exterior Centre Block stones using a laser cleaning tool.]

[Close up shot of the laser beam cleaning the surface of a stone.]

[Medium shot of another construction worker from the side as he cleans a gargoyle sculpture with a laser.]

[Close up shot of the laser beam cleaning the surface of the gargoyle.]

[Medium shot of the same worker from the front, maneuvering a laser cleaning tool over a gargoyle surface.]

Each piece, each stone, each carving, each grotesque, each gargoyle, so we need to maintain and preserve each of these pieces.

[Medium shot of Andrew Macdonald standing in a scaffolding enclosure, speaking to the camera.]

On the exterior alone, there's more than 300,000 stones.

[Animation of Centre Block’s 3D BIM model showing an exterior wall with all bricks rendered in white and numbered in red as it rotates to show a different angle.]

[Close up shot of another tablet displaying a picture of an exterior stone wall while a hand zooms in the picture.]

[Animation of Centre Block’s 3D BIM model showing another exterior wall with all bricks rendered in white and numbered in red.]

Our digital tracking platform allows us to see the condition of the stone before we worked on it, what was the condition of the stone after we worked on it, as well as we can understand the cost per stone and the time it took per stone.

[Close-up of monitors displaying the BIM 3D model, then shifting focus to Andrew Macdonald seated at a desk viewing the model.]

[Medium shot of Andrew working at a desk in front of three monitors displaying the BIM 3D model.]

The more data and the more information we have, the better informed our decisions can be.

[Medium shot of Siavash Mohajer standing in front of scaffolding erected against an exterior brick wall of Centre Block.]

[Drone tilt shot moving from the excavation area in front of Centre Block up to the flag atop the Peace Tower.]

The Centre Block rehabilitation program is once in a generation opportunity, and I feel very lucky and blessed to be a part of this great team.

(Check us out: Facebook /PSPC.SPAC, X @pspc_spac, YouTube @PSPC_SPAC, Instagram @pspc_spac)

[Music stops]

(ISBN: 978-0-660-97772-0, Catalogue: P4-184/2026E-MP4)

(Public Services and Procurement Canada signature)

(Canada Wordmark)

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