July 19, 2012 - Gehry Technologies, a software company created by architect Frank Gehry to develop and apply technology to the building industry, today announced the free preview availability of GTeam, a cloud-based 3D, file management and project collaboration platform purpose-built for AEC industry professionals and building owners. GTeam enables project teams, including architects, designers, engineers, contractors, consultants, and building owners, to easily collaborate and share documents, files, and 3D building information data from any device with a web browser. Project teams use GTeam to reach consensus faster, reduce change orders, save time, get more work, and reduce project costs. Owners and large enterprises with one or many buildings under management can also use GTeam as a centralized BIM data storage platform to easily identify, consolidate, and organize as-built documents of all existing and future buildings.

“My team and I rely on a technology-driven approach that is deeply rooted in collaboration to rationalize our design, fabrication, and construction processes,” says Frank Gehry, founder of Gehry Partners, LLP and co-founder of Gehry Technologies. “I am proud to have contributed to the creation of technology that will facilitate better communication and collaboration in building.” By working directly in a shared 3D digital environment and collaborating across disciplines to bring fabrication expertise forward into design, Gehry used the technology now resident in GTeam to deliver structures such as 8 Spruce Street in New York City and the Fondation Louis Vuitton Museum now under construction in Paris (which was recently awarded AIA’s prestigious BIM Excellence award).

GTeam is web-based, providing immediate, on-demand access to project data from desktop or mobile devices. Teams can visually manage any kind of data, including 2D drawings, 3D models, PDF files and other documents, spreadsheets, schedules, and pictures. The platform offers a centralized, detailed view into project events and history with a user experience akin to widely-used social media platforms.GTeam's web UI allows users to interact with project files in a social media-like experience with role-based permissions, security and tracking and audit capacity. Users can also concurrently work on a project in 2D and 3D.

"No matter what your BIM authoring tool is, GTeam can take it and create a neutral 3D file that can be opened by multiple different systems," said Andrew Witt, director of research at Gehry Technologies. "One customer has already integrated it into primavera."

The formats GTeam can integrate include Autodesk (Revit or AutoCAD), Dassault Systems' SolidWorks, Rhinoceros 3D, Trimble Sketchup, Bentley Microstation and open standards such as the IFC file format. Users can open multiple models together in the same viewer and filters can be used to display select parts of the model. Its advanced online 3D features include clash detection, live sectioning, measuring and onboard custom reporting of BIM data—helping teams quickly get the most out of 3D project models.

Over the past six months hundreds of companies have already been using GTeam in a beta, including COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, Gehry Partners, Greg Lynn Form, HOK, OLIN, Safdie Architects, The Pike Company, UNStudio, and Zahner. Greg Schleusner, firm-wide BIM manager at HOK, ranked the #1 Architecture/Engineering Firm by both Building Design & Construction and Engineering News-Record states, "The GTeam platform delivers on our online project collaboration needs and is much easier to use than all other solutions." With the official introduction of GTeam, these customers have now deployed the platform on some of the world’s largest building projects. The Pike Company, a midsized family-owned commercial builder, is also using GTeam on more than 15 projects. “We are having tremendous success using GTeam on our projects,” says Tim Porter, BIM manager at The Pike Company. “It really does open up a whole new aspect to team collaboration."

For more information on GTeam or to sign up for the subscription-free preview of GTeam, with full access to the product and no user, project, or data storage restrictions, visit www.gteam.com.

Automatic file previews to quickly find the right information in GTEam to download, share, edit, or open.

 The GTeam visual file management interface with advanced 3D BIM data window.