Kunwon Engineering Chooses Aconex for Seoul High-Rise Project

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--(Marketwired - Nov 10, 2015) - Aconex Limited (ASX: ACX), provider of a leading cloud collaboration platform for the global construction industry, today announced its selection by Kunwon Engineering Co., Ltd. to manage project information and processes for construction of the new AmorePacific Corp. headquarters in Seoul, Korea. The 189,000-square meter project, valued at US$450 million, will also include leased commercial space as well as cultural elements. 

Rising 22 stories, the 103-meter landmark development will include a museum, a conference area, a large auditorium, restaurants, and retail spaces on the lower levels around an atrium lobby. Seven levels below ground will provide parking and a connection to the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system. The upper levels will be occupied by AmorePacific, Korea's leading cosmetics firm. The building will be integrated with the extensively landscaped Yongsan Park, creating a structure with a distinct identity. Completion of the project is scheduled for 2017.

Project Challenges

The size and complexity of this project make it challenging. One key challenge is the ability of many organizations to work closely and seamlessly as a team, in spite of great distances between them. While Kunwon Engineering, one of the largest project and construction management firms in Korea, and the primary contractor are local, the architect and the structural engineering firm are located in Berlin, Germany.

"From initial information sharing to reaching mutual agreement and working out approval processes, the project team found itself overwhelmed by the huge volume of information to be managed," said Haewook Cheong, project manager and director at Kunwon Engineering.

Single Solution

It was clear to Mr. Cheong and his team that the AmorePacific development would benefit from a project information management (PIM) solution. A team from Kunwon Engineering evaluated several PIM systems. Aconex was recommended by a project participant who had previous experience with the platform. Based on the competitive evaluation, Aconex was chosen to support the project. AmorePacific, the project owner, stipulated that contractors use Aconex as the formal communications platform for the project.

"It took just a month to set up the Aconex system," said Mr. Cheong. "We have received excellent support from the Aconex team. The help menu and helpdesk service have been very useful. Everyone has been supportive of the system. There has been no resistance to Aconex at all."

Communications and Collaboration Made Easy

Approximately halfway through the construction phase, over 200 users from 20 organizations are currently registered on the Aconex platform. This number will increase as subcontractors focused on interior spaces begin their work. Aconex provides immediate access to project data and correspondence, regardless of where team members are located -- Seoul, Berlin or elsewhere. Communication between team members has been reliable, especially for those located many time zones away from the physical project.

Nearly 400,000 documents have been registered on Aconex -- and that number is growing by more than 50 documents per day. To date, nearly 100,000 items of correspondence have been exchanged. The project team has a simple way to retrieve, share and update project information at any time, from anywhere, because Aconex stores all data permanently and securely in the cloud. This enables the team to track document changes and instantly determine who made them and when. The project audit trail helps quickly settle disputes as they arise. Kunwon Engineering has arranged to create a copy of the project database, which it will hand over to AmorePacific, the project owner, at practical completion.

Optimizing the Flow of Information

"Without Aconex, managing all of this information would be very messy," said Mr. Cheong. "With Aconex, we have dramatically improved our efficiency in transmitting, searching for, retrieving, and archiving documents and drawings. It's clear that Aconex is providing significant time and cost savings."

"Aconex has been widely adopted throughout Asia, enabling project teams to more efficiently manage many of the largest and highest-profile developments in the region," said Andy Lake, general manager of Asia at Aconex. "It gives us great pride to announce our involvement in the AmorePacific headquarters project, and we look forward to supporting Kunwon Engineering and its project partners in a successful delivery."

About Aconex

Aconex Limited provides a leading cloud collaboration platform for the global construction industry. The platform connects owners, contractors and their project teams in the construction, infrastructure, and energy and resources sectors, providing project-wide visibility and control between the many different organizations collaborating across their projects. With more than 60,000 user organizations and approximately $1 trillion of project value delivered in more than 70 countries, Aconex is the industry's most widely adopted and trusted platform. Founded in 2000, Aconex has 41 offices in 22 countries around the world, including headquarters in Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco, California. The company's ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code ACX.

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