OpenAEC Ecosystem

Open BIM Studio

A BIM modeller with a deliberately wide reach. At one end as direct as sketching: push, pull, try something and throw it away. At the other end properly technical: building systems, reinforcement, connections and drawings from the same model. All on IFCX.

In development BIM · IFCX Built in DynLex € 0

A look at what we are building. There is a preview for testers, but you cannot model a project in it yet.

Open BIM Studio with the foundation plan of a pavilion: pad footings of 1800 by 1800 mm and ground beams of 300 by 400 mm with reinforcement, next to the reinforcement in 3D, a section and the reinforcement properties

What will Open BIM Studio be?

Open BIM Studio is an open-source BIM modeller from the OpenAEC Foundation. You create and edit a building model, inspect it in 2D and 3D, and develop drawings, reinforcement details and schedules from that same model. The interface is native, on Vulkan, and the CAD kernel is written in DynLex, our own programming language.

  • Direct modelling with grips, snapping, Push/Pull and face splitting

  • Parametric building systems, window systems, stairs and railings

  • Reinforcement: bars, cages, stirrups and meshes, with position marks and schedules

  • Connections with plates, bolts and screws

  • Plans, sections and sheets from the model, as PDF or SVG

  • IFCX as the project format, with IFC import and export

BIM · DynLex

Why Open BIM Studio?

BIM software usually makes you choose: a quick sketching tool where you try out forms freely, or a heavy package that knows everything about construction but feels slow. Open BIM Studio wants to be both, in one application: you start by pushing and pulling a mass and develop the same model all the way to reinforcement and connections.

Everything lives in IFCX, the open data format of the OpenAEC ecosystem. What you model is readable straight away by the other tools — and by anyone who opens the file.

What is already in it

Building model

Levels, grids, layered walls, floors, roofs, ceilings, openings, beams, columns, piles and spaces.

Direct modelling

Selection, grips, numerical properties, snapping and transforms. Boundary editing with Tab, Push/Pull and face splitting.

Parametric systems

Building-system types with frames and panels, hosted window systems, stairs, railings and component libraries.

Reinforcement

Parametric bars, cages, stirrups, area reinforcement and meshes, with position labels, schedules and Dutch or international notation.

Connections

Modular connection nodes, member voids and added parts such as plates, bolts and screws.

Drawings from the model

Plans, sections, 3D views, section boxes, dimensions, tags, drawing standards and sheets, output as PDF or SVG.

Interchange

IFC import and export, IFCX and binary IFCX as the project file, and DXF as reference geometry.

Automation

A local API and an MCP adapter, so scripts and AI assistants can carry out operations in the editor.

Built in DynLex

DynLex is the programming language we are developing ourselves. Its syntax reads almost like English and compiles to native code through LLVM, so the modeller addresses the GPU and the CPU directly, with no runtime in between.

The language is deliberately small, and that is exactly why development goes so fast — for people, and as it turns out even more so for AI.

Coming soon

Not ready for projects yet

Open BIM Studio is a development preview. A Linux version is ready for anyone who wants to help test; a tested Windows version is not there yet. Follow the development on GitHub, and report what you run into.

What we are still working on

  • The features above are areas that have been built, not a promise that every combination is complete and validated.
  • The Windows version is in the repository, but there is no tested installer yet; the preview runs on Linux with Vulkan.
  • Performance on large models and a full test of the interface are still in progress.
  • IFC and IFCX support is still growing and is not a certification. Not every imported object becomes fully parametric and editable; keep your source files.

Technology

DynLex LLVM Vulkan GLFW IFCX IFC MCP MPL-2.0

The BIM logic, the tools and the geometry are written in DynLex. The model keeps the semantic objects, a separate layer derives the geometry from them, and the drawing and scene modules turn that into 2D and 3D views.

Open BIM Studio