Recently, we announced our partnership with Bouygues Construction! AEC magazine coverage here…
Dassault Systèmes (DS), the French software giant behind CAD tools Catia and SolidWorks — widely used in automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing — is making a deliberate push into the AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction) industry, having historically only gained niche traction there, most notably through Zaha Hadid Architects.
DS has long monitored the BIM space — it was even an early investor in Revit before Autodesk acquired it in 2002 — but has yet to achieve significant volume market penetration in AEC. The article argues that this may be about to change, for two key reasons:
- BIM has stagnated. Most architects still model primarily to produce drawings rather than to drive fabrication, and tools like Revit have become mature and saturated. The industry’s next frontier is construction — connecting supply chains, managing data, and producing fabrication-ready models.
- DS has a manufacturing-ready ecosystem. Buildings, bridges, and roads are, in essence, large assemblies — not unlike aircraft or cars. DS’s tools (Catia, SolidWorks, PLM, simulation, CNC, and collaboration platforms) are already proven in highly complex manufacturing environments and are increasingly relevant to modern construction.
DS is pursuing this opportunity by partnering with major construction firms. Vinci and Lendlease have already been collaborating with DS to develop construction-ready modelling systems, and Bouygues Construction has signed a new three-year deal to develop cloud-based, mobile-enabled “virtual twin” approaches to building construction. The goal is to connect developers, architects, subcontractors, suppliers, and operators within a single ecosystem — DS’s 3DEXPERIENCE Platform — streamlining data flow and improving productivity, compliance, and predictability.
These partnerships are feeding directly into the development of three new configurations of DS’s Catia-based platform tailored for AEC: Integrated Built Environment, Inclusive Urban Future, and Building Design for Fabrication.