Case Study from: Sparks+Partners Consulting Engineers
Learn how Sparks+Partners sized pipework for a 60‑storey building in just 2 hours, saving at least 1.5 staff days with h2x.
Name: Leon Dimino
Role: Managing Director
Company: Sparks+Partners
Location: Sydney, Australia
Results at a glance:
60-storey building sized in ~2 hours
1.5+ staff days saved
CIBSE-verified, peer-review ready
See how this was done:
The Background
Sparks+Partners is a Sydney-based consultancy with 34 years in operation and a 43-person team, around 70% hydraulic engineers. As project complexity and pace increased, the firm sought a way to maintain accuracy while speeding up delivery and reducing rework.
Managing Director Leon Dimino summarises their direction: "Time is money, and quality matters just as much." The team wanted a standardised calculation method that would scale across sectors and make peer review straightforward.
The Challenge
Before h2x, engineers relied on a mix of spreadsheets, reference books, and handwritten calculations. "There was a lot of spreadsheets... and a non-uniform approach," says Leon. Different tools often produced different answers, creating friction during design checks.
This variability was magnified on tall buildings with complex hot water recirculation systems. Reconciling methods during peer review slowed projects and increased the risk of rework, "the redo and the redo of work," as Leon puts it, "is one of the major thorns in every director's side."
Interested to learn more about h2x?
The Solution
Sparks+Partners adopted h2x software to bring together accurate calculations and streamline delivery. "One of the main reasons we adopted h2x was to incorporate a unified approach," Leon explains. "It had a method of calculation acceptable across many formats and disciplines."
With h2x, engineers model pipework and risers, then receive fast, consistent results under one umbrella, no hopping between multiple spreadsheets. Read-only links support transparent peer review, while CIBSE-verified methods provide confidence in the numbers across industrial, residential, and commercial projects.
The Results
Senior Engineer Larson Dsouza sized the hot water system for One Circular Quay, a 60-storey tower in Sydney, in about two hours. "It's really good and it's quick," he says. "You just model the pipework... and you get quick results." He sent a read-only link to the peer reviewer: "They could check everything clearly... it was approved."
Leon contrasts this with legacy workflows: "If I was doing that 10 years ago, that would take me a couple of guys, a couple of days." On a single task, that's at least 1.5 staff days saved, with better traceability and fewer iterations. Looking ahead, Leon adds: "I have no doubt I'd see this in councils, healthcare, education, the base of submittable processes."
h2x: All-In-One Tool for Calculating, Designing, Estimating, and Paperwork
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