diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/Makefile b/src/blenderbim/desktop/Makefile
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/blenderbim/desktop/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# Linux Makefile for installing GUI desktop files, icons and ifc file associations
+
+DESTDIR = ${HOME}/.local
+
+install :
+	mkdir -p \
+	${DESTDIR}/bin \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/mimetypes \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/applications \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/mime/packages
+	cp blenderbim.sh ${DESTDIR}/bin/
+	chmod +x ${DESTDIR}/bin/blenderbim.sh
+	cp blenderbim.png ${DESTDIR}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/
+	cp blenderbim.desktop ${DESTDIR}/share/applications/
+	cp blenderbim.xml ${DESTDIR}/share/mime/packages/
+	cp x-ifc_128x128.png ${DESTDIR}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/mimetypes/x-ifc.png
+	update-mime-database ${DESTDIR}/share/mime/ || true
+	update-desktop-database ${DESTDIR}/share/applications/ || true
+
+uninstall :
+	rm -f \
+	${DESTDIR}/bin/blenderbim.sh \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/blenderbim.png \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/applications/blenderbim.desktop \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/mime/packages/blenderbim.xml \
+	${DESTDIR}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/mimetypes/x-ifc.png
+	update-mime-database ${DESTDIR}/share/mime/ || true
+	update-desktop-database ${DESTDIR}/share/applications/ || true
diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/README.md b/src/blenderbim/desktop/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b4727eeda1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/blenderbim/desktop/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+Desktop
+=======
+
+This folder contains everything needed to create file associations and icons to
+present BlenderBIM as a desktop application.
+
+Linux
+-----
+
+Assuming that blender and BlenderBIM are already installed on your system,
+configure associations and icons for a single user by running `make`:
+
+  make install
+
+Test by running the wrapper script directly, this should launch BlenderBIM with
+an empty IFC project:
+
+  blenderbim.sh
+
+This `Makefile` installs files to `~/.local` by default, to install to an
+alternative location, set `DESTDIR`:
+
+  sudo make install DESTDIR=/usr/local
+
+### `command not found` error
+
+If you have downloaded and installed blender from blender.org, then blender may
+not be findable via your `PATH` environment variable.
+
+Either add the folder containing the `blender` executable to your `PATH`, or
+set the `BLENDER_EXE` environment variable to the location of the `blender`
+executable.
+Instructions will vary depending the linux distribution, consult your documentation.
+
+Windows
+-------
+
+TODO
diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.desktop b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.desktop
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a56d68e95b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.desktop
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Terminal=false
+Exec=blenderbim.sh %f
+Name=BlenderBIM
+Icon=blenderbim
+X-Desktop-File-Install-Version=0.26
+GenericName=Blender BIM add-on
+MimeType=application/x-ifc;
diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.png b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3df402d817
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diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.sh b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..21d70442c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Wrapper script to launch BlenderBIM.
+
+# If the `blender` executable can't be found in your PATH environment, set
+# BLENDER_EXE to the location of your preferred `blender` executable.
+
+: ${BLENDER_EXE:=blender}
+
+if [[ $# -eq 1 && -f "$@" ]]; then
+    "${BLENDER_EXE}" --python-expr 'import bpy; bpy.data.collections.remove(bpy.data.collections.get("Collection")); bpy.ops.bim.load_project(filepath="'$@'")'
+else
+    "${BLENDER_EXE}" --python-expr 'import bpy; bpy.data.collections.remove(bpy.data.collections.get("Collection")); bpy.ops.bim.create_project()'
+fi;
diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.xml b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a38d2f085b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/blenderbim/desktop/blenderbim.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<mime-info xmlns="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info">
+  <mime-type type="application/x-ifc">
+    <sub-class-of type="text/plain"/>
+    <comment xml:lang="en">Industry Foundation Classes</comment>
+    <magic priority="50">
+        <match type="string" value="ISO-10303-21;" offset="0"/>
+    </magic>
+    <generic-icon name="x-ifc"/>
+    <glob pattern="*.ifc"/>
+  </mime-type>
+</mime-info>
diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/x-ifc_128x128.png b/src/blenderbim/desktop/x-ifc_128x128.png
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diff --git a/src/blenderbim/desktop/x-ifc_512x512.png b/src/blenderbim/desktop/x-ifc_512x512.png
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