Oceans apart - the 3D approach

acla:works - Port of Spain, Trinidad

Caribbean-based architects acla:works has revitalized its entire business through a merger with two innovative practises and embracing one innovative Virtual Building solution and is sinking its competition.

Acla:works, an architectural and urban planning firm based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, sought a new strategy to become competitive in today's aggressive worldwide market. Its first step to strengthen the 60-year-old practise was to merge with two younger architectural firms, requiring the Principals to examine every element of the new organization and evaluate what would help drive it closer to its goals.

Computer-aided design (CAD) and architectural modelling technology were considered key components of the newly-merged firm and a survey of available software was prepared, including Graphisoft's ArchiCAD®. "We found that Graphisoft® had developed a serious piece of software that had been refined and tested over years, and it was clear to us that ArchiCAD was truly committed to the practise of architecture. We felt that acquiring ArchiCAD would put us ahead of the competition – and we believe that it has," said Brian Lewis, Principal, acla:works. "One of our key requirements in selecting a software solution was how well it could eliminate errors in today's fast-paced merging of the design and production stages of our work. ArchiCAD addresses this challenge elegantly."

Design under pressure

Acla:works' first ArchiCAD project was a fast-tracked 70,000sf 2 back-office building with complex services for a leading bank institution. The project was built using management contracting with a very short lead-time for design and an eleven-month construction period. As a result, acla:works was under tremendous pressure to deliver construction documents quickly and accurately.

ArchiCAD's Virtual Building™ approach helped the firm to minimize errors, thereby cutting down on repetitious tasks, and the project was transferred to the construction team completely fitted out with furnishings and equipment. Furthermore, ArchiCAD allowed the architects to integrate 3D animations into their presentations to the various departments and management structures within the bank. Not only was acla:works able to complete its work within challenging time constraints, it also ensured the designs would meet its customer's expectations and approval.

Shaping the model

Another challenging project currently in progress at acla:works is the 142,000sf 2 office building on an irregularly shaped urban site. The design is based on a long, three-story block that accommodates a full conference center. Over this, a six-story curved office block is twisted to overlook a central park in the city of Port of Spain. The design also incorporates development of energy efficient strategies in the building envelope, and these were presented in an ArchiCAD animation.

"This project presented a major challenge: a fast-track schedule of deliverables for complex design elements. We used ArchiCAD's TeamWork feature to achieve our goals on time and to then show our clients a 4D presentation of our designs that they could easily interact with and understand," Lewis said.

With TeamWork, teams of architects can use ArchiCAD to share their complete, three-dimensional projects across a firm's local network or intranet. Design teams can easily take separate parts of the building to work on and share and view changes with their colleagues. All building information remains stored in ArchiCAD's integrated, object-based team project file.

Grand ambitions

Looking ahead, a cla:works is in the formative stages of assembling a consortium to undertake a major project, and the intent is to offer a comprehensive Virtual Building model comprising architects, structural engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, cost consultants, interior designers, landscape architects and project managers. Lewis commented, "If we can pull this off, we can offer a truly comprehensive service, including post occupancy that will be difficult to match. We are now looking at all the software required to achieve this objective and to see how this has been done successfully elsewhere."

All these developments are part of the firm's efforts to reshape acla:works into a competitive architectural practise and, as Lewis summed up, they believe that, "ArchiCAD holds a key role in the future of the firm."