Thanks to an educational non-profit program known as EAST® Initiative(Environmental and Spatial Technology),  high school and middle school students in more than 200 schools across the country are getting much needed exposure to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts. Each spring, student work is showcased at the annual EAST Initiative conference. More than 2,000 students, parents and teachers attend. GRAPHISOFT is proud to support this unique program which brings technology into the hands of students.

Throughout the year, in preparation for the conference, students engage in a project-based learning environment which provides a hands-on opportunity to identify and resolve problems in their local communities. Students at middle school and high school levels have a diverse library of cutting edge technology at their daily disposal, which they would not normally have access to until their collegiate careers. They even reach out and collaborate with local civic groups and community leaders. While it may seem like a heavy workload for students at that academic level, the program is structured to encourage applied learning. The program is unique also in that it provides a student-directed work environment.

“The way EAST® classrooms are set up, represents a growing movement to adjust the traditional core curriculum,” explained Melanie Ridlon, Senior Director of Operations for EAST® Initiative. “While we’re serious about the learning process, the focus on technology doesn’t necessarily imply an overwhelming lesson plan. The students respond well because of the role technology already plays in their daily lives.”

Indeed some classrooms even employ video gaming to teach concepts and embrace 21st century skills to get the students involved in such a way that they apply what they’re learning. In a typical EAST® classroom, the pupils are able to apply concepts from their geometry classes and use them in a practical way to design buildings in ArchiCAD.

“ArchiCAD has shown itself to be a critical element in the learning process for EAST® since the students are able to actually see where geometry factors in to architecture,” added Ridlon. “As they learn geometry; the software becomes a catalyst for exploring the learning concepts even further. I see becoming even more and more embedded as we move forward.”

At the annual EAST® initiative conference, students in the program are given a chance to exhibit the projects they work on throughout the semester. They are displayed and judged by industry experts. Sixteen different technology competitions were held featuring projects created in a variety of programs and software. In the ArchiCAD competition, more than a dozen submissions were received. This year Zach Schwartz, a high school student from Cedarville High School has been recognized for his design of a junior high school. Both he and runner up, Abigail Hunt from Greenbrier HS designed their winning projects in ArchiCAD.

Architectural designer and seasoned ArchiCAD user, Sean Guth, of Harris Architecture was this year’s guest judge for the ArchiCAD submissions. He said as a whole, he was very impressed with Schwartz’s attention to programmatic needs and the execution of his project vision. Most notably, his ability to use the software to create a realistic and unique design made his project stand out.

“As a professional architect and long-time ArchiCAD user, I’m well aware of how it assists in design and model rendering production. For young people, I see it as great tool to focus on learning real-world design techniques without having to master several programs for a complete design package. Young talent can dive into ArchiCAD, learn the ins and outs, and have a finished product to show from their studies. Specifically, Zach recognized a need in the community for a new high school and understood the size and complexity of the project. He skillfully and successfully produced one that I could see being built. Abigail, the runner up, was able to demonstrate a full exploration of the capabilities of ArchiCAD in her Women’s Shelter project.”

Students that participate in the EAST^® initiative and graduate high school often go on to pursue STEM careers around the technology to which they were exposed. The program was initially founded in 1996 to reduce high school drop-out rates by engaging students with technology and exposing them the opportunities in business and industry. Over the past 16 years the EAST^® Initiative has grown to embrace technology across many disciplines with active programs in six states.  According to studies completed by the Metis Associates in 2006 and 2009, EAST^® administrators were able to show a direct correlation between advanced students’ skills in science technology, engineering, and math, and participation in the program.

“The program most definitely creates a good pipeline,” stated Guth. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of Zach and Abigail in the architecture industry one day.”

The ArchiCAD Facebook page has reached a milestone! We really could not have done it without you, our loyal fans and users of ArchiCAD. Now 100,000 strong – we have put together this video to mark the occasion.

Thank you so much!

This very post marks a milestone for the BIM Engine by ArchiCAD blog as well. We have published 100 posts since last April when we first launched. We thank you for your readership, your comments and participation.

Here’s to the next 100!

This year’s “Sustainable Design Project of the Year” is the Rural Regeneration Centre at Hadlow College. One of the top three agricultural colleges in the UK, it was created by James Anwyl from EUROBUILD using GRAPHISOFT’s market leading BIM and energy assessment tools, ArchiCAD® and EcoDesigner™. The Green IT awards seek to reward organizations that have demonstrated originality and innovation in ‘green’ solutions, products and policies. 

The Rural Regeneration Centre at Hadlow College is an excellent example of how ArchiCAD® and EcoDesigner™ make energy efficient design possible. Since its creation, the Centre has been Passivhaus certified – becoming the first educational establishment in the UK to do so. It has also won the Environmental Project of the Year at the Construction Computing Awards. 

James Anwyl, Director of EUROBUILD used ArchiCAD® together with its integrated thermal performance module – EcoDesigner – to evaluate the energy consumption of the design and MEP Modeler to co-ordinate the services within the building. Congratulations to EUROBUILD and their entire team on the award!

The latest version of our premium BIM design software for architects, ArchiCAD 16 has been recognized by Architosh – an internet magazine focused on Mac CAD and 3D professionals and students - as the Desktop winner of its first annual BEST of SHOW awards for software presented at the 2012 AIA National Convention.

Architosh is an Internet magazine dedicated to Mac and iOS CAD and 3D software applications led by Senior Associate Editor, Pete Evans, AIA and Editor-in-Chief Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, LEED, AP. Evans and Frausto-Robledo selected what they considered the best software items in two categories: desktop and iOS mobile. In order for products to be eligible products in the desktop software category it must have been introduced no more than ten months prior to the show and be on the market within nine months after receiving the award. Only software products that run on Apple’s iOS platform as well as on both Mac and Windows platforms can be considered for the award.

Frausto-Robledo stated, “ArchiCAD 16 introduces powerful new direct-modeling technology,” says Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, LEED AP, editor-in-chief, “and explicit modeling has been clearly identified as in need in BIM market research, including Architosh’s large 2010 BIM report. In addition, the integration of Graphisoft’s EcoDesigner into ArchiCAD 16 encourages architects to design buildings with the environment in mind.”

“We are honored to receive this recognition given by the editors of Architosh,” said Steve Benford, GRAPHISOFT Managing Director. “The award indicates how our software meets and provides solutions for these challenging and exiting times. ArchiCAD will continue to evolve and develop in a way to provide a clear path to success for our users.”

The direct-modeling technology referred to by Frausto-Robledo is the new MORPH™ tool found in ArchiCAD 16. Providing an even higher level of design freedom and flexibility; the MORPH™ tool has no geometric limitation which means every edge, point and surface can be moved and shaped freely and textures can be fine-tuned on every surface. The brand new MORPH™ tool makes it possible to create an element creation with any custom geometry in an intuitive graphical way. It features popular modeling techniques such as push & pull. MORPH elements can be created from scratch simply by drawing a 3D polygon or by converting any existing ArchiCAD BIM element. The MORPH tool is an optimal solution for creating custom BIM components, custom structures, and custom elements of the built environment as well as custom-designed building interiors.

The award from Architosh also recognizes a significant addition to ArchiCAD, one that provides a BIM solution with the best built-in energy evaluation tools  available; the incorporation of EcoDesigner directly into the model. The tools are based on entirely new technology (e.g. zone-boundary based building model geometry analysis, analytic weather data input option, etc.) that brings reliable, dynamic energy evaluation of a BIM model directly within ArchiCAD. Data and analysis reports that can influence decisions that impact a building’s sustainability will now be generated by relying on BIM geometry analysis and accurate hour-by-hour online weather data of the building’s location.

Youngblood Architecture began a project with Audi USA in the spring of 2008 designing a new dealership facility. The building was inspired by the look of the Audi automobile line, featuring floor-to-ceiling glass walls to let in natural lighting and an exterior wrapped in metal paneling. Youngblood Architecture had to follow Audi of America’s standards that are established for uniformity at all of its dealerships across the nation.

Image courtesy of Youngblood Architecture

That design, dubbed the “Terminal” would replace the previous standard of the “Hangar” – the change brought challenging form and highly detailed planning to the table. The Terminal Design takes on elements of a racetrack – an appropriate yet subtle tribute to Audi’s motor sports roots – the back wall of each showroom is meant to represent the banked, high-speed turns found on a racetrack. The banked turn slopes down to the floor and turns horizontally as well. The finished building is a 24,000 square foot, two-level structure including a showroom, offices, and service garage and part storage area. The project was recently profiled in the August issue of Metal Architecture. Even though the complexity of this type of design presented a challenge, firm president, Richard Youngblood, says the team was able to create the BIM model, document the walls and provide 2D and 3D drawings to the contractor with no change orders.

Youngblood told Metal Architecture that Building Information Modeling (BIM) software – specifically ArchiCAD – was very helpful, making  it possible to model the complex shapes and double axis radius walls. The Terminal Style features a series of curved interior walls and an exterior clad with aluminum composite panels (ACM). The building has angled window jams. The angle is an extension of the curved walls inside the building.

Image courtesy of Youngblood Architecture

“We had originally begun this project using AutoCAD,” explained Richard Youngblood. “We were about 30 percent of the way into the job when we realized that the software wouldn’t really be enough to do the job. There was no way to document the curved wall and see how it worked with the structure. That’s when we decided to look for alternative options and found ArchiCAD.”

Image courtesy of Youngblood Architecture

The BIM model created in GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD software allowed his team to document the curved walls as well as the entire building. Once they switched to ArchiCAD, calculation errors in the original AutoCAD drawings became evident. The new BIM model in ArchiCAD revealed that the curved wall, because of its tie in to the second floor and the roof, would have had structural steel for the roof deck and floor deck penetrating the interior skin of the building.

“That discovery alone saved us a great deal of embarrassment and time in going about fixing a simple mistake. The standard method of documentation that we had been using in AutoCAD had overlooked the conflicts posed by the complex wall shapes and the structural frame.  If not found in the BIM model, we would have had the steel plowing right through the wall.”

Youngblood says he feels switching to ArchiCAD was the right move even though it added an extra element of work to the job. The team employed the software to its full potential, providing the contractor with the standard drawings as well as a video rendering all from the BIM model. The firm has never used another type of BIM software since and since this article was published has begun using ArchiCAD 16.

Image courtesy of Youngblood Architecture

Youngblood Architecture was able to work with Audi’s designers to fine tune initial details for future Audi Terminals. The 3D aspect of modeling the metal skin was easily shown and the views provided an opportunity for the Audi creative team to finalize the prototype design for all terminals and give them that Audi “look”.

The firm continues to work with Audi of America on their dealership projects. Youngblood Architecture is currently creating the model in ArchiCAD for a second terminal style showroom in Reno, NV.

 

 

 

West elevation with theater door open. copyright Peter Vanderwarker

Boston based, design LAB has received awards for their work on the Emery Community Arts Center on the Farmington campus of the University of Maine (UMF) which opened last fall. The center was honored with a National Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture for a new building by the Society for College and University Planning.  It was also recognized with an AIA New England honor award.

Main entry. copyright Peter Vanderwarker

The multi-purpose arts center was created to provide three separate and flexible performance venues, joined by a single lobby. Funded by an anonymous gift to the university – the donation stipulated that the monies be used to build something that would benefit the college and surrounding community as well as support the exploration of the visual and performing arts.

The original concept for the performance space started out much larger than the finished project. There were various budgetary considerations that went in to the creation of the plans for the Arts Center that under other circumstances may have threatened to halt the project all together. But the team at design LAB was able to roll with the punches and take on those challenges with minimal issues.

Visual arts gallery. copyright Peter Vanderwarker

The building was taken through construction drawings as well even as “what if” scenarios were being presented. The engineers and sub contractors were also working with BIM so the process moved along at a fast pace. As the project moved through various design iterations, lead architect, Kelly Ard says she relied on his firm’s ArchiCAD software to handle all the changes.

“We went through a number of redesigns, the most significant of which was the removal of an entire second gallery,” she explained. “As we were preparing ideas for estimate – one can expect some measure of change. But we had already broken ground when the gallery was removed. We basically had to deal with the chopping of a third of the building off and having to reconfigure all the plans that on the fly during construction. With the coordination of all the BIM models through ArchiCAD, we were able to make changes instantaneously. We issued a deduct alternate and a schematic plan, carrying out all coordination and detailing while the project was on-going. ”

Positioned as the keystone for the arts complex at UMF, the 15,000 square foot center compliments the historic performance venues of the existing Nordica Auditorium and Alumni Theater. It is equipped with dynamic vertical foldaway doors that can be opened to an outdoor performance area. The adjacent exhibit space can house performance art as well as traditional and new media displays.

Performance space. copyright Peter Vanderwarker

The project itself was a simple wood clad white cedar board and batten siding with the aforementioned large hangar-style doors – that provides access between the performance space and the lawn Another design aspect of the building that created a challenge, met easily by ArchiCAD, was the exposed pipes and structural beams. The building was extremely stripped down – making parts of the structure that normally weren’t visible, visible.

“It was extremely helpful to be working with flexible and adaptable team collaboration on this project. Design changes were perceived as blips on the radar, so to speak, rather than a headache that can run up costs – even the major one that drastically reduced the size of the building. Without a BIM on this project, we would have had to delay construction and figure things out on paper – but because the entire team was on a BIM – we continued to move forward on the project.”

Forgive the circa 1980s-90s reference, but we couldn’t resist. Don’t worry – no baggy pants or shaved hairdos are required.

Voting is open for the 7th Annual Construction Computing Awards and GRAPHISOFT is a finalist in the competition in several categories.

• BIM Product of the Year 2012 (we won this one last year!) – this time, ArchiCAD 16 is nominated
• Mobile Technology Product of the Year 2012 – BIMx is nominated
• Product of the Year 2012 – again, ArchiCAD 16 is up for this award
• Environmental Project of the Year 2012 – ArchiCAD
• Editors Choice Award – GRAPHISOFT

The 2012 Spring ArchitectsJURY competition has come to a close and Nikola Rubic, a graduate of the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Germany and ArchiCAD user, has won. His prize was an Apple MacBook Pro.  The ArchitectsJURY competition focuses on finding the best architectural student work, as judged by visitors to www.ArchitectsJURY.com, the student architecture community.  His peers voted for his entry, the Nautical Museum of Split, in the global, online competition.

Rubic envisioned the Museum situated in Split, Croatia’s second largest city. The Mediterranean city on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea has a bustling and vibrant population. The nautical museum that currently resides in Split does not match the degree to which the harbor influenced the city’s development and history. Today, Split is one of the largest harbor cities on the Mediterranean Sea. A reorganization of the harbor district is underway so Rubic thought museum would serve to generate new possibilities for better connections between the historical city center and traffic connectivity for citizens and tourists alike.

Nikola Rubic receives a MacBook Pro from Alexander Maier, GRAPHISOFT Center Rhein-Main.

“It was important for me to create a new, representative, and significant nautical museum in the harbor, close to the historical city center and the traffic junction,” said Nikola Rubic.  “It was meant to be a connection between those interested in culture, tourists, and railway and ferry transfer passengers,” he continued.  Rubic says he took advantage of the ways in which ArchiCAD let him ‘walk through’ the building to experience his design choices – quickly and efficiently. “ One click of the mouse was all it took to see different views and sections, so I had much more time to work on the design concept itself.”

The museum guest’s path is divided into three parts:  a permanent exhibition, and a shorter, temporary exhibition, with an optional walk through an outside area. Generally, every walk has visual connections to the other exhibitions, the foyer, the café, the marine library, and the harbor. The first exhibition items can already be found in the foyer. Guests can reach the starting point of the exhibition by elevator. Visitors walk through the exhibition on ramps until the end on the ground floor. The museum includes a marine library, auditorium, and a café area that has a separate entrance if the museum is closed. The secondary functions are accessible by stairs and are differentiated from the primary functions in that they are accessible via ramps.

For more images of the winning project, please visit www.architectsjury.com/pages/competition/2012-spring-semester/winners.  To learn about the next year’s Spring ArchitectsJURY competition, visit www.architectsjury.com/pages/competition/.

Product of the Year – ArchiCAD 16

Exciting news for GRAPHISOFT from the Construction Computing Awards - our BIM software, ArchiCAD 16, has won the Product of the Year award for the second year in a row. But that’s not all! GRAPHISOFT also took home awards for BIM Product of the Year for ArchiCAD 16, Mobile Product of the Year for BIMx, and is the runner up for the Environmental Project of the Year involving EuroBuild and their M-Labs project. These awards showcase the technology, tools and solutions that support and innovate effective design, construction, maintenance and modification of buildings and projects of all variations and sizes.

ArchiCAD 16, the latest version of GRAPHISOFT’s award-winning design software for architects, introduces a comprehensive set of solutions to ease the creation, sharing, and finding of custom BIM Components. Built-in Energy Evaluation turns ArchiCAD 16 into the “greenest” BIM solution available on the market today.

GRAPHISOFT is proud to announce an honor achieved by Portuguese architects competing in the annual ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards. The designs made using ArchiCAD finished with high marks in the competition.

In the Hotels and Restaurants category, Luis Rebelo de Andrade and Diogo Aguiar won the ArchDaily Building of the Year Award for their Eco-Resort design in Pedras Salgadas, Portugal. The designers created a resort made up of a set of seven small houses that blend in perfect harmony with the surrounding outdoors.

Each home is unique in its own way, but are varying combinations of the same three modules. The system is designed as a modular pre-fabrication – one that is flexible enough to adapt to the specific spaces within the park, creating different lay-outs and dialogues with the outdoors, occupying the empty spaces between the trunks of large trees. The pitched roofs of the small buildings redefine the contours of the park boundary and result in comfortable yet dynamic spaces. The slate tile shell façade used throughout the design is a nod to local construction traditions, while the wood slats used in the balconies create comfortable, rest areas.

ArchDaily finalist Louisinha Arquitectos won praise for their design of the MPA building in Porto. The MPA building is situated in an old industrial zone of Porto and the architects chose to use steel and dark-colored plaster to acknowledge the setting’s past. There is a school, offices and retail areas within the mixed-use building.

A dental clinic in Lisbon, designed by Pedra Silva Architects, qualified as a finalist in the ArchDaily awards. The architects worked to design a healthcare facility that embraces the social and human side of healthcare facilities. The clinic is made up of two very distinct environments: the clinical space and the social space. The clinical space aspires to convey confidence and calm in the patient by using mainly white materials. The social space was designed to offer patients relaxation and comfort as a means of distancing them from the clinical mindset.

GRAPHISOFT congratulates all the architects who created such wonderful designs with ArchiCAD software. Their innovation and imagination is inspiring and deserves celebration!

GRAPHISOFT showcased its latest version of BIM software, ArchiCAD 17 at this year’s AIA Conference in Denver, CO. Since then, reviews have been pouring in, highlighting the way priority based connections and intelligent building materials help the BIM stay “live” from beginning to end – all the way to the construction document phase of a project.

TenLinks editor, Roopinder Tara – who nominated ArchiCAD 17 for a Best in Show award called it, “a return to productivity… enhancements to wow the working  architects… It’s the  sort of return to normalcy serious architects will applaud.” While Lachmi Kemlani of AECbytes said in her review that priority based connections in ArchiCAD 17, while not… “as dramatic as the Shell tool or the Morph tool, but once you work with it, you have to appreciate the elegance and sophistication  of the solution.”

It was in the in-depth review published by Anthony Frausto-Robledo in Architosh where we read, “…the company manages to deliver in two core areas we think can never fully be satisfied: absolute 3D performance and making the virtual building concept get more and more real. In this release, that latter ambition got a huge boost with the intelligent materials and priority connections.”

More reviews and coverage of the ArchiCAD 17 release can be found in UpFront eZine, Architect Magazine, Design Index Online , All About CAD and here, here and here.

The Somerset Pool Bath House, designed by Bethesda, MD based, McInturff Architects, has been awarded an Excellence in Design HONOR Award from AIA Maryland. It was one of only seventeen projects from the state of Maryland cited by the peer jury tasked with reviewing all submissions – and one of two projects to receive the Honor award.

McInturff Architects took on the public project using ArchiCAD to design the repair and renovation of the pool house in Somerset, MD – a suburb of Washington DC. Built in the late 1960s, the pool house was situated in a park and represented the heart of the tight-knit community. Updating the structural soundness of the bath house as well as installing features that would increase accessibility all while reducing the environmental impact of the facility on the stream valley were among the primary goals for the project.

Maintaining and Maximizing

Project Architect Peter Noonan explained that the firm was very committed to retaining the existing footprint of the original bath house and maximizing the advantage of the wooded area in which the pool was located. They had to act quickly, since being open in time for next year’s pool season was a big factor in their being selected for the project.

“We knew we’d be going in on a very quick turnaround, because it was very important to the community that construction begin at the end of one season and be completed the following season. With ArchiCAD we were able to create a 3D living file – using the walk through in the model so that the town council and pool house project committee could see that we’d be very nimble on the project. Even the community at large could appreciate what they were seeing in our model, because it is so true to life.”

Dealing with Demanding Deadlines

It was no small feat to have the pool house finished in less than twelve months. A series of additions had been constructed over the years at the location and as a whole, repairs were sorely needed. Noonan estimated that a full third of the building had to be replaced and an old slab that rested above the pool’s pump equipment was beginning to fail. With so many factors to be addressed, Noonan says the team decided to use ArchiCAD to develop a BIM as well as create a physical model. The digital file served as a point from which construction documents could be created.

“The existing footprint of the bath house was retained, even as all of the interior layout was reconfigured. The original roof, which was low, heavy and oppressive, was replaced. The new roof, built of lightweight wood trusses, is high, light and airy, becoming a giant porch roof that extends beyond the old walls to provide protected poolside shaded areas.”

Providing shade and shelter from sudden summer storms was a key feature of the project. The team created louvers on the roof that appear as though they are a second story – but actually serve as a shade roof.

Communicating Design Changes and Options

The basic design is a simple roof that stretches over the original pool house to create a large, shaded porch – a must-have item on the community’s wish list. That way the pool members could get out of the hot sun or the rain in case of a sudden summer shower. As the architects considered ways to create that shade structure in the most cost effective and architecturally interesting way, they worked with a structural engineer. In the model, they designed alternate ways to frame the roof, with steel rafters, composite trusses or wood trusses. Each choice brought with it a variation of cost, performance and look. The model was a key factor in evaluating those three choices in an effective manner.

“Our ArchiCAD model gave us design and quantity information that cost estimators were then able to use to create financial data on how each material would affect the bottom line. We ended up going with Douglas Fir trusses – since steel was twice the cost of wood. They are the everyday wood trusses you see in your attic, but instead of spacing them two feet on center, we doubled them up.”

As meetings were held periodically to go over design choices with the pool project team, town council members had the architects open the model and swap out different material choices to see how those changes impacted the look, feel, functionality and costs of the pool house. ArchiCAD served Noonan and the project team well during these meetings and those with the people of the town. Very few in attendance at these meetings had a working knowledge of architecture or site design, so the materials the team was able to extract from the model had to be understood easily and contribute to an understanding of what was going to be happening to a beloved fixture of the community.

“We were able to develop more formal presentations using ArchiCAD for the public meetings – where we had to print out elevations and renderings. There were instances where we’d take an image of the model and merge it with an actual photo of the site. It really helped us convey the vision. We really used the software to its fullest to get that polished extraction from the model.”

The building has no active mechanical system to provide heating or air conditioning, so it could not receive LEED certification – but LEED criteria was used to design it. The pool house can be considered a sustainable building.

Once the Somerset Pool House was completed it started earning recognition, the accolades literally began pouring in. One town council member commented to the McInturff staff that the project deserved every commendation as it represented the “beating heart of our town”.

The editors of ArchDaily, one of the most highly read online publications and trusted resource for thousands upon thousands of architects worldwide has revealed its list of the best apps for architects. We are thrilled to see that our newly released BIMx Docs app is number three on the list. The editors state:

From condensed versions of large scale programmes [sic] architects and designers use every day, to blank canvases to scratch ideas down onto, you might just find an app that could improve the way you work.

Of note to the editors at ArchDaily – the hyper-model navigation which has been added to the existing BIMx as well as coordinated integration of the 2D and 3D model information. When architects go to present or coordinate projects on-site, he or she usually has to lug around paper drawings or offline 2D drawing sets – which can sometimes be out of date within moments after they are prepared. BIMx Docs eliminates that and therefore “has the potential to make BIM even more popular”.

Not only does BIMx Docs bring BIM to the construction site – making printed paper documents unnecessary, the app helps non-professionals understand the model by integrating the 2D and 3D elements into a user-friendly mobile application. BIMx Docs provides familiar game-like navigation – that lets viewers who have never used a BIM solution and minimal computer skills to have full access and understanding of the model. Every member of a design and construction team can benefit from the app.

As an app that can be used by every member of a project’s design and construction teams, it’s worth checking out.

We agree! But you can see for yourself – view the informative step-by-step video guide below which details all the features and benefits of BIMx Docs.

For a more brief summary of why BIMx Docs is so cool – this clip below explains how BIMx Docs expands the extensive tools architects already have in the office to help them reap the benefits of BIM to the field. BIMx Docs puts the unique and convenient combination of the 3D design model and the 2D construction in one intelligent mobile application. Visit the App Store to download the free or paid version of BIMx Docs today.

If you do not have ArchiCAD, you can download a 30-day trial version of ArchiCAD here.

BIM Product of the Year – ArchiCAD 17

Exciting news for GRAPHISOFT from the Construction Computing Awards - our BIM software, ArchiCAD 17, has won BIM Product of the Year award for the third year in a row. For three years now, ArchiCAD 17 has dominated the BIM Product of the Year category, surpassing competitors Autodesk BIM360 Glue (2013) Nemetschek Vectorworks (2012) and Autodesk Revit Architecture (2011).

Adrian Girling, GRAPHISOFT UK, with the 2013 BIM Product of the Year Award

The Construction Computing Awards; affectionately known as “The Hammers”, showcase and reward the technology, tools and solutions for the effective design, construction, maintenance and modification of commercial buildings, residential and social housing and civil engineering projects of all sizes. For 8 years now, the Construction Computing Awards event has become a place where members of the industry gather to network and exchange ideas while having fun.

This year the winners of the 2013 awards were announced at The Hotel Russell in London. An audience of more than 200 supporting guests were there to watch the results announced. Winners were chosen via an a reader online poll and judging panel’s deliberations.

Mobile Technology of the Year – BIMx

GRAPHISOFT was also recognized with an award for Mobile Technology of the Year. This is the second year in a row BIMx has received the Hammer award for Mobile Technology.

Ben Wallbank, GRAPHISOFT UK, with the 2013 Mobile Technology of the Year Award

BIMx, has been in use since 2011 and it has been recognized as a revolutionary, game-changing app. As a presentation tool, it is unmatched in its ability to help architects communicate design intent and provide understanding to clients – even those with limited experience or exposure to architectural concepts.

GRAPHISOFT recently expanded the capabilities of BIMx – with BIMx Docs to high acclaim.

Though the app has been available for about a month and a half, ArchiCAD users are already seeing its benefits on the job site.

“In my first use of BIMx docs, I presented a very complex subsurface parking structure on a job site,” said Joseph Vance of Brooklyn-based Joseph Vance Architects. “Engineers, fabricators and erectors were there. Not only were they blown away by what they’d seen – in just a few minutes they all understood a complicated situation everyone had been wringing their hands over for days. Once they were able to fully understand the conditions, they came up with a solution in 15 minutes.”

BIMx Docs offers lightning fast navigation within and across large layout books. Even if you are only working with 2D drawings, BIMx Docs offers unbeatable performance based on Map app technology.

The AIA Chicago Small Projects Awards have been announced and ArchiCAD firm, Wrap Architecture has won an award for its “Safe House” design. The city-wide competition that celebrates small-scale work and emerging firms is now in its fourth year. Recently thirteen projects out of a field of 96 entries were recognized at a ceremony held at Architectural Artifacts.

The team at Wrap Architecture, Cheryl Noel, Ravi Ricker, and Liezel Pimentel, designed a home that is intended to withstand strong and disastrous storms, particularly high winds such as those that caused massive property losses in Joplin, MO back in 2011. Cheryl Noel says they focused on overcoming the obstacle of providing a form that can maintain a continuous structural load path from the roof to the foundation. “It’s a building with insulated concrete forms – which achieve the structural load objective while also cutting the end users’ energy bills in half,” says Ricker. “The design calls for a pattern-printed concrete roof, roll-down shutters and fixed stainless steel screens that are rated to withstand a wind force of 175 mph. There is also a safe room for secure shelter during a storm event.” Congratulations to the team on their award winning design!

The Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded a single government grant totaling $682,000 which paid for the construction of four public libraries. One of the last Carnegie libraries built in the United States using that grant is the Mount Pleasant Library in Washington, DC. The Mount Pleasant Library was originally built in 1925, and was recently renovated and expanded by DC-based architecture/design firm CORE using ArchiCAD.

A previous renovation completed some four decades before left some features lacking, though the building was brought up to ADA code at the time – so the team at CORE took on the project with an eye to adding more space, and looking at current code issues that needed to be addressed. The team documented all the existing conditions in the library using historical plans. Onsite observations were also factored in and documented in the ArchiCAD model. All of these calculations were performed prior to adding renovation layers were added to the ArchiCAD model. The team opted to use a separate file for the existing building and then linked that in to the main file as a background layer.

Unusual Site Layout

The library is snuggled into a trapezoid-shaped site, presenting a challenge when choosing a location for the addition. The goal for the project was to increase the square footage from 18,000 square feet to 25,000. It now has seating for more than 200 people and features a 100-person meeting room.  Some of the original plan for the library had become unusable over time, due to changing codes and changing library needs – including living quarters that the library had once provided to its on-site manager – so that space had to be repurposed.

Renovations to Enhance Efficiency

The resulting building is designed to LEED Gold standards, although as of this publish date, it is not clear if the library commission will pursue the certification. Having documentation that can be adapted to show how the building met LEED requirements was extremely helpful. The architects at CORE used drawings produced in ArchiCAD to document these items.

Many of the materials used to build the library’s addition were recycled, renovated and repurposed or reused altogether. All of the systems in the building are compliant to current energy standards and conservation. An on-site water treatment system provides chemical-free water treatment for the HVAC cooling system and the plumbing fixtures promote low water use. The library features a rain screen which is made up of many elements, including the waterproofing membrane applied to the metal framed exterior wall, then high recycled content mineral wool insulation and terra cotta panels produced by NBK mounted outside this exterior wallThe rain screen helps with the insulation of the addition, according to lead architect, Dean Hutchison.

“The rain screen is one of the more interesting pieces of the addition, it allows rain to flow through the envelope of the building, keeping heat and cold away from its skin. We also designed a roof with white material that reflects heat away – the roof is also shaded by angled Terra Cotta material mounted on a steel frame.”

This library is unique in that the uppermost floor was dedicated to the children’s program – which is one of the largest of its kind in the district. The team was tasked with keeping as much of the program in the existing building and relocate offices and conference rooms into what would become the addition.

The Model Makes Meetings Move Forward

CORE made good use of their ArchiCAD model from the very beginning, having to get all design ideas approved by historic groups and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts – in fact, the original location for the addition was nixed during the review process. At that point, the architects at CORE regrouped and moved the addition to the rear of the building – very simply done in the model.

“Dealing with the various community groups, committees and historic aspects of the project was a challenge – but we were able to work with all these interested parties to meet their expectations and still stay true to what the building was supposed to be.”

The team also used ArchiCAD to set sun angles and demonstrate how the movement of the sun would affect the library and how shadows would move through the area. The Commission of Fine Arts was particularly interested in the sun studies as well – since some nearby buildings do block the sun.

Hutchison says that on most projects his team uses multiple disciplines to design, employing all aspects of design into their process, from sketches to hand renderings – but manage all of their projects in ArchiCAD – and this was the case on the Mt. Pleasant Library.

The model was fully built in ArchiCAD and taken into Artlantis rendering software to complete the rendering. The model helped CORE maintain the original building’s footprint and lay the renovation piece over it. There was a desire to connect the old library building to the new addition, but still be able to highlight the existing, historical aspect of the library. The entrance to the atrium was key to building the connection between that history and the updates the addition provides.

“The two-story, sky-lit entry hall is the most striking part of the new library’s design because visitors can see the connection between old and new,” said Hutchison. “We want visitors to feel that they have entered a space that retains the historic, grand qualities of the existing library yet exposes parts of the building that they never were able to experience before.”

“And when visitors move from the entry hall into the existing library, we want them to feel as though they have entered a cozy space that encourages contemplation and engagement with the library services.”

Additional photos can be found here

See Through House Brings In Natural Light

KUBE Architecture put their ArchiCAD skills to use on a recent interior renovation of a row home located in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington DC. Their skill and application of unique solutions has resulted in the firm’s receiving recognition for its design of the “See-Through House.” The “See-Through House” received an excellence in interior design award winner from the AIA DC Chapter.

As its name would lead the reader to believe, the home has a see-through feature: glass floors that run from ceiling to basement were employed to transform the rather dark interior of the three story single family home into a space full of natural light – something the home’s prospective owners desperately wanted to achieve.

Challenges Overcome

That transformation did not come easily. Historic building codes put restrictions on what could be done to the home. During the design phase of the renovation the team at KUBE had to focus only on the home’s interior, front and rear. After some deliberation and close communication with the client, the “See-Through House” began to take shape.

“Our clients traveled to DC to go over the design concepts we’d come up with. For those meetings we were very fortunate to have the drawings, and 3D perspectives to show them. When you consider that we were essentially putting a hole in the middle of the ceiling and on every level of the home to allow that natural light to come in, the ability to demonstrate that clearly at the early design phase was very important.”

Clearly Designed, Clearly Understood

Because the drawings were so clear, the client was able to approve the designs quickly and move forward on with no hesitation, giving the go-ahead to slice through the middle of the home, with a skylight feature on the roof that allows light from roof to move from floor to floor. A skylight sits over the open riser stairs.

Given that this was a somewhat unique method of bringing natural light into a row house, Loosle says he and his team relied heavily on the model created in ArchiCAD to ensure his clients were clear about the process and what the final result would be. The model was also a key factor in the AIA Jury’s determination of the home as an award winner.

The AIA Jury, responsible for awarding KUBE with an award for excellence in interior design, commented that the diagram of the home provided a clear understanding of the design concept for the house.

KUBE has installed skylights into other homes before, but this project was the first in which the light was brought down through the whole house. Various types of frosted glass were tested in the model until it became obvious that a clear glass floor would allow the most light to pass through.

Each glass opening has LED lights around the perimeter so that the glass floor can be lit on overcast days.

Added “Green” Elements

Other modifications were made to the interior of the home, in addition to the skylight feature. Frosted glass comprise the panels at top of stairs into master bedroom, letting light pass from interior of bedroom to stairwell. The walls were painted with white and blue paint to reiterate the notion of light, the original, circular staircase was replaced with a straight one and the floors were updated to include bamboo, a sustainable product. The balcony and patio area are constructed with Virok – a cement board from Portugal which was originally designed to be used as a substrate, but can also be used as a finish material. Solar tubes are used to brighten the main bathroom as well as the enclosed comode.

GRAPHISOFT has been recognized with two Best of Show awards from Architosh, a leading online publication devoted to Mac and iOS CAD and 3D software professionals and students. The BEST of SHOW awards are announced based on software and technologies demonstrated during the 2014 AIA National Convention and Expo. Editor-in-Chief Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, LEED, AP selected what he considered the best software items in four categories: desktop, mobile, BIM and innovation.

In the mobile category, the Best of Show honor goes to BIMx Docs.

Best of Show AIA National 2014

GRAPHISOFT’s mobile presentation app debuted in October of 2013 and since then has been quickly recognized as a revolutionary way to share and present BIM to contractors, project members and clients.

“BIMx Docs does something no other app in the world does,” says Anthony Frausto-Robledo AIA LEED AP, “it has laid down the ultimate UI/UX paradigm for how to visually connect BIM geometry models to the visual world of 2D drawings, something the public for the most part still assumes architects spend most of their day doing.  …BIMx Docs is an elegant and useful tool to bring BIM model data and their associated drawings into the field or the remote client office.”

GRAPHISOFT was also a recipient of a Best of Show award in the BIM category.

“The winner of this year’s BIM category, Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD 18 with BIMcloud™ technology … its usefulness is very impressive,” says Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA LEED AP. “Graphisoft’s delta technology is already in a class by itself because it reduces the transferred difference data (delta) down to 100 kilobyte chunks, something that is more than an order of magnitude smaller than its biggest rival. What’s really impressive to me is that you can scale up through the cloud without stopping your teams and access to the BIM data.”

Eligibility rules for recognition by Architosh in the Best of Show awards are published here.

More reviews and coverage of the ArchiCAD 18 release can be found in UpFront eZine, AECbytes and AECCafe.

You can download a 30-day free trial of ArchiCAD 18 by clicking here

Long time ArchiCAD firm, Terry and Terry, was recently named the San Francisco AIA Interior Design Award winner for their Hybrid Design project.

Graphic design firm, Hybrid Design contracted Terry & Terry to help them with a renovation of an historic brick building located in the Jackson Square historic district of San Francisco for their office. Terry & Terry had to work closely with respect to the historic location and took care to modernize while complimenting the older parts of the building. The building had to be brought up to code with ADA requirements for the entrance and restrooms.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Damonte Photography www.brucedamonte.com

Architect Alex Terry tells us the visualization feature was well received by the graphic artists – and the 3D model was extremely helpful for the team in communicating the design intent.

“We would produce a rendering at an instant so that they could clearly understand what the design was going to be. Then, that same model has our elevations and plans – abstracts for them, but necessary for us. Given that this was a commercial application, there were multiple layers to deal with, making it complicated for us to view the bones of the building and the design.”

From start to finish the project took about a year to get through planning, neighborhood review, obtaining permits and structural approvals. Twelve months after that, the project was completed, designed in ArchiCAD 15.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Damonte Photography www.brucedamonte.com

The old brick building was put together just after the 1906 earthquake – rather quickly according to Terry.

“They built it as a single story building. It became a bar and stayed that way for many years. There were also several iterations of cafes. We added a second story to provide Hybrid Design with more office space and were even able to create a deck area for the employees.”

When the project moved into the construction document phase, Terry & Terry made good use of ArchiCAD’s Teamwork feature.

“There were some alterations made to make the building better able to withstand an earthquake – since it was brick construction, we added steel beams every twelve feet to reinforce the structure. The façade of the building was partially altered, the header and brick walls were original.”

The award factored in how well the interior relates to the view from outside.

“In order to connect with the existing cornice above, we used a 3/8” solid plate, creating a bay window and concealing the underside of it. It folds into a bench – made of steel, which ties in to the other steel elements in the building. They have their front conference room there.”

ArchiCAD 18 – BIM Product of the Year & Product of the Year, Runner Up

Exciting news for GRAPHISOFT from the Construction Computing Awards – our BIM software, ArchiCAD 18, has won BIM Product of the Year award for the fourth year in a row. For four years running, ArchiCAD has dominated the BIM Product of the Year category, surpassing competitors Autodesk Revit (2014) Autodesk BIM360 Glue (2013) Nemetschek Vectorworks (2012) and Autodesk Revit Architecture (2011).

ArchiCAD 18 is a BIM solution that features smooth integration of rendering that never interrupts the design workflow. No need to buy, install or learn any new software. There are “point and click” type settings as well as advanced. Powered by Cinema 4D – MAXON’s world-class engine guarantees high quality, photorealistic presentation-ready images with the best architectural workflow.

“It’s great to see votes from users and readers deliver GRAPHISOFT a strong showing not only for ArchiCAD and BIMx, but also for the outstanding work of our partners and customers,” said Akos Pfemeter, Vice President of Marketing, GRAPHISOFT.

The Construction Computing Awards; affectionately known as “The Hammers”, showcase and reward the technology, tools and solutions for the effective design, construction, maintenance and modification of commercial buildings, residential and social housing and civil engineering projects of all sizes. For 9 years now, the Construction Computing Awards event has become a place where members of the industry gather to network and exchange ideas while having fun.

Along with the highly prized product awards won by GRAPHISOFT, ArchiCAD architect LSI Architects was honored with Collaboration Project of the Year.  UK Partner GRAPHISOFT Connect was runner up for Channel Partner of the Year.

Mobile Technology of the Year, Runner Up – BIMx

GRAPHISOFT was also recognized with an award for Mobile Technology of the Year. This is the second year in a row BIMx has been recognized with a Hammer award for Mobile Technology.

BIMx, has been in use since 2011 and it has been recognized as a revolutionary, game-changing app. As a presentation tool, it is unmatched in its ability to help architects communicate design intent and provide understanding to clients – even those with limited experience or exposure to architectural concepts.

GRAPHISOFT expanded the capabilities of BIMx – with BIMx Docs to high acclaim and the app has helped ArchiCAD users see its benefits on the job site. BIMx Docs offers lightning fast navigation within and across large layout books. Even if you are only working with 2D drawings, BIMx Docs offers unbeatable performance based on Map app technology.