A growing number of firms, including HDR, NBBJ, and Thornton Tomasetti, are investing in talent and training to advance their computational design capabilities. Here’s a roundup of the clever applications for CD:
1. Rapid prototyping. Why design a few prototypes when you can create thousands to find the ideal solution? Algorithm-based design processes allow teams to develop and explore dozens, even hundreds, of prototypes in a matter of hours—something that would be impossible using traditional methods.
2. Rapid iteration. Similarly, computational design is being used to more efficiently test and refine particular design schemes through rapid iteration—design, test, refine, repeat, in quick succession.
3. Data dashboards. Data can be an incredibly helpful resource for Building Teams, especially if it’s readily accessible and real time. Progressive firms are using CD methods to extract vital data from, for example, BIM models to feed custom Excel dashboards. Other firms are investing in more scalable platforms, such as Web-based data visualization, to gain insight into their data.
4. Automating repetitive duties. From mundane tasks like renaming files to complex projects like calculating the walking steps in a hospital floor plan, computational design tools can be used to automate the grunt work in the design process.
Using computational design tools, a team at HDR created an iterative process for building on-the-fly parametric models directly from sketches.
5. Creating custom plug-ins for existing software platforms. Need a tool that doesn’t exist on the market? No problem. Just code a solution. An extreme example is Thornton Tomasetti’s TTX database, which provides real-time read, write, and sync capabilities across six software tools: ETABS, Grasshopper, RAM Structural System, Revit, SAP 2000, and Tekla.
6. Evaluating the performance of early design concepts. Energy analysis, daylight modeling, even cost and schedule impacts—CD tools allow teams to make informed decisions much earlier in the design process.
For more on computational design, see BD+C's feature story, “Conquer computational design: 5 tips for starting your journey.”
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
New book provides energy efficiency guidance for hotels
Recommendations on achieving 30% energy savings over minimum code requirements are contained in the newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging. The energy savings guidance for design of new hotels provides a first step toward achieving a net-zero-energy building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins+Will master plans Vedanta University teaching hospital in India
Working together with the Anil Agarwal Foundation, Perkins+Will developed the master plan for the Medical Precinct of a new teaching hospital in a remote section of Puri, Orissa, India. The hospital is part of an ambitious plan to develop this rural area into a global center of education and healthcare that would be on par with Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford.
| Aug 11, 2010
Burt Hill, HOK top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest university design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 University Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
PBK, DLR Group among nation's largest K-12 school design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 K-12 School Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Pella introduces BIM models for windows and doors
Pella Corporation now offers three-dimensional (3D) window and door models for use in Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects by architects, designers, and others looking for aesthetically correct, easy-to-use, data-rich 3D drawings.
| Aug 11, 2010
High-profit design firms invest in in-house training
Forty-three percent of high-profit architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms have in-house training staff, according to a study by ZweigWhite. The 2008-2009 Successful Firm Survey reports that only 36% of firms overall have in-house training staff. In addition, 52% of high-profit firms use an online training system or service.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, HDR top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest institutional building design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 Institutional Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Walt Disney Family Museum planned in San Francisco
Construction is under way on a new museum dedicated to the man behind the Disney empire. Set to open this fall in San Francisco, the Walt Disney Family Museum will feature 10 galleries, starting with Disney's beginnings on a Missouri farm.
