Success Stories

A virtual path with real advantages

Archiform 3D - Australia

The transition of a practice to 3D virtual modeling from 2D drafting is often intuitive - but change in general can be disconcerting. At some stage, that critical decision has to be made on a personal and professional level. Steve Bell's experience is a telling one. He established Australian firm, Archiform, way back in the 1990's, and his personal satisfaction of driving it towards the highly respected digital media company that it is today, highlights the true power and potential which a Virtual Building environment can throw behind any design, any creative inspiration and any brand. He gives us a glimpse into his Archicad world, and the clear advantages it has, and continues, to afford him.

By now everyone has heard of CAD. It's not new anymore and I don't know of any architect or designer that hasn't left the drawing board and embraced some form of electronic documentation. I was an early adopter for two reasons:

• I knew that computer technology could improve so many different parts of the documentation and design process
• My hand-writing sucks and I was tired of using stencils

The second reason is very evident if you are one of the few people that have had the displeasure of reading my hand-scrawled notes. But the first reason goes deeper than what most people ever considered back in the 1990s. To understand it more you need to know more about me.

First off, to all the architects out there that are wondering, I am a hack! That's right, I possess no Bachelor of Architecture, no license to practice architecture and I don't even employ any. Despite this I designed, documented and administered many luxury homes, including art union prize homes, and other residential projects such as townhouses, and apartment buildings. I am officially a "Building Designer", and was licensed and insured as such. I built my practice from basic house plans in a small out-skirting, almost country, town to an exclusive service that covered all of Australia. I did this because I look at things differently to most people in the industry, and my own implementation of CAD was also done differently.

A (very) early adopter

I took up CAD very early, when the options were few, the hardware was weak and there were no teachers. The entry-level price was staggering for hardware and software, which warranted thorough investigation. Back then the options were obscure and the information scant. Hardware options were growing in different directions, and software was evolving fast. Without the benefit of hindsight I adopted the Atari platform and software called DynaCAD, which proved to be extremely fast, easy and effective for the day.

For some time I revelled in my superior speed, the ability to replicate new plans and alterations quicker, and never needed to touch the Rotrings and stencils again. I even developed software (I have always been a geek) to increase speed and generate 3D artwork from plans. But most people know the fate of the Atari computer platform, and it became evident that I had to find another option. The research recommenced although this time the options were clearer and the hardware choices boiled down to only two: Intel® PCs and Macintosh®.

This time I was convinced that CAD was such an important part of the business that it warranted greater expenditure - in fact it was now my most valued tool so should be at the forefront of my expenditure. I set forth on a very detailed examination of all options. The results were unfortunately disheartening as it was clear to me that while my current hardware platform was soon to be extinct, all of the options that I was researching were slower, more difficult to use and couldn't take advantage of all the 3D features that I had developed. With my own software I could have intelligent windows, doors and objects, and I could create 3D perspective drawings for clients in a blink. The future of CAD appeared to be taking a step backward if it couldn't at least meet my current abilities!

Having some knowledge of programming and how computers worked, I knew that it was possible to create significantly better CAD systems, however none of the software developers seemed to be listening. It was clear to me that CAD, as most people saw it, was inadequate as it concentrated more on the lines and text rather than the architectural design process. Philosophical discussions with peers always led to the dream of a "CAD Nirvana", where the mundane parts of designing and documenting were automated and we could charge for a whole new range of by-product services.

One person, a long-standing architect, mentioned a package he had heard of; "Archicad". Apparently, it promised to do what I wanted and was on the Mac platform. I didn't know much about Macs, but had heard they worked well and were more along my thought pattern, and were being released for the upcoming Windows® 95 - so I had a fallback hardware solution.

One hour of seeing ArchiCAD version 4 had me convinced. It had all the features that I had already developed, plus the ability for me to expand on this further, using its intelligent GDL programming language. Graphisoft, what was then a little company in Hungary, had hit the nail on the head! The cost, compared to today, was staggering. I visited the bank manager and bought two complete systems. I purchased in December and had Archicad fully implemented in January. By February, I had my own set of intelligent GDL objects and was presenting new designs to clients as photo-renderings and photomontage composites. My original system on the Atari had now been well exceeded. The fact is that there are still many architects working today (2006) that still don't have the abilities that I possessed in the 1990s!

An investment incentive

The next step after implementation was "milking it". I don't work for a hobby, and regardless of how much I may enjoy it, I would still rather go sailing. I work for the money! Archicad not only had to make my business life more pleasurable and easier, but it had to turn a profit to cover what it cost me and make the whole exercise worthwhile. To be honest, such an investment is not something that most architects and designers are accustomed to, and the fear of it failing, costing me three years of lease payments, was what spurred me on to ensure it worked.

I made sure everyone knew that my designs could now be presented in 3D, with alterations made on-the-fly and viewable within minutes. The Archicad system made this so easy that I had an unmatched, distant lead on my competition. Demand for my services grew quickly, and therefore my fees did proportionately. In fact, I was eventually charging 20 times more than I used to. To sweeten it further, I was producing the work quicker, easier and far more accurately, therefore less or no comebacks. Archicad paid off well and I was now making more money than I had every made in my life.

The improved system moved forward into schedules, quantities and other by-products from just the normal documentation process. I soon picked up large corporate clients and expanded around the country. I was also persuaded to sell and consult Archicad, making custom solutions for various companies and improving their performance. Honestly, Archicad was easy to sell - you just used it in front of someone and didn't say much. Archicad sold itself when you were facing a person who was truly looking for something better.

There were always architects and designers that wouldn't buy Archicad, mainly sceptics and those simply reluctant to commit hard-earned dollars. Many of these people were burnt with their first adoption of a CAD solution, and felt that they would only go through the same pain again if they switched. And others are ones that suffer from the same problem I did, which is the lack of experience in investing into solutions that make money and improve business. These people come up with as many excuses as possible to not do anything, and most are still based on what is, in reality, just line-drawing systems. Programs that concentrate more on drawings lines are an easy concept to grasp and so offer a degree of confidence - such as going or sticking with Autodesk® because it is the biggest. Archicad is a different concept altogether that completely departs from the constraints of a drawing board; so for some people it is difficult to understand despite is pure simplicity and elegance.

Visualise a global market

Today my company, Archiform 3D, creates architectural visualisation presentations around the world, with production still in Australia but with the head-office now in the US. I don't design anymore and haven't touched a plan in years. We take other people's plans and make them look real. And at the heart of this is still Archicad. It creates the structural models of the buildings and surrounds that we then turn into artwork. Archicad alone isn't capable of creating the highest quality artwork, but its exceptional speed and ease-of-use gives us a huge boost into the next phase, and a solid system that allows changes to be made to the entire project within minutes.

It's inevitable that we get design changes from the architect, and Archicad makes short work of almost any alteration. And considering we come across many architects without Archicad, we are always involved in design changes when the property developers see the structural 3D model we create from flat architectural plans. This is often the first time they see the building in 3D from any angle, and it leads to many alterations. I consider that if more architects used Archicad today, design development phases would be trimmed considerably and late alterations become almost a thing of the past. Considering architects usually charge a fixed fee, one would think that they could easily see that a highly effective system like Archicad would not only improve their client's experience but also boost their bottom line profits.

Today my company only touches the surface of what Archicad can do. While I ran on a different tangent, Archicad developed better and easier tools to ensure that it is still what I consider the best solution for the design and documentation of all forms of architecture. It was never any good at designing aircraft, boats, cars, engineering structures, fabrication and all the other CAD applications that other packages claim - but for what it was made for, architecture, it simply excels.

Steve Bell is the president of Archiform 3D USA LLC, a digital media specialist for the real-estate and architectural industry. All images come courtesy of Archiform 3D.
www.archiform3d.com