AutoCAD reborn

It's funny how CAD applications such as AutoCAD develop. They typically begin with a general purpose application - not too..

Snaps to 3D

Capturing the 3D form of a building has now become a lot easier. All you need to do is take..

Allplan Engineering

In the last issue we looked at Bimplus from ALLPLAN, the comprehensive tool for architects and engineers which focuses on..

iModelHub

Having spent many years watching the industry evolve - more even than Keith Bentley, the founder and Chief Technology Officer..

Bracing stuff

It's been a while since we looked at the application of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in construction projects, and..

Warboard strategies

The name might bring to mind a videogame, but Warboard is actually a useful tool for organising, presenting and collaborating..

Concrete steps

Off-site fabrication is 'old hat' in some technologies - most notably, the provision of precast concrete sections for high..

Setting the scene

After many successful years selling Vectorworks software through Computer Unlimited (now Exertis) and building up a network of secondary..

Nuclear assets

Waldeck Consulting is a pioneering consultancy pushing the boundaries of BIM and digital design when delivering its projects. Working..

Motion control

Recent tragic events have brought home the value of pedestrian simulation or crowd analysis software. Used principally for assessing the..

Solibri Model Checker

An interesting point was raised at the CAD User Seminar on COBie in May which I felt deserved a more..

Boxing Clever

If you are old enough, you might remember getting a View Master for Christmas, along with half a dozen..

Opting into Building Ops

As almost everybody has access to a mobile phone it makes perfect sense for companies to leverage their capabilities, and..

Vectorworks 2017

I knew immediately that Vectorworks 2017 was going to offer some significant upgrades to the 2016 version as soon..

Algorithmic CAD

It's time to get to grips with algorithmic CAD. That's using formulas to drive your designs, enabling you to create..

Bumps and Bounces

Anyone can become a rendering expert if you follow some basic guidelines given out by Luis Ruiz, Vectorworks' Senior Architecture..

Game on!

For over twenty years, Autodesk software has been used to make the world's best visual effects and gaming software, and..

Xara Designer Pro x365

Xara Designer Pro X365 isn't really an architect's design tool - but it could prove very handy for taking..

A Legendary Release

I learnt a new word recently - 'mentee' - which apparently means one who is being mentored, itself a current..

Tekla Structures 2016

Tekla, now part of the Trimble group, recently gave its users a sneak preview of what they should expect..

Twinmotion 2016

As anyone with a PS4, Xbox One or souped-up gaming PC will attest, the videogame industry is now also the..

Bringing it all together

It seemed like a good idea at the time - accumulating all building information up to the point of handover,..

A greater degree of Insight

It's rather appropriate to be launching a software solution aimed at reducing the impact of buildings on the environment at..

CONNECTing with reality

It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun playing in a sandbox! All with a serious purpose, of..

Meet your MakerBot

The 3D printer market is growing at an increasing rate, thanks to the development of simpler technologies and, of course,..

Adoddle to work with

Elsewhere in this issue I have stated that a primary use of the Cloud is for sharing information, either..

Scan to Go!

Imagine you are on-site, and have been discussing the drawings that the builders have been working on, leading to a..

It’s Flow time!

I probably use only about 5% of Microsoft Word, ignoring the raft of features that are available. That is..

Concurrent collaboration

Tekla has made model sharing the principal focus of the latest version of Tekla Structures. Tekla Model Sharing allows engineers..

The key to survival

After the collapse of a household name in any sector it would be unusual for there to be no concern..

It's all change

I had an interesting chat with Colin Beaney of IFS recently, where we discussed some of the issues that are..

Industry 4.0

Would the rapid deployment of collaboration skills and the sharing of information on a construction project have been achievable outside..

Staying ahead of the game

I had already been talking to Paul Daynes at Newforma about his views on the status of the UK construction..

Smarter Cities

Cities are getting smarter with data sources and multiple sensors connecting people, services and things with each other. Bringing together..

It's BIM up North

Whilst some might suggest Level 2 is the norm and the world of digital construction is up and running,..

Cloud Based 4D Virtual Reality

Using Virtual Reality (VR) technology and 3D Repo’s database driven Digital Construction Platform, the new 4D sequence visualisation tool gives..

FARO sets the scene with VR

FARO SCENE 7.1 enables an immersive VR experience with integration of detailed photographic textures, i.e., surface details of an..

CADmouse goes wireless

The high-performance mouse is the wireless equivalent to the CadMouse, the world’s first desktop mouse for professional CAD users...

Leading UK builder opts for Aconex

United Living provides planned maintenance and new build services to clients throughout the UK, providing not just high-quality homes, but..

Earth Pyramid gets Arup backing

Mark, an engineering specialist at the global construction consultancy Arup, commented: "In late 2011, Steve was seeking guidance..

The BIM Object Cookbook

Whilst it is handy having access to a National library of BIM objects, there will come a time when..

Trimble Tekla Campus rises to the top

The Awards showcase the most pioneering initiatives in construction and engineering across four key strands: research, innovation, sustainability and..

An all-round imaging solution

Arithmetica's SphereVision Project Builder features a more refined and streamlined workflow, enabling users to easily bridge the gap between..

Brafer creates

Structures for major sports events are often underutilised post event, which is far from an ideal sustainable building lifecycle...

CADENAS 3D CAD BIM library for Schiedel

The Electronic Product Catalog, based on CADENAS' eCATALOGsolution stechnology, and access to the 3D CAD download portal http://schiedel.partcommunity.com now..

Vectorworks 2018

Last issue I took a look at Braceworks, the analytical software introduced by Vectorworks when they released the latest version..

Snaps to 3D

Capturing the 3D form of a building has now become a lot easier. All you need to do is take..

Construction monitoring

Bentley Systems has recently described how Reality Modelling can be used to monitor progress on construction sites, by converting 3D..

Allplan Bimplus

I spent a fascinating afternoon at ALLPLAN's new UK office recently, where I was not only brought up to date..

Cloud Based 4D Virtual Reality

Using Virtual Reality (VR) technology and 3D Repo’s database driven Digital Construction Platform, the new 4D sequence visualisation tool gives..

Digital Cities

Chintana Herrin, who is responsible for looking after Bentley's ContextCapture, Descartes, and Pointools applications, describes how one city, a forerunner..

A seismic challenge

You may remember the devastating earthquakes that Italy suffered a couple of years ago, which destroyed historic buildings in a..

A Digital Strategy

One of the most striking facts about the Carillion disaster was the inability to turn the ship around when all..

Autodesk BIM 360

With BIM firmly entrenched in the design and construction processes, you may have noticed how the emphasis is shifting towards..

AutoCAD reborn

It's funny how CAD applications such as AutoCAD develop. They typically begin with a general purpose application - not too..

Meeting BIM mandates

For bpr architects, BIM Level 2 is becoming business as usual. This medium-sized, employee-owned firm based in the UK focuses..

Information exchange

We overran our timeslot on the Q and A session at the Take Control seminar last November, held in association..

Talking to machines

Throughout history, models have always been made in order to understand the complexities of buildings. For centuries, these were physical..

Chilling out

IES is well known for its building performance application, IESVE and VE 2017, that analyse the environmental impact of a..

What's the Diff?

I would hereby like to demolish a couple of contemporary construction myths. The first one is that the management of..

Imperatives for change

It may be early days in 2018 yet we already know that it will be a landmark year in construction...

Mud, mud, inglorious mud!

If you wanted to pick an example that highlighted the things that could go wrong with a project then you..

What goes around...

I am going to assume that the original Iron Age builders of the timber roundhouse in Whithorn in Scotland didn't..

It's all change

I had an interesting chat with Colin Beaney of IFS recently, where we discussed some of the issues that are..

Allplan Engineering

In the last issue we looked at Bimplus from ALLPLAN, the comprehensive tool for architects and engineers which focuses on..

OpenRail

I'm sitting here writing about Bentley's OpenRail on a warm summer afternoon and I can hear a steam engine whistling..

Solibri Live

Solibri's Model Checker (SMC) is a familiar tool for ARCHICAD users. It is used to analyse BIM models to..

Not just a façade

Graphisoft used its UK ARCHICAD User Conference, held in London in May, to launch ARCHICAD 22, the latest version of..

Robots close the gap

Digitalisation, robotics and automation, have produced significant quality and productivity benefits in manufacturing over several decades. In construction however, while..

BIM - the way you want it

Here's a refreshing new angle on BIM. Instead of software developers specifying preferred BIM formats and libraries of building components,..

The key to survival

After the collapse of a household name in any sector it would be unusual for there to be no concern..

Futurescapes

If we are going to cater for increasing urbanisation throughout the world, we can no longer rely on traditional city..

Parisian Walkways

Here's a wonderful opportunity to follow through on the articles in this issue about reality modelling, and the development of..

Complementary construction

Complementary construction was used to describe the development of the Tripla construction project in Finland, which features a busy railway..

Reinforcements have arrived

We are all familiar with the way that steel reinforcement rods strengthen concrete slabs - in fact it is now..

Multiplex appeal

Multiplex is one of the world's leading construction companies. With over 5,000 employees and US $4 billion in revenue, it..

Building control

The introduction of BIM has had a profound effect on the construction industry. It is now over ten years since..

Grampus1

I have sat in as a judge on a number of architectural student design competitions over the years, and one..

OpenRail

I'm sitting here writing about Bentley's OpenRail on a warm summer afternoon and I can hear a steam engine whistling..

The key to survival

After the collapse of a household name in any sector it would be unusual for there to be no concern..

Grampus1

I have sat in as a judge on a number of architectural student design competitions over the years, and one..

Not just a façade

Graphisoft used its UK ARCHICAD User Conference, held in London in May, to launch ARCHICAD 22, the latest version of..

Multiplex appeal

Multiplex is one of the world's leading construction companies. With over 5,000 employees and US $4 billion in revenue, it..

Building control

The introduction of BIM has had a profound effect on the construction industry. It is now over ten years since..

Robots close the gap

Digitalisation, robotics and automation, have produced significant quality and productivity benefits in manufacturing over several decades. In construction however, while..

Reinforcements have arrived

We are all familiar with the way that steel reinforcement rods strengthen concrete slabs - in fact it is now..

Complementary construction

Complementary construction was used to describe the development of the Tripla construction project in Finland, which features a busy railway..

Meeting BIM mandates

For bpr architects, BIM Level 2 is becoming business as usual. This medium-sized, employee-owned firm based in the UK focuses..

What's the Diff?

I would hereby like to demolish a couple of contemporary construction myths. The first one is that the management of..

AutoCAD reborn

It's funny how CAD applications such as AutoCAD develop. They typically begin with a general purpose application - not too..

Futurescapes

If we are going to cater for increasing urbanisation throughout the world, we can no longer rely on traditional city..

Solibri Live

Solibri's Model Checker (SMC) is a familiar tool for ARCHICAD users. It is used to analyse BIM models to..

Digital Cities

Chintana Herrin, who is responsible for looking after Bentley's ContextCapture, Descartes, and Pointools applications, describes how one city, a forerunner..

It's all change

I had an interesting chat with Colin Beaney of IFS recently, where we discussed some of the issues that are..

Parisian Walkways

Here's a wonderful opportunity to follow through on the articles in this issue about reality modelling, and the development of..

BIM - the way you want it

Here's a refreshing new angle on BIM. Instead of software developers specifying preferred BIM formats and libraries of building components,..

Construction monitoring

Bentley Systems has recently described how Reality Modelling can be used to monitor progress on construction sites, by converting 3D..

Snaps to 3D

Capturing the 3D form of a building has now become a lot easier. All you need to do is take..

Allplan Engineering

In the last issue we looked at Bimplus from ALLPLAN, the comprehensive tool for architects and engineers which focuses on..

Cloud Based 4D Virtual Reality

Using Virtual Reality (VR) technology and 3D Repo’s database driven Digital Construction Platform, the new 4D sequence visualisation tool gives..

Allplan Bimplus

I spent a fascinating afternoon at ALLPLAN's new UK office recently, where I was not only brought up to date..

Autodesk BIM 360

With BIM firmly entrenched in the design and construction processes, you may have noticed how the emphasis is shifting towards..

Imperatives for change

It may be early days in 2018 yet we already know that it will be a landmark year in construction...

Chilling out

IES is well known for its building performance application, IESVE and VE 2017, that analyse the environmental impact of a..

Talking to machines

Throughout history, models have always been made in order to understand the complexities of buildings. For centuries, these were physical..

What goes around...

I am going to assume that the original Iron Age builders of the timber roundhouse in Whithorn in Scotland didn't..

Vectorworks 2018

Last issue I took a look at Braceworks, the analytical software introduced by Vectorworks when they released the latest version..

Mud, mud, inglorious mud!

If you wanted to pick an example that highlighted the things that could go wrong with a project then you..

A seismic challenge

You may remember the devastating earthquakes that Italy suffered a couple of years ago, which destroyed historic buildings in a..

A Digital Strategy

One of the most striking facts about the Carillion disaster was the inability to turn the ship around when all..

Information exchange

We overran our timeslot on the Q and A session at the Take Control seminar last November, held in association..