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CASE study Aiming for the stars Archicad helped Patano Studio win an architectural award for their upgrade design for the Goldendale Observatory Patano Studio's work on the Goldendale Observatory Project won an AIA Seattle and Architecture Master Prize award - no small feat, given that it was the first public project the team had implemented Archicad on from start to finish. The ten-person firm had recently switched over to Archicad, a decision driven by a few key factors, explained by principal Christopher Patano, who said "We were always very committed to detailed modeling and visualisation of our projects, elements which are critical to how we work." Prior to adopting an Archicad workflow, Patano says there were many steps to his team's design process. "I would build a 3D model and work on the design (before Archicad) and we'd have to convert that into CAD and other rendering programs, and convert the ideas back into CAD for the production documents. To say it was a laborious process is a bit of an understatement. We would end up doing the same project and documenting it four times." Patano knew Archicad from his first job upon graduating college. He even advocated for Archicad while working for a large firm in Seattle. When the time came for Patano, as the leader of his own firm, to make a software selection, he jumped on that opportunity. Because Patano Studio works with public agencies regularly, opting for Archicad has proven to be a good choice, as it involves in-depth public presentations, graphic demonstrations, and needs to be supported by a high standard of documentation. As such projects rely on public funding they also have a low tolerance for costly change orders. When Patano Studio took on the Goldendale Observatory Project the Archicad workflow simplified the ability to share design intent right from the beginning. "We could consolidate everything through Archicad and its 3D visualisation, and BIMx was our go-to for showing our progress to our clients. Creating a 3D walk-through makes it easier for a client to understand what the project will feel like when it is finished, which adds so much value." A portion of the existing observatory needed to remain and be renovated as part of the project. Parts of the building, notably the dome room where the main telescope is located, were kept intact. The plan called for the demolition of the rest of the existing building to make way for the new design. Archicad enabled the team at Patano Studio to come up with a design for the new sections reflecting the high level of precision of the retained sections. "We were able to achieve this using Archicad's advanced 3D modelling capabilities. The area being kept was the telescope room with its dome and uniquely configured geometry. When we needed to incorporate it within the new design we could switch between 2D to 3D and accurately study its alignment with the new interpretive space and visitors center - all of which was critical for our own understanding of the overall design. Archicad helped us understand the structure of the building and make creative decisions about how we needed to tie the different parts of the project together." A UNIQUE DESIGN Patano says Archicad allowed them to approach the design for the new parts of the observatory with a unique take, meeting the site's distinctive location requirements head on. "Our design envisioned an ellipse and a circle - no straight walls anywhere. Being able to use BIM to design an ellipse in a circle and the connecting pieces accurately and to 24 May/June 2021
CASEstudy understand how all those pieces fit together spatially was extremely important. The site constraints, however, added another layer of difficulty - located on a mountain peak in the middle of Southwestern Washington. The proof as they say, is in the pudding and Patano says the team went through the whole construction process of a "very fussy, challenging building" without conflicts or change orders. "We tested the promises of Archicad throughout the project and found that the design was there, the accuracy was there, the construction documents were beautiful, and the construction was as streamlined and conflict-free as you could wish." CONFLICT-FREE AND PROFITABLE Making the move to Archicad showed Patano Studio that public projects could be profitable. When Patano considers how much time was spent reworking and redoing steps in multiple applications and software solutions before Archicad there's really no question that the switch made all the difference for the smaller practice. "It is relevant to firms of our size, but it translates to larger firms as well. In reality we went from being barely able to be profitable on public projects, losing money because of all the drawing and documentation requirements and the time it took in AutoCAD and other programs, to the Goldendale Observatory project where we immediately saw an incredible increase in efficiency. Neither did any of us see any trade-off when it came to design ideals and inspiration", Patano added. "Archicad allows us to work at the highest level of design that we demand of ourselves and that our clients come to us for. Being able to do it in a way that is more efficient means we do not lose money. Our projects move forward in a timely manner - and we can better estimate the time and effort needed to be spent on it, and which is reflected in our contracts. That's a huge benefit." It remains to note that, when bidding on public work, the requirements tend to be more intensive versus a development project. Jurisdictions add requirements all the time, but Patano's firm are able to keep up with them because Archicad gives them a streamlined workflow in a powerful program. "Using Archicad has been fantastic and frankly it has changed our business. That's why, once we started with Archicad, we became fully committed to it. We implemented it on every project that the contract would allow." VISUALISING PROJECT SUCCESS Patano Studio is currently working on a visitor center in Southern Idaho for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service. They have also completed projects for Washington State Parks and are designing a waterfront development for the Port of Friday Harbor. Everything they are doing is happening in Archicad across the board. "We typically provide multiple public presentations, so we immediately seized on the ability to make three-dimensional models and diagrams straight out of Archicad, and embraced BIMx and its ability to just create presentations, taking them beyond what Patano Studio had been able to do before." "With a tablet and hook up to a monitor, we put the building on the screen and can walk the public through the floor plans, show them the outside, answering question by spinning the model around and positioning them inside the pool or the locker room. Our practice of always documenting and drawing in great detail gets the added boost from Archicad's capabilities so we can show that work and help communicate the project to the public, which is critical." Using Archicad for presentations means Patano Studio can convey what the space feels like inside, or anywhere outside the building. "This amps up the understanding and comprehension, which in turn has facilitated public outreach efforts and allowed the public to fully embrace designs because they understand them. Too often, designs get a pushback and negative reactions simply because the ideas have been difficult to put across." SAFE, INCREASING OUTPUT Patano Studio kept safe during COVID restrictions by employing the Graphisoft BIMcloud server. "When everybody went remote, we had no setbacks or slowdowns. We just kept working. Everybody took home their computers from their desks, hooked up and started working again." "Making the move to Archicad increased our capabilities so much. When we compete with larger firms for these public projects, we can show equal quality of documents and renderings and client communication. We have the advantage of being more nimble, able to respond to our clients without the bureaucracy of large firms. "We want our clients to understand that with Archicad and associated technologies, we can serve their clients better. We can be more innovative with design and materials and experiment with new ideas and help our clients meet some pretty aggressive goals." www.graphisoft.com May/June 2021 25
Page 1 and 2: CAD User MAY/JUNE 2021 VOL 34 NO 03
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Page 5 and 6: WHEN IT’S SIMPLE TO DO EVERYTHING
Page 8 and 9: INDUSTRY news AN ELEVATED VIEW OF T
Page 10 and 11: CASEstudy Tekla Structural Designer
Page 12 and 13: TECHNOLOGY focus Transport for the
Page 14 and 15: SOFTWARE focus Cost plus and other
Page 16 and 17: CASEstudy HS2 Risk Registers 3D Rep
Page 18 and 19: CASEstudy The Invisible Castle Henr
Page 20 and 21: CASEstudy Lighting up the industry
Page 22 and 23: SOFTWAREreview Scrap paper - litera
Page 26 and 27: TECHNOLOGYfocus CFD for urban desig
Page 28 and 29: TECHNOLOGY focus Worksafe analytics
Page 30 and 31: CASE study Rising from the ashes Si
Page 32 and 33: YOUR GUIDE TO 5 7 2 4 1 3 21 22 23
Page 34 and 35: INDUSTRY comment A connected indust

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