|
A Case Study by Autodesk
New Zealand’s ArcHaus Using Autodesk® Revit® Architecture and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Software to Create Larger, More Sustainable Building Projects.
Summary
New Zealand architectural and design firm ArcHaus, with offices in Wellington and Auckland is headed up by company directors Mike Cole and Dennis Burns and supported by an award-winning team of 30. Always interested and involved in a wide variety of architectural and interior design projects for commercial, industrial, and residential, the company’s projects have been trending upwards in size over the last few years.
Looking for an innovative way to handle larger projects more efficiently while satisfying their creative impulses, the ArcHaus team began working with Autodesk® Revit® Architecture and Autodesk® 3ds Max® software a few years ago. To speed things along, they also hired Jason Howden, an experienced Revit-based software user on large-scale projects in both the United Kingdom and his native New Zealand.
Howden spoke with Autodesk about life at ArcHaus, sustainable design, and a challenging project known as Metropol.
The Challenge: Metropol
“I’ve been using Revit-based software a lot in the last eight years or so,” says Howden. “I worked on some quite large correctional and hospital projects in the UK and in New Zealand, and have been very enthusiastic about what the software can do. ArcHaus made it quite clear that they wanted to lead the Revit charge in New Zealand.”
Moving development to Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Revit Architecture is already paying dividends. ArcHaus is now bidding, winning, and completing projects that would previously have required a significant increase in staff. With a struggling economy making efficiency more important than ever, the company is enthusiastic about offering their client cutting-edge services such as building information modeling, 3D design visualization, and 4D construction planning through Autodesk Navisworks.
Fortuitously for ArcHaus, shortly after Howden’s arrival the New Zealand government began strongly promoting sustainable design for building projects. Particularly over the last 18 months, the company has been working hard to encourage and ensure sustainable design on their projects. Nowhere is this more evident than on Metropol, the spectacular, multi-story, “mixed use” residential building project currently occupying the talents of architect Huw Parslow -- BA, DipArch, DipBRS -- and the ArcHaus team.
“Metropol has been a significant challenge in a variety of areas,” says Howden. “It has also been extremely exciting to be associated with. So far as we know, Metropol is the first mixed use, multi-story residential building expected to receive a green rating in the New Zealand Green Star Rating system. The building will employ wind generators – to harness ‘Windy Wellington’s’ famous airstream – as well as regenerative elevators, low emission lighting, green roofs, solar collectors, solar-powered water heating, and more. Even the paint being used is low emission.” Also challenging Parslow and the ArcHaus team was Metropol’s location at the heart of Wellington’s Cuba Character area, which borders many historic, heritage areas. While the building’s proposed height promised spectacular, 360 degree views of the Wellington Basin, surrounding hills, and more, the prospect of a tall modern building did not exactly thrill Wellington city planners.
|
