CAD at different stages of the design process

The production of CAD drawings and models should not be considered as a replacement for the creation of physical models, freehand drawings or sketches. Instead CAD software can facilitate the development of shapes and forms that could not be created via plan, section and elevation drawings. As such it is a tool to be used at critical points during the design process.

The first of these points is at the initial massing stage of a project. CAD models can be used here to create an overall impression of the scale of a proposed building, and suggest its outline form as well as its likely impact on the surrounding context.

A second key advantage is that interior CAD models can show a ‘fly through’ series of images (see pages 140-141), moving the viewer through a ‘film’ of the proposed scheme. Many CAD software programmes offer the functionality to both direct and edit a fly through sequence of views from a model.

Project: Oxford University examination hall

(facing page and right) Location: Oxford, UK Architect: Design Engine Date: 2006

Models can be used to describe concepts in a variety of ways. Here, Design Engine architects use a wire frame model to create a transparent frame from which to generate views of the space of the examination hall in Oxford University.

CAD models > CAD software > Fly through

Finally, using CAD rendering packages means that material finishes can be scanned and applied (just like wallpaper) onto the models. These packages can also offer lighting options, projecting shadow inside and around a building, which can create an even greater sense of realism.

CAD software

Project: The Visitor Centre, Hardwick Park Location: Durham, UK Architect: Design Engine Date: 2006

These CAD images form part of a proposal for a new visitor interpretation centre. The centre’s form is designed using bridge – building technology; each skeletal sector is clad in corten steel for a naturally protected ‘rust’ finish.

The concept of the visitor centre is connected to the natural form of a conker; in this way the pavilion sits as a ‘found’ object in a wooded site, imitating natural and organic forms.

Updated: 27th November 2014 — 3:53 am