Do you want high returns on investment from your design software?
The Victoria, Canada-based architecture company Low Hammond Rowe is learning how transitioning to a new design platform can produce outstanding outcomes. You'll learn how the company keeps running while making the changeover and how they're achieving indisputable efficiencies that help them save time and money.
What are the best ways to get your money's worth out of your investment in design software? is a question that frequently arises among architects.
Programs like CAD, BIM, and modeling can give the architectural design process unprecedented efficiency. However, how can you be certain that your investment was worthwhile?
The partners at Low Hammond Rowe feel confident in their choice to adopt Vectorworks Architect in their office, which has always relied on AutoCAD. At Low Hammond Rowe, around half of the designers are utilizing Vectorworks as of September 2022. They've used the application to complete a number of well-known projects from beginning to end.
Christopher Rowe, the principal, had the following to say regarding the decision to change:
We don't have a corporate structure that orders us to use a particular piece of software. Whatever tool accomplishes the task the most quickly and effectively—not it's a religion.
Once more, "efficiency" has become a very popular buzzword among both clients and designers. Let's investigate what "efficiency" implies specifically to Low Hammond Rowe.
Redefining Efficient Workflows
Gregory Eeman, an architect with Low Hammond Rowe, has direct knowledge of the efficiency craze. He frequently serves as a project-by-project BIM manager. He was given this position because of his technical prowess; prior to moving to Vectorworks from Revit, he had a strong BIM foundation.
I simply adore Vectorworks' flexibility, he gushed. "It's huge that I can configure it to work the way I want it to. I may import a PDF or a JPEG, and within a few hours, the client will have a professional-looking sketch. It moves quickly. Design kind of just flows out of my hands with Vectorworks without much thought.
Eeman prefers to work in a hybrid 2D/3D environment. He made remarks about how useful it is to automatically produce 2D drawings from a 3D model and how straightforward it is to view side-by-side representations of 3D things in 2D and 3D.
Viewports are one of Vectorworks' most effective tools, he noted. "You can quickly alter their appearance and method of operation. In essence, you can change any of the information they contain by copying and pasting them. A ceiling plan and demolition plans are both possible. From this small viewport that you copied and pasted, you can do whatever you want.
Completing Projects Amidst a Software Switch
Many people are apprehensive about using new software. It is assumed that operations must halt so that employees can spend time learning the new program. This is refuted by the narrative of Low Hammond Rowe.
A phased switchover is something Rowe is more than comfortable with. Considering how familiar the staff at the firm is with AutoCAD and SketchUp, he asserted that he believes those programs will always be a part of their workflows. As was previously noted, about half of the office is currently utilizing Vectorworks, with the other half still using other tools.
It's a clever move to make. It's not a religion, once more. Getting the best tasks done as quickly as possible is the goal. And there is nothing wrong with doing that if it necessitates using different tools while the team transitions to Vectorworks. The company was able to keep completing projects while changing its workflows in this way.
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