Tom Maver

Managing design data in an integrated CAAD environment: a product model approach

Abstract This paper proposes a prototype architectural design environment which aims to integrate various applications for designing a building. Within an object-oriented design environment, a core data model and a data management system have been implemented to seamlessly connect all applications. The process of design has been investigated with the purpose of characterising the role that a system of this kind may have. In defining the system, an approach has been used that privileges the relationships with the existing computer-aided design (CAD) tools based on data exchange standards in course of definition today.

Sustainability: real and/or virtual?

The starting point for this paper is the identification of the four necessary and sufficient conditions which a building should exhibit to be judged to be sustainable; fitness-for-purpose, cost effectiveness, environmental friendliness, and cultural significance. The contribution which the current generation of CAD tools is making to the complex human activity of designing sustainable buildings is then discussed under the headings of widening the search for solutions, integrating the decision-making process, improving design insights, differentiating objective/subjective issues and photorealistic visualization. The paper then describes developments in the next generation of IT tools, based on virtual reality, which will allow multiple designers, working in distributed locations and on different computer platforms, to design from within the virtual world.

A Personal Retrospective

This is a Personal reflection looking back over the period from my initial involvement in Building Performance in the 1960s through to research in CAAD today.

Virtual Environments for Special Needs

The normal application of Virtual Reality is to the simulation of environments, which are in some way special - remote, hazardous or purely imaginary. This paper describes research and development work which changes the paradigm by simulating perfectly ordinary buildings for special people. Some 15% of the population have some form of physical impairment — a proportion which is likely to rise in line with an ageing population. New legislation, such as the UK Disability Discrimination Act places additional responsibility on building owners to ensure adequate access for people with an impairment and this in turn will place additional responsibility on the architect. Current methods of auditing access for new building are primitive and require the auditor to interpret plans/sections of the proposed building against a checklist of requirements specific to the special need. This paper reports on progress in the use of an immersive VR facility to simulate access to buildings for two broad classes of user:i) those with a mobility impairment; ii) those with visual impairment.

A virtual studio environment for design integration

Abstract In this paper the authors attempt to stress the social dimension of design and the role of explicit support for human-level interaction during design systems integration. A human-centred approach is proposed by taking design integration as the collaborative use of design artefacts, and a virtual studio environment (VSE) framework is presented as an integration vehicle to link the social and technical dimensions. A VSE consists of two subsystems: the VSE base system and the domain resources. While common generic facilities for human–human interaction are embedded within the VSE base system, the domain-specific resources are loosely coupled into VSE via resource agents. A VSE prototype for the domain of building design is described, and a demonstration of the use of the VSE prototype is presented. This is then followed by some discussion on related research and further work.

Virtual heritage: reconstructing the past, reconfiguring the future

This paper attempts an overview of the contribution which emerging information technologies viz CAD, multimedia, virtual reality and the Internet - can make to the presentation, understanding and preservation of the rich architectural heritage which exists in almost every cultural context.

A number is worth a thousand pictures

Abstract This paper attempts to focus attention on modelling the functional behaviour of buildings — a relatively neglected topic in the current CAAD literature. It provides a review of the seminal work which has been done and argues that further development would provide student architects with the means of designing buildings which are more fit-for-purpose, energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective.

Architecture of a computer-mediated collaborative product development environment

This paper describes the development of a compute-mediated collaborative product development environment (COMCOPE) within the context of the construction industry, a collaborative project between Anglia Polytechnic University, the University of Strathclyde, and some industrial partners. The most prominent feature about COMCOPE lies in the particular emphasis on supporting human-human interaction across time and space through computer mediation within a distributed and networked environment. Based on a review of related research areas, traditional computer integrated construction concepts have been extended within the framework of computer supported cooperative work, which results in the COMCOPE conceptual architecture. As the core of COMCOPE architecture an interaction model has been developed to help articulate collaborative activities. Implementation issues have been addressed, and a prototype system, based on an augmented client-server model, has been outlined.

ECOBUILD: an interactive guide to the design of environmentally friendly sustainable buildings

Examines ECOBUILD as an interactive guide to the design of environmentally friendly sustainable buildings.