Hamish Cochrane

Synopsis:

Landscape Architects were once at the forefront of BIM development, but now we find ourselves relegated to the lowly tree tool. Find out how we’ve been breaking that mould through the exploration of three case studies which emphasise the use of Information in the BIM process over anything else.

Synopsis: Landscape Architects were once at the forefront of BIM development, but now we find ourselves relegated to the lowly tree tool. Find out how weve been breaking that mould through the exploration of three case studies which emphasise the use of Information in the BIM process over anything else.Learning Objectives: 1. Learn how Landscape Architects have been developing projects in Revit to visualise the sucession or replacement of planting due to environmental changes
2. Learn how masterplanning in Infraworks can allow you to analyse various design outcomes
3. Learn how Building and Accessibility standards can be analysed through Revit to assist you in designing Landscapes suitable for all peopleBody: Long gone are the days of Landscape Architects leading the design industry in technological advancements. The essence of what is now BIM was first described by Landscape Architect Ian McHarg in Design with Nature where he demonstrates a methodology to create models of landscape, or a design, using information as a catalyst for design intervention. Revolutionary at the time, it altered the way Landscape Architects viewed, understood and designed for the world around us. As we look back on his work, 50 years on, we see how close Landscape Architects came to leading the BIM revolution. Unfortunately for us, we took McHargs ideas and manifested those in GIS. Whilst that served Landscape Architects well for many years, we are now playing catch up to the rest of the industry as the BIM ideology is taking hold.

In recent years weve started to close that gap between Landscape Architects and the rest of the industry. In this presentation Ill discuss three project case studies Ive worked on which show the difficulties, progress and successes of a Landscape Architect working in BIM. Like McHarg, these projects will showcase how weve been using Information to drive the modelling development of these designs at three different scales. These case studies include;

Metro Sports, Christchurch A largescale urban development situated on land cleared after the 2011 Christchurch Earthquakes. During the design of this pool and multi-use sports facility a number of issues arose for the Landscape Architecture team which would not have been solvable without the use of BIM, namely the fluctuating water table caused by resettlement of liquefaction. Water table height variation has an immediate affect on the health of plants throughout a site. With watertable level readings varying drastically we developed a way to visually identify plants in danger, allowing us to quickly modify planting design before becoming an issue on site.

Frankton Masterplan, Queenstown During the development of a Spatial Framework Masterplan the use of infraworks was important in allowing us to test and identify issues with various schemes. We were tasked with creating a masterplan which integrated local centres, enhanced local networks and integrated lakefront with rivers edges and neighbourhoods. Infraworks was essential in allowing us to view how changing road hierarchy, expanding or contracting regional parks, and how locating central hubs all played a role in the successful outcome of the masterplan.

Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin A new campus building on the side of a hill posed many challenges for the design team, none less challenging that rectifying levels throughout the site. The use of BIM on this project allowed us to specify different accessibility criteria and visually assess the effectiveness and adherence to building and accessibility standards. Quick and easy level design through Revit and the ability to visually assess fall potential and other hazards lead to a successful design solution.

Through these examples, and others, developed in these case studies youll see Landscape Architecture plays a role in once again championing the use of Information in all BIM projects.

Synopsis:

Landscape Architects were once at the forefront of BIM development, but now we find ourselves relegated to the lowly tree tool. Find out how we’ve been breaking that mould through the exploration of three case studies which emphasise the use of Information in the BIM process over anything else.