The real challengeBroadway Malyan (BM) is a leading practiceof international architects, landscapedesigners and town planners. The practiceoffers exceptional breadth of expertisefrom whole town master planning down tothe minute interior detail. Through itsnetwork of offices in Britain and Europe BMdelivers solutions worldwide that go wellbeyond the normal scope of an architecturalproject. BM now ranks amongst the top tenEuropean practices and is now some 400strong. BM has used CAD technology insupport of its business objectives for manyyears. Up to now, work was carried out in2D, initially using a Unix-based system andsubsequently using RoboCAD. For over fiveyears, BM has used AutoCAD LT® andAutoCAD® to meet its drafting needs.However, the practice was in danger ofbecoming a victim of its own success. TheBM visualisation team was coming underincreasing pressure because of mountingcustomer demand for photo-realisticrenderings of design concepts to augmentthe production of physical models. Theteam needed to shed the load of converting2D drawings into 3D models for subsequentrendering. Ideally, the architects woulddesign in 3D, leaving the visualisation teamto create the required renderings directlyfrom the design. Further, the practice waswinning an increasing number of largeprojects and needed a new and scalabledesign solution that could support projectsof all sizes. And as you would expect, thepressure to reduce costs and timescaleswas increasing. The 3D object-based SingleModel Environment (SME) was identified as

� Success Story � Broadway Malyan � � �

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Broadway Malyan and Autodesk® – Building a Future

having the potential to address all theseissues for BM. The challenge was choosingand implementing such a solution.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop® is thestrategic choice.In the spring of 2000 a number of solutionswere examined and assessed against BM’soverall requirements. MicroStation Triformawas rated as very competent in the handsof the right user, but getting trained staffwas known to be difficult and retraining thewhole practice would have been expensiveand time-consuming. Some other possiblesolutions required a revolution in thedesign process at BM, requiring a completeand immediate changeover to 3D centricworking. BM felt that the disruption thiswould cause was far worse than the benefitsit would bestow. However, frominvestigations, it was clear that AutodeskArchitectural Desktop (ADT) would allowboth 2D and 3D working. This meant that itcould be implemented with the minimumof change to existing working practices.Indeed, because its object technologyworked at the 2D level as well as the 3Dlevel, there were considerable productivitybenefits to be had compared with theexisting AutoCAD LT system. Paul Oakley isCAD Manager at BM. He says,“CAD at thislevel is business critical. It is more than justgetting drawings out faster. I liked theArchitectural Desktop product strategy.I could see how it would help us get towhere we wanted to be.” In September2000 four seats of Architectural Desktopwere implemented on a small housingproject. This tested the product and the

“CAD at this level is business

critical. It is more than just

getting drawings out faster.

I liked the Architectural

Desktop product strategy.

I could see how it would help

us get to where we wanted

to be.”

“ The advantage of ADT is

that you can work in 2D yet

the whole project can be

pulled together in 3D. In

other systems you have to

start in 3D.”

Paul Oakley, CAD Manager

�

Oh no! Not more changes! It will come as no surprise to youto hear that in the design and construction business, crucialdecisions may sometimes be made late in the process.People will insist on making changes at the last minute without thinkingthrough the implications. Changes once construction has started can beVERY expensive. If your client changes his mind over, say, external walls afterthe drawings have been done; there can be delay, argument over who paysor argument about making the changes at all. Wouldn’t it be great if therewere a way of showing every detail of your completed design to your clientand getting him to agree to it before construction? Wouldn’t it be great ifthere were a way of evaluating and then implementing changes at a verylate stage in the process without tears and recriminations? Well, the goodnews is there is a way. It is called the 3D object-based Single ModelEnvironment (SME). What follows is the story of how Broadway Malyan isimplementing this technology and at the same time saying goodbye to theold battle-cry “Oh no! Not more changes!”

process in a real situation and revealed theopportunities for increased performancethrough customisation. The feedback fromthe project was used to establish the BMlayering system andtemplates. The whole exercise paved theway for the implementation of ADTthroughout the Weybridge site, bringing 40more seats into use. The implementationhas continued so that there are now 160seats of ADT across the practice.

Automating the mundaneBM implemented ADT because it believed itwould be the most effective way ofobtaining the full benefits of working in theSingle Model Environment. But how werethose benefits to be obtained? The first stepwas to create a library of 2D objects thatcould be introduced into the existingdesign process with the minimum ofdisruption. This has had a tremendous andimmediate impact on productivity. Insteadof using AutoCAD LT to draw plans andelevations using line, arc and circle entities,BM’s architects and designers now use ADTobjects. A cavity wall object ‘knows’ howand when to close itself. Such a wall can bebroken for the insertion of say a new door,and would close itself appropriately. Thedoor object would know what type of doorit was and what the design criteria were forits positioning. In this way, architects wereable to automate routine and mundanetasks using the intelligence of ADT and theBM library of objects, allowing them tofocus on the design task. Staff were fullysupported in this way of working by theBM’s IT strategy. All workstations werelocked to ADT under Windows NT and theuse of non-strategic application softwarewas prevented.

An object lesson in visualisationThanks to ADT, the visualisation bottleneckhas been removed. The concepts are laiddown in ADT and passed to thevisualisation team to create images forcommunication to clients, partners,contractors and the public. In fact, soimportant has visualisation become to BMthat they have invested heavily in a facilitydedicated to just that task. BM’s render farmcomprises 16 x 1 Ghz processors with atotal of 16 Gb of memory. Having adedicated facility is actually less costly thanspreading the rendering task across thewhole network. The render farm avoids theloss of productivity that results from tyingup each users workstation and stoppingarchitects working. Previously, thevisualisation team didn’t have time to getinvolved in conceptual modelling. WithADT, they now don’t need to.

Counting the benefitsBy customising ADT to meet its specificrequirements, BM has found the catalyst forsignificant performance improvement.Implementing ADT has enabled the practiceto raise design standards to a consistentlevel. Staff are working easily with 2Dobjects and BM is getting a return on itsinvestment through productivity gains. PaulOakley reports “Feedback from the userscites speed: it is so much quicker.”According to Oakley,“At the 2D level, we aregetting real productivity improvements andwe are still early in the overall process. Ourprimary objectives have been met and weare now moving on to our secondary ones.”Oakley believes,“ The advantage of ADT isthat you can work in 2D yet the wholeproject can be pulled together in 3D. Inother systems you have to start in 3D.”Oakley makes the additional point that,“Wenow have the time and the capability tolook at and evaluate the design options.Previously we were working flat out just toproduce the drawings.” Scheduling is nowbecoming automatic, bringing considerablesavings compared with previous methods.

A real competitive edgeBM cannot reveal the exact value of theproductivity improvement it has achieved,nor can it reveal the exact value of theconsiderable investment to get thisimprovement. This is commercially sensitiveinformation vital to its competitive position.However, Oakley advises,“Investment inhardware and software has to becomplemented with investment in staff andskills. The proper IT infrastructure has to bein place. Setting up and configuring a largeADT system such as ours is a skilled taskthat should not be delegated to a CADdraughtsman for example. Users must haveproper training in methodologies andprocesses. We have worked hard to makesure that our solution provides project staffwith benefits significant enough to make itworth them changing their existingpractices, especially in tight projects.”

Evolution better than revolutionWith ADT, BM has created a platform for 3Dobject based SME. They are confident thatthe clients are starting to see and feel thebenefits. BM sees no need for a formaldecision to switch over completely to the3D object-based SME. Oakley believes thatthe adoption of the 3D object-based model

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is, really down to the users. If that is theway they think, then they can start todevelop that way of working. At eachrevision, ADT gets better. We are workingclosely with the ADT community andAutodesk so that our feedback is taken intoaccount.” BM continues to evolve isprocesses. As suitable projects emerge,more and more work will be based on theconcept. Projects with an on-going facilitiesmanagement need or that involve asignificant amount of collaboration arelikely candidates. Eventual ratification ofinteroperability standards and the spread ofobject-based 3D software such as ADT willonly serve to accelerate industry adoptionof the SME and the benefits it can bring.

Pointing projects towards ProjectPointBM sees Internet technology as a valuableadjunct to its SME strategy and now hastwo full-time web developers based inLondon. Through its intranet, access isprovided across all departments toapplications such as the on-line QualityAssurance system and electronic timesheets and is extending TQM across thebusiness process. Through ADT’s bulletin-board facility, staff have access to thecompany’s CAD standards site. But BM’s useof the Internet extends far beyond this. Forsome time now, the practice has been usingAutodesk® Buzzsaw™ Professional, the on-line service provider for the design andconstruction industry. Buzzsaw, a projectextranet, is hosting a number of BM projectsusing the Autodesk® ProjectPoint™ service.Essentially, Project Point can store andmanage complete project documentation,providing secure off-site storage and securereal-time access to that documentation.ProjectPoint can automatically emailappropriate partners when any documentrevisions are made. Paul Oakley’s experiencewith Buzzsaw has been positive. He reports,“It works. It’s quick and it’s efficient, evenwith an analogue dial-up connection. Wehave 10 of our projects using the serviceand our clients use it too. There was no hardsell, and it is easy to manage and easy tobudget for.”

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