Blueprints to Holograms

The dream has become reality – virtually.

Last year, Drury University assistant professor David Beach showcased emerging 3-D design technology before a group of eight architecture firms, and now, similar technology has made its way into designers’ hands.

Springfield-based Bates & Associates Inc. made a point to invest in emerging technology after the sudden death of co-owner Alan Bates in 2011. Almost four years later, President and CEO Steven Warlick said last year’s revenue was more than five times that of 2011, when he took the reigns.

“Alan’s passing created a perfect storm recipe of 40 years tradition, a new vision from leadership, fear and praying,” he said, declining to disclose revenues, adding the team chose to focus on three areas: technology, a philosophy not to be cookie cutter and relationships. “For three and a half years, we went through so much pain, hard work and investment in technology, but we wanted to be proactive instead of reactive. It’s paying off.”

During that time, the Springfield firm has grown to 25 employees from eight and added a St. Louis office in March 2012 with another 16, most recently adding in January a senior health care facility planner, an office administrator and two architect interns. Last fall, the company also promoted Theodore Jacobs to the role of chief operating officer.

Tech talks
Like professor Beach, Warlick’s team is using a developer’s kit for the latest version of Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset used for immersive video game play, and a game-development tool called Unity to develop custom 3-D virtual spaces allowing clients to virtually walk through their building.

Beach said a headset cost about $350 and full virtual reality systems cost more than $200,000.

Using design software Revit and building information modeling technology, designers can take 2-D blueprints to 3-D computer models and beyond.

“How do we get this Revit model into the Oculus?” asked Bates Director of BIM Technology Marin Pastar. “Nobody was doing that, until we found a new script out of the Netherlands. We sought it out and bought it.”

Pastar demonstrates walking through a seafood restaurant the company is designing for a Denver mall. Architects and building owners can see every aspect of the building from its outward appearance to wall texture, kitchen layout and lighting.

“It’s sometimes hard for clients to visualize a finished product from a 2-D design,” Warlick said. “The world of BIM is an endless opportunity of experience.”

Jim Stufflebeam, vice president and senior project manager for Springfield’s largest architecture firm, Sapp Design Associates Architects PC, said aside from the experience, emerging design technologies also are saving clients money.

“Through these 3-D drawings you can make changes to a project in real time, as you’re having a meeting with a client,” he said, noting a fundamental shift in the way most firms did business. “It also allows you to identify potential conflicts before they become a problem.”

While Sapp doesn’t use Oculus Rift, project architect Ryan Stewart said each 3-D model – such as architectural, as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering designs – can be overlaid to pinpoint clashes, or points of contention between the two.

“Basically, you are building the building before you build it and making sure all the layers are coordinated,” he said. “If a pipe is running into a beam or a duct grazes a wall, we can fix that now before it’s a problem on the jobsite.”

Warlick said identifying clashes early saves numerous change-order requests later.

The Ozarks Technical Community College campus project in Waynesville was the firm’s first BIM project.

 “They had a contingency budget of $150,000. By identifying clashes early, we used just over $2,000,” he said. “That’s real money saved.”

Forward motion
While Bates may be the only firm in town experimenting with Oculus technology, Sapp’s Stufflebeam said many firms now use Revit and BIM to create 3-D designs.

“3-D is a universal language,” said Ben Sapp, company communications director. “Not everyone can read a blueprint or understand a floor plan, but everyone can look at a model and know what they’re going to get.”

Sapp Design even showcases 3-D models for community members on projects such as Springfield Public Schools’ Sherwood Elementary. Sapp said the team walked students through their new school even before the first brick was in place.

The technology also has the ability to level the playing field for small, local firms competing for large, national contracts. Warlick said his team beat out a Dallas-based firm for a $150 million St. Louis hospital project.

Beach said his architecture students continue to experiment with the Oculus extensively, saying, “the development  is coming along really fast from a variety of sources.”

Warlick said the technology is cutting edge, but isn’t altogether new.

“Twenty years ago, it was bleeding edge, still too expensive and complicated for most firms,” he said. “Now, it’s cutting edge and coming into its own, really making a difference for architects and owners.

“However, we are still scratching the surface.”

Stufflebeam said architects down the road could use holographic projections in meetings, blending virtual reality with reality.

“It’s not that far off,” he said, noting Microsoft is developing a project called HoloLens. “With Oculus, only one person can see the image at a time, and you have to wear that large headset. Imagine if you could walk a room full of people through a hologram of their building.”