The first project on which Peerutin evaluated the BIM technology, Revit Architecture, was a R20-million Clifton Beach apartment block, comprising three apartments over five levels.
It freed the architects to consider designs that previously would have been considered impossible, allowing the practice begin reaping the benefits of the software immediately.
“We wanted to move away from the typical, squared off designs found along the beachfront. However, while the building’s close proximity to the water and the view demanded that we feature strong flowing lines, the severity of the gradient made it impossible,” says Francois Hugo. “With Revit, we were able to create all the movement we wanted.
“It was a demanding design with each level set on a different centre. With all those curves on such a steep site, we could have ended up burning our fingers. However, creating a section in a matter of minutes with Revit, meant we could quickly and easily create as many as we wanted, checking that, structurally, everything worked precisely.”
The benefits of Revit rippled all the way through to the construction phase when the contractor used a DWF viewer to make his own sections to clarify precisely how junctions worked.
“We would never have been able to pull off the Clifton building without Revit. Our work on this project, more than anything else, sold us on the technology,” says Hugo. Rapid document production with Revit has facilitated efficient resource allocation at the practice.
“We do more, with less, using Revit. On a 3 000 m2 building, for example, we require only one or two people to take the project up to council submission stage, and even to do main documentation. Previously, we would have had as many as five people doing the design development.”
Peerutin is standardising on Revit software. “We asked the team that had tested the software to decide whether we should go with Revit or stay with AutoCAD. The decision in favour of Revit was unanimous.”
Peerutin is supported by one of Autodesk’s Western Cape resellers, Cadplan Cape Town.
