It all starts with a notion, an idea, a seed. Retail building design, much like any other type of design, begins with a concept of a retail space and then builds on this concept in a series of stages, delivering various outputs along the way, such as retail drawings, retail…

Construction projects involve a range of components that must align perfectly to fulfil design objectives. During the construction process, this may not be possible due to unforeseen developments, and contractors adjust to changing scenarios as best they can while trying to minimise deviations from the original design. …

Design and construction processes involve a diverse range of technical drawings, and though human beings crave the simple life, there are times when we need just one more set of drawings to get things completely right. In the construction industry, the extra set of drawings that are finalised and handed…

Hotels can make or break a holiday. Leaky faucets, faulty lights or a dead radiator at that quaint and charming hotel you had excitedly selected are unwanted memories that mar the vacation experience and ruin your reputation for life as the designated holiday planner. At some point, every hotel needs…

People have had to change the way they do so many things after the Coronavirus infested our lives. Retail therapy has taken on a new avatar — online shopping, which has but a fraction of the flavour of retail store shopping. Most consumers have no choice. Brick and mortar retail…

Modernity has a habit of creeping stealthily and inevitably into our lives. The encompassing effect of 3D models in construction is a modern phenomenon that began quietly and in spurts, but now stands unrivalled. Using 3D models enables an unparalleled ease of planning, validation and maintenance in building design. A…

Modern concepts breed modern lingo. Hence, the growing phenomenon of prefabrication, or DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly), in the construction industry is gradually leading to the introduction of new terms. The sheer variety and scope of prefabricated items today mandates a certain kind of categorisation, namely ‘macro’, ‘median’ and…

If you haven’t done so already, it’s about time. It’s practically way beyond time. Manual drafting has given way to CAD (computer-aided design) drafting in most design fields, especially in construction. AutoCAD debuted in 1982, when many architects and engineers were still designing by hand. Using CAD software tools helped…

It takes a genius to make something simple, and indeed the concept of Revit families and Revit libraries for construction design was developed by a genius, or a set of them. As BIM (Building Information Modelling) technology became more widespread in residential construction, so did the need for residential BIM…