Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/57636
Step 1: Outstanding Creativity The client, the architectural staff and sometimes other members of the design team (such as interior designers, landscape architects, etc.) develop a very clear, shared understanding of the architectural direction along which the project will progress. No design work is started without information-gathering meetings to establish the project's architectural philosophy and budget, which greatly informs the size and/or complexity of the design. During these meetings, the JCA team pores through the vast JCA digital photo library on the large screen in its conference room to discuss many of the interior and exterior details the client wishes to see incorporated into his or her own project. The client frequently supplies his or her own folder of magazine clippings! A variety of architectural plan configurations are reviewed to familiarize the client with several different ways floorplans can be developed. The design team walks the site with the client to discuss its best strategy for providing as many of the program requirements as possible. The benefits of energy-saving, LEED-based design initiatives and specifications are reviewed and incorporated at the client's request. JCA's adherence to this process assures that there are no formulaic design solutions and that the client's highest aspirations are kept in the forefront of the design team's activities. Hand-drawn design-study sketches, to which all the members of the JCA team contribute, are used to further the interior finish process by capturing the aesthetic essence of what is to become each of the completed spaces. Step 2: Cutting-Edge Technological Proficiency In an industry that has been reticent to adopt the latest advances in the evolution of computer-assisted design technologies, JCA embraces building information modeling utilizing Autodesk's Revit, a cutting-edge, three-dimensional software program. Revit enables JCA to build a three-dimensional computer model from the outset of every project. This serves the client's best interests in several ways: > The design of every project is clearly understood by the client within weeks of the initial information being put into Revit. > The well-trained Revit team at JCA gets the technical documents completed at the most efficient pace possible. > When the Revit model is complete, the JCA staff can cut as many vertical building sections or horizontal plans as the client or the builder wants to see for clarification. This also makes the construction more efficient by making the details clear and readily available. On the large screen in the conference room, JCA can guide clients around the models of their projects and do "fly-overs," "walk-arounds" and even enable them to experience each interior space if they wish. Conventional AutoCAD programs alone do not have this capability. Through their introduction to this Revit technology, JCA clients begin to understand interior volumes of space, the relationships of adjoining rooms, and the interaction of the interior and exterior spaces of their homes. Using the Revit model, clients can see the effects of sunlight as the sun passes over their houses by utilizing seasonal solar orientation analyses, and they also come to understand the impact of their projects upon the selected sites very early on in the design process. Architectural software technology is constantly This concrete tree sits on the edge of the future freeform pool, which will have 3-inch-thick bluestone coping. It was designed with a tree house, complete with bark to match the trees around the house, stairs sweeping around the trunk and a circular bench with jets in the water around the base. NEWJERSEY.BUILDERARCHITECT.COM Builder+Architect Greater New Jersey | 13