Building Sketcher

Faster sketching - smart decisions.
At Link we believe that a good sketch is the starting point of any great project. Building sketcher is our backbone for early phase sketching and massing that provides another layer of information on top of early phase architectural studies. By enhancing existing workflows the user will be provided with more informed design options that can be evaluated in a shorter timespan. Building sketcher also serves as a portal preparing the project to the myriad of analysis tools developed by Link so they can be applied with just the press of a button.

Creating spaces for better living
For our architects this gives more freedom in sketching by providing a "smart pen" which allows for both an increase in quantity of sketches while at the same time increasing the quality. Building sketcher excels at helping architects and planners to arrive at the correct solution in a shorter timespan saving time and money so the focus can be on creating spaces for better living.

Parametric sketching
Building sketcher works by segmenting a simple volume with no inherit detailing into a array of building elements such as floors, walls, windows. By generating this information on top of the drawn volume a more in depth analysis can be made, providing similar information as if it was drawn in a traditional BIM software such as Archicad and Revit.
As volumes are added or changed Building sketcher adapts and changes on the fly, providing a adaptable analysis on the buildings sketched out. By aggregating these values, reports on Net- and Gross-Area, amount of apartments and much more can be seen in real time and be measured towards you specific goals as your sketches are being drawn.

Bridging the digital
At any time during the design process all of the other services and tools provided by Link (IO?) can be attached to the already existing analysis provided by Building sketcher. This not only provides a easy way to analyze that the volume drawn can fulfill programmatic demands but also connect them to sustainability reports in an early phase so that any costly surprises that might appear later in the architectural process can be avoided.

Building sketcher reports

Using the segmented volumes a large variety of programmatic and area metrics can be exported into live reports, as with all our tools we offer project specific adaptations for your project. Reports that are provided in the base package include but are not limited to:

• Net- and Gross-area
  Measuring areas and separating them into categories of your choice serves as the core of Building sketcher, by measuring how much of the your sketches is Net- and Gross-area a picture of the sketches programmatic fulfillments of your set demands can be quickly seen. This report is not only segmented into usability of areas but also in different functions such as housing, offices and retail or what metrics that your specific project needs to measure.

• Roof, facade and footprint area
  During the sketching process the total amount of each respective area is updated live so that you always know how much each of your building elements currently occupy. This can be used to later attach our solar cell calculation tools to see how much solar cells can be placed and how much energy that can generate.

• Plot reports
  During the sketching process you can connect your sketches to a plot expanding the measuring scope from a building level to a larger plot that can encapsulate multiple buildings. As the scope increases new reports on plot usage and minimum outdoor area report can be made on your sketches live.

From sketch to BIM 

On top of the reports that can be exported from the volumes a more detailed model is generated which can be used for other analysis in the Link (IO?) toolbox but also exported into BIM software such as Archicad and Revit. Saving precious time and money when moving from early phase schematic designs to further design development and producing construction documents.