On the second day of its Key Clients Conference, Graphisoft announced the upcoming connections between ArchiCAD and other Nemetschek Group properties. These connections include ties to structural design tool RISA, dRufous and Solibri.
A day earlier, CEO Huw Roberts had advocated for open BIM. Now, the company advocated specifically opening up BIM workflows to other disciplines, in order to cut down on miscommunication between architects and other building stakeholders. "Different disciplines use different models during different stages," said Miguel Krippahl, the company's Director of Integrated Practices. "Through the tools, we are perpetuating these silos."
dRofus is a Nemetschek property that allows clients to specify important project requirements. A new connection with ArchiCAD makes it easier for dRofus users to see if those requirements are being followed in the architectural design. The connection synchs ArchiCAD's "zones" with dRofus's rooms and items. Graphisoft presenters used the example of a new hospital development in Denmark, where the client was able to specify which rooms needed to have access to sunlight or x-ray shielding.
Debbie Penko, chief operating officer of structural design tool RISA, presented on ArchiCAD 23's new connection with RISA. For Penko, current design tools don't facilitate collaboration between structural engineers and architects. “When I asked people here what software their structural engineers used to model their projects, they didn’t know," she said.
The new connection lets users open a complete analytical model of a structure inside ArchiCAD, and check if the analytical model is properly connected. When the analytical model is passed to a RISA user and then back to ArchiCAD , the new Compare 3D tool lets users compare the model they sent to the one they got back, highlighting changes that the structural engineer has made to the model. Finally, the markup tool now allows users to create proposals, so that structural engineers can accept or reject architects' changes according to how they impact structural elements of the building.
An updated connection between ArchiCAD and Solibri will make it easier to perform quality checks on ArchiCAD models. Previously, the ARCHICAD Solibri Model Checker add-on allowed users to pass information between the two platforms, but it was a native solution that only transferred shared elements. The new connection is IFC-based, and only updateschanges made in the model when transferring it, rather than having to wait for the entire model to load. "It allows for a true information round-trip," said Szablocs Kari, one of Graphisoft's BIM consultants.
For Graphisoft, the benefits are partly financial; strengthening the Nemetschek brand will make all of the companies under its umbrella competitively stronger. But it's also a move based on Graphisoft's collaborative culture. "[Graphisoft is] a culture built on being mutually supportive," Roberts said, during his keynote. “Fundamentally, we succeed by helping others succeed. I really do believe that teams win more than individual performers.”