The Up Studio
ALAN TANSEY
Meet New York-based architecture, interior and brand design firm The Up Studio. This award-winning firm delivers a range of residential and commercial projects using Archicad. The studio is committed to honoring their design process with simplicity and dedication. Founder John Patrick Winberry believes it’s a priority to keep his design-oriented workflow flexible and efficient. Since adopting an Archicad workflow, The Up Studio has finally been able to develop a design process to demonstrate a high level of concept thinking. Having made the switch to BIM (Building Information Modeling) powered by Archicad, The Up Studio now can see projects in incredible detail and develop designs more quickly. “We love taking our clients through our design process, our concept thinking,” explained Winberry. “Before Archicad, we designed projects in 3D. Once the design was approved by the client, we stopped all work in 3D and moved to 2D drawings. It created barriers to continuing to explore design ideas from that point.” The Up Studio has been empowered to evaluate and share design alternatives quickly and efficiently thanks to their optimized workflow dedicated to evolving design variations— regardless of the size or scale of the project. The new Archicad 27 Design Options solution enables firms like The Up Studio to bring their concepts to fruition using BIM solutions. Working in a single model as their design evolves, it becomes the source of
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all construction drawings. Archicad has become the backbone and engine powering this firm’s design process. When tensions arise during design development, The Up Studio relies on their model to convey ideas with greater clarity, as all the model data is working in the background to reduce errors and improve coordination. The Up Studio fulfills their role as a full-service firm by approaching projects in a systematic way. First, the team spends time evaluating all environmental considerations, integrating that into the architecture, and outlining any client constraints (budget, schedules) before then providing designs that are concept-driven. By working in this way, the firm has opened the door for smoother client interactions, increased project recognition from industry peer groups, and streamlined workflows. “What Archicad helps us do, by showing the performance of a design decision rather than having to explain it, is to be more effective in communicating ideas. The model has validity, proving the design in a way that the client can see clearly,” said Winberry. Every single The Up Studio project goes through a Clarity of Design presentation in the beginning—no matter the size, scope, or location. The studio applies their process no matter if they are designing a 600-square-foot home, or a 20,000-square-foot complex. The process sets up guardrails for their team to stay focused, sharing an unclouded vision that is driven by performance.
ALAN TANSEY
“As we began using Archicad it was clear we had found a tool made for designers,” Winberry explained. “We could work and move through the model, make changes that met our client’s needs and never lose sight of what we needed to do to build the home." When firms struggle with their workflow, it can put unwanted limitations on the ways they can express design ideas. Before Archicad, The Up Studio was moving from 3D to 2D drawings, and transitions created barriers to continuing to explore design ideas from that point. Beginning a project in Archicad helps teams streamline their productivity, so it has become the backbone of the work, and powering the design process. On each project, teams discovered the ability to work and move through the model, make changes that met their client’s needs, and never lose sight of what was needed to realize the building. The Up Studio can now deliver high-impact visualizations quickly and easily using professional out-of-the-box solutions and streamlined connections to other professional architectural visualization solutions built in to Archicad. “We consider Archicad to be one of the most powerful tools we use. BIMx gives us the ability to link the 3D and two-dimensional export. It can be a complex virtual model—but everything syncs,” Winberry said. “This technology excites me, because it affords us the ability to build the home virtually, and have the client fall in love with the design, and our concepts.”