One of our core principles at Gray Puksand is to properly understand any challenges the end-user faces and then drive design outcomes to solve those challenges. Through thorough consultation and active listening, we place ourselves in the best possible position to create solutions, especially with the assistance of modern technology.
The proliferation of automation within our field alleviates some boundaries that designers encounter. By harnessing this computing power, we can deliver more efficient projects and provide the most value to our clients and end-users.
Our Digital Practice Manager, Jeames Hanley, brings unparalleled expertise in the technology industry to Gray Puksand. His goal is to enable our designers to produce their most proficient work. Jeames elaborated on how automation can provide financial savings for our clients and streamline certain processes, like identifying risk, for our designers.
One of the most significant technological advancements in our field in the past decade is Building Information Management (BIM). Whilst BIM has been around much longer, it was instrumental in bringing data to the forefront of the design process. BIM also democratised automation, bringing data management and constraint-based generative design into sharper focus. The use of data within architecture will continue to contribute to better outcomes for the built environment, as well as reshaping how the design industry works.
“We identify manual, repetitive design and documentation-based workflows, including data-heavy exercises and automate them. When you don’t use automation, you are effectively wasting expenditure that could otherwise contribute to better-designed buildings that appropriately address the needs of our clients and their end-users. You are also opening yourself up to unnecessary risk as human-based manual workflows are prone to error. “Utilising these technological tools rebalances the workload of our team, empowering focus on designs that are as intuitive as they are insightful,” says Jeames.
“A human only has so much computing power. Simple automation can carry out the most mundane project tasks and exercises, freeing designers up to complete higher-value work. Moving forward, generative design is the logical step from automation.”
Generative design would see designers input constraints and design criteria into an algorithm, and then hand the task off to a computer to sit there and generate tens – or even hundreds – of different options in response to those constraints and criteria. The designer can now simply analyse these computer-generated design options for the best solution, instead of going through the time-consuming process of manually generating a limited amount of solutions.
“The calculator did not replace mathematics. It just made it more efficient. Instead of using a piece of paper to work out your calculations, you are using this little computer that does it for you. We need to apply this logic to technology in design. If we can encode architects’ intuition and building standards into generative design or automate parts of the process, we unlock a higher value proposition where designers can focus more on design and let computing carry out the other tasks with their oversight, of course,” explains Jeames.
BIM, model-based deliverables and better-drawn deliverables are just some areas we use automation to increase efficiency at Gray Puksand. Through the early adoption of burgeoning technologies, we have placed ourselves in an enviable position, something Jeames passionately advocates for.
“With the calculator example, there is still the necessity for someone, a human being, to enter the numbers for computation. Greater use of automation in our field will not bring an end to human input, but instead, this next step we take will empower designers to take things even further,” said Jeames.
As for future opportunities, an exciting prospect to improve efficiency is the utilisation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the design sphere. This utilisation can be bolstered by our current use of automation, which acts as a foundation for growth.
While still well and truly in the exploratory phase, Gray Puksand firmly believes that the use of AI will enhance our already exceptional ability to accurately address the needs of the client and their end-user.
