Weatherhead Architects: Overcoming Design Challenges with Archicad and Artlantis

Weatherhead Architecture is a London-based architectural studio led by Architect David Weatherhead. The firm is known for its innovative and nature-integrated designs. For the Butterfly Square project, Weatherhead Architecture was tasked with creating a design that was both pedestrian and child-friendly, while also integrating with the surrounding nature park. The design was to provide a series of spaces for various activities and accommodate parking without disrupting the pedestrian spaces. The design concept was to create a building that resembled the open wings of a butterfly, linking to the nature park.

Weatherhead Architecture, a London-based architectural studio, was tasked with the design of a new town center, Butterfly Square, as part of the Allarp master plan. The design was to be pedestrian and child-friendly, integrating with the surrounding nature park and providing a series of spaces for various activities. The design also needed to accommodate parking without disrupting the pedestrian spaces. The design concept was to create a building that resembled the open wings of a butterfly, linking to the nature park. However, the design process presented several challenges. Parking requirements often create problems when designing pedestrian spaces. Additionally, creating a fully working Building Information Modeling (BIM) model that produces informative drawings and realistic visualizations was a significant challenge.

To address the parking challenge, the buildings were raised by one storey, and parking was tucked away under their footprint. This solution allowed for a completely pedestrian central space and eliminated the privacy problems usually associated with ground floor apartments. To overcome the challenge of creating a fully working BIM model, Weatherhead used Archicad and Artlantis. Every object was modeled in Archicad, and this was coupled with Artlantis to create the renders. To minimize abortive work, different visualization modules were created that could be turned on and off as required. This allowed for the export of modules and their import in Artlantis as objects. Weatherhead also used Archicad side-by-side with sketching, finding it versatile as a modeling software at the early stages of a project. This approach eliminated the need for secondary modeling software.

• The solution provided by Weatherhead Architecture resulted in a design that successfully integrated with the surrounding nature park, providing a series of spaces for various activities. The design was pedestrian and child-friendly, with parking tucked away under the building footprint to maintain a pedestrian central space. The use of Archicad and Artlantis in the design process allowed for the creation of a fully working BIM model that produced informative drawings and realistic visualizations. This approach minimized abortive work and eliminated the need for secondary modeling software. The design was well-received and the Butterfly Square project is due to start on site in 2016.