Architecture has come a long way in a very short time. Twenty years ago, you were shackled to a desk with a huge workstation waiting for a model to render, working off chicken scratch handwritten drawings. Today, you can take your laptop or tablet anywhere with good bandwidth and architect to your heart’s content.
As if laptop freedom isn’t enough, there are mobile architectural apps as well. These range from the complex to the relatively simple. Let’s look at some of the advances driving the development of best new architecture software applications.
Technology moves fast, and it’s already revolutionizing architectural software. The best architectural design software should build on the latest advancements. Thankfully, these innovations are already out there waiting to improve your business.
Architects rely on capturing job site data as a crucial part of their design process. In the olden days of 10 years ago, you were probably using handwritten notes, pictures, and measurements. There’s a decent chance that you still do.
But today you have mobile applications that make it easy to accurately capture job site data and to turn that data into a wealth of information. A digital approach also opens the door to effective, real time communication and collaboration because you can send your site drawings and notes to anyone electronically.
Remember the fun of trying to get a file to open on an operating system it wasn’t intended for? Due to data integration on the backend in the cloud, those hassles are over. The standardization and conversion of file formats means that your files can be opened with a wide variety of software tools and operating systems.
No one’s coming for your drafting table, but you now have many choices in how you create your designs. Switching to digital design provides greater precision, and touchscreen apps that let you draw directly onto the canvas are also paving the way for a more holistic landscape of the project and its parameters.
One of the biggest challenges architects face is how to present their designs to their clients and builders. You used to show them blueprints and design boards to help them visualize floor plans and features.
Today, you can take advantage of digital modeling and rendering to show clients exactly what their space will look like free of clutter, and without your clients needing to understand blueprints.
There’s a reason architectural firms have so many filing cabinets. Access to historical plans help current designs solve logistical problems, and, more importantly, some laws require preservation of original plans for at least 12 years.
Technology advances in both physical storage and cloud storage have given you the freedom to store unlimited records in a secure location, even allowing you to use a keyword to find the plan you need to reference.
Today's architectural workflows aren't fundamentally different than they've always been. The three key principles of Design, Visualize, and Create are simply developing in new directions. However, there are new ways to accomplish those principles, and architects are evolving with them. For instance, some architects have abandoned AutoDesk CAD fully in favor of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software because of it's flexibility
Whatever you choose as your workflow, a mobile solution could be just what you're looking to add to your tech stack.
ArcSite is a 2D CAD mobile application that runs on any mobile device, Mac, or PC. Not only is it incredibly easy to learn and use, it infuses your drawings with CAD precision. Draw your site on a tablet using our app and your finger or stylus, effortlessly add in even the most minute details, and present it straight to your clients or export for use in other applications.
Architectural drawing in ArcSite
Using ArcSite you have two options for creating your architectural site plan drawing - start from a blank canvas, or import a blueprint and mark it up in the tool.
This flexibility allows you to work in whatever way is best for you at the moment. Mark up the blueprint with whatever elements you wish to include, and then export it out to its original file format for ease of use in other software.
Whether you’re drawing or importing a blueprint, we’ve made it incredibly easy to duplicate any and all site conditions and features in your architectural diagrams. We provide a library with thousands of pre-configured shapes both industry specific and general. Anything you see, you can reproduce in ArcSite with a couple of taps.
ArcSite drawing with several prebuilt shapes
Once you’ve got these detailed drawings, how do you use them? ArcSite will turn your drawings into perfectly formatted professional proposals for your clients, complete with a legend of what all the markups represent, and photos attached to help with visualization of the finished product.
Alternatively, you can export your drawing in the right format for use in a wide variety of desktop architectural software applications.
Design, Visualize, Create - these three principles are and have always been the cornerstone of architecture. Technology for architects has grown by leaps and bounds, and architects are adapting in different ways. Some are leaving behind CAD in favor of Building Information Management (BIM) software, preferring to use it for modeling and not just designing. Still others stick to CAD because of its tried and tested accuracy.
ArcSite strives to put the ultimate in clarity in the palm of your hand. If you do field work, ArcSite's photo and blueprint mockups provide the perfect visualization for your clients. Not only can they see the floor plan, they can see how it's related to the surroundings as a whole.
Whatever camp you fall into, we hope this has been a useful primer on the technology trends driving architectural software innovation.
Ready, set, go! Check out what the future holds for architects working in the field, and find out how ArcSite for architects can change the way you work. Request a demo to see for yourself.
Read on to learn more about the difference between ArcSite’s easy mobile CAD software app for iPad and other CAD drawing programs on the market.
Learn more about ArcSite’s CAD drawing iPad app, how its mobile-first approach delivers more power and functionality than traditional CAD mobile apps.
ArcSite is familiar with the challenges involved with paper document handoffs between functional teams. When done on paper, there is room for error.
