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Clean slate

While AutoCAD continues directly or indirectly to serve a large base of residential architects, some in the industry have opted for a different platform. David L. Wolff, AIA, became an expatriate of large commercial architectural firms three years ago and now runs a one-man shop in Portland, Oregon. Currently, a majority of his work is residential, including a new 28,000-square-foot house that will be built along the coast of Oregon. When he went solo, Wolff also decided to move to Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD because he found it fit his working style better. Now he could build an electronic model of a home and add windows or doors simply by highlighting an icon and snapping it in place. “’Boom! Everything’s done. You can then edit, add perspective, or turn it into 3D on the fly,” Wolff says. “You don’ t have to construct a 3D model afterward from 2D drawings.”

Cadsoft’s tools, Build and APBuild, work inside the AutoCAD platform to help residential architects design customized details like gables, roof lines, and overhangs—common elements of these projects.

He says that kind of software intelligence is more than just a handy convenience. The ability to perform custom work quickly is essential to keeping his company economically viable. “My competitive advantage is to have the machine do the work,” Wolff says. “I’m not really a computer person at heart, but for me to compete with the larger architectural offices, technology is necessary.”

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And unlike architect Neufold’s preference for hand-drawn elevations, Wolff credits computer-generated renderings with helping him sell his designs to clients. “I come from a builder background; I was out there swinging a hammer. I went to school with people with M.F.A. [Master of Fine Arts] degrees who would create these gorgeous renderings that I couldn’t do. ArchiCAD does that for me, and this really helps me with the presentation aspect of my work.”

Joe Villeneuve, architect and owner of Concepts in Designs in Plymouth, Michigan, uses a residential-geared package called SoftPlan, by SoftPlan Systems, for designs that focus on energy efficiency for clients in metropolitan Detroit. He likes the software’s ability to automatically generate elevations, 3D models, and materials lists from on-screen representations. “I can design right down to the drywall screws,”he says. “The software understands the construction behind the lines that I draw. I can have a floor plan and an elevation on the screen. If I edit one, the software automatically changes the other.”

Before using SoftPlan, Villeneuve drafted plans by hand. Within two weeks of using the program, he was able to work as quickly with SoftPlan as with pencil and paper. “In a month, I was doing it faster with the computer,” he says. “I can do a complete set of working drawings for a 25,000-square-foot house in less than a day. It gives me time to devote to my business as opposed to just doing production work.”

Personal comfort

Users of residential design software say the most important criterion for choosing an application isn’t allegiance to a particular platform, but rather, finding software that lets an architect work comfortably. “You have to see the interface and get a sense of how compatible it is with your personal style,” Bruckner says. He suggests that evaluations begin with two simple questions: “Is it logical? And is it simple to use?”

Decisions shouldn’t be made by watching a canned demo, he warns, because demos may look impressive, but they do little to show what it takes to achieve those results. Rather, evaluate the program using real-life tasks. After all, he says, “This is a matter of finding a long-term relationship.”