SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2002--

Building Information Modeling Solution Helps To Keep Complex

University Center of Chicago Project on Schedule and on Budget

Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, announced today that Antunovich Associates, a Chicago-based architecture, planning, and interior design firm, has used Autodesk(R) Revit(R), a powerful building design and documentation system, for use in planning the 700,000-square-foot University Center of Chicago project. Currently under construction in the South Loop in downtown Chicago, this new student residence hall will serve student populations from three private local universities, responding to a dire need for student housing in the city's urban core. Using the Autodesk Revit building information modeling solution, Antunovich Associates was able to clearly visualize design intent for the three client groups and rapidly incorporate design changes. This allowed the team to work swiftly and accurately, promoting timely consensus on design options. As a result, the project is being completed on schedule and budget, despite its size and complexity.

"Autodesk Revit has been a tremendous benefit to this project," said David Graue, principal of Antunovich Associates. "Its ability to coordinate and update design documents freed us to focus more on design. And later on, it helped us develop an accurate pricing set and communicate with the contractor. If we hadn't been using Revit, we would have needed to add at least two or three more members to the team."

Using the Right Tool for the Right Task

Serving students from DePaul University, Roosevelt University, and Columbia College, the $130 million University Center of Chicago will provide 1,720 beds in suite and apartment style units plus 35,000 square feet of retail space and a 20,000-square-foot rooftop garden. From the outset, speed has been essential on this project to meet the goal of student occupancy by the fall of 2004.

To save time and increase accuracy during the planning process, Antunovich Associates chose Autodesk Revit to quickly generate massing studies, which they refined using a variety of perspective and elevation views. As the number of required beds kept changing through the planning stages, Antunovich Associates was able to quickly make changes, using Autodesk Revit to automatically create design deliverables and generate new design options to show to the multiple client groups during weekly review meetings.

Antunovich Associates continued to use Autodesk Revit for selected tasks during design development and construction documentation, benefiting from use of a building information modeling platform. The project involved developing a number of different wall types with different fire rating and sound insulation requirements. By using the Revit solution, designers were able to tag all the wall types, change them as needed throughout the project, and develop schedules quickly and accurately.

Autodesk Revit's interoperability with AutoCAD(R) made it effortless for Antunovich Associates to share files with the associate architect and consultants. The Antunovich team exported plans and elevations out of Revit so that the associate architect could work on designing overall building sections and details using AutoCAD. In turn, AutoCAD's 2D drawing information was imported back into Revit as an underlay for coordination. In this way, each of the digital tools was used effectively, maximizing its inherent value for a particular task.

Antunovich Associates also found Autodesk Revit to be valuable in communicating with the contractor. The design for the facility's penthouse level includes a complicated metal/steel structure clad in metal panels. Designers used the Autodesk Revit solution to build virtual models according to the structural engineer's drawings, fine-tune them, and show the contractor the results. This allowed the team to solve problems before construction. "A lot of areas look good on paper, but Revit can show the built result and how to get there," said Graue.

About Antunovich Associates

Antunovich Associates is an architecture, planning, and interior design firm located in Chicago, Illinois. The firm possesses a broad range of professional expertise that has encompassed both private and public sector work. This experience has included the master planning, programming, and design of corporate campuses, large mixed-use commercial developments, museums, higher education facilities, residential complexes, retail stores, and historic preservation projects around the country.

About Autodesk

Founded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design software and digital content company. The company serves a diverse portfolio of markets, including building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering tools that foster innovation and creativity, Autodesk helps customers create, use and leverage their digital design data. For more information about the company, see http://www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, and Revit are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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