SAN RAFAEL, Calif., May 6, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- When renowned architecture firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG) took on the design work for a seven-building apartment complex in Colorado, it wasn't with the intention of ushering in a new era in the construction industry. But the firm's use of an integrated design, documentation and collaboration solution from Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK) was a significant step forward in the industry-wide movement to institute a forward-looking asset management approach that encompasses the entire building lifecycle.

The architecture team, including staff located at WATG's offices in Newport Beach, California and Orlando, Florida, was responsible for all design aspects of the luxury project. It incorporated one-, two-, and three-bedroom units in the seven buildings along with a 20,000 square foot clubhouse. The entire design was developed and documented with the Autodesk(R) Revit(R) building information modeler, which offered invaluable change management and visualization capabilities. Changes made in the design -- moving a wall, for instance -- were immediately coordinated and reflected across the project. This capability ensured accurate design and construction documents while also allowing the client to visualize important aspects of the design as it evolved.

"We had a client who was having trouble visualizing how a flat roof would look from the upper floors of his building," recounted Larry Rocha, vice president and chief information officer of WATG. "With Revit, we were able to quickly demonstrate that it had very little impact on the view, which saved the client a considerable amount of money."

In addition, the Autodesk Buzzsaw(TM) collaboration service allowed the dispersed team to monitor quickly moving design changes and keep the entire team on track. Jim Grady, WATG's CAD manager, remarked that "document management, file sharing, and version control are much easier with Buzzsaw, especially when you are collaborating across time zones. For example, we took three-dimensional snapshots of the drawings in Revit and posted them to Buzzsaw. Our counterparts in Orlando then marked them up electronically and posted the revisions, and automatic email notifications informed the entire team of the updates."

The overall effect of the integrated approach brought far-reaching benefits. With Autodesk Revit software, the design team was able to create an intelligent data model of the building that could be used well into the future, far more effectively than standard two-dimensional documents. Over the long term the building owner will be able to leverage these three-dimensional designs for operations management, maintenance and improvements. And with the Buzzsaw service operating as the primary communications platform, designers, owner and contractors can manage and collaborate at any time, making it easier to manage and implement events during the entire building lifecycle.

"Revit cuts the time spent on coordinating the various aspects of the design and documentation of a building in half, which allows more time to be creative. Just as Revit coordinates the elements of the design, Buzzsaw coordinates the project communication, reducing the time we might spend tracking down information," continued Rocha. "When you use an integrated solution like Buzzsaw and Revit to create and manage intelligent building information, significant cost and time savings and smart choices are likely to keep recurring throughout the building's lifecycle."

"There is a growing realization that a holistic, long-term approach to building design, construction and ongoing facility management is the key to improving processes, saving money and realizing maximum value," said Amar Hanspal, senior director, Autodesk Building Collaboration Services. "Autodesk's integrated industry-specific solutions are centered around this approach. No other solutions provider combines building information modeling authoring tools and collaboration services that provide a single solution for efficiently managing information throughout the building lifecycle."

Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo

Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG) is recognized as the world's number one architecture, design, planning, and consulting firm specializing in hospitality, leisure, and entertainment. Since the firm was founded in 1945, WATG has worked in over 130 countries and territories across six continents from its offices in Newport Beach, Orlando, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Seattle, London, and Singapore. WATG is a member, along with Callison Architecture and TVS, of Insight Alliance, a global alliance of design industry leaders.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com. For information about the Buzzsaw service, visit the product site at www.autodesk.com/buzzsaw.

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

SOURCE: Autodesk

Autodesk
Gabrielle Friedly, 415/356-0741
gabrielle.friedly@autodesk.com