Technology in Architectural Design

Working as an immersive media specialist at Heatherwick Studio, Silvia Rueda is at the forefront of rising technologies such as VR, XR and AR. Together with her colleagues she helps designers and architects to make important design decisions with the help of these technologies. During her Talk at Clerkenwell Design Week, Silvia explained how Heatherwick incorporates and merges various software tools into a custom template to achieve optimal results.

For Heatherwick Studio, the future lies in XR (Extended Reality), which encompasses mixed and immersive realities. They aim to leverage these technologies for architectural and design decision-making. Silvia Rueda stated, “We want to create an immersive 360-degree room where augmented reality can be experienced without using wearable technologies such as VR goggles.” By creating this immersive room, Heatherwick aims to enable experiencing the design project from the outset, facilitating easier decision-making, anticipating issues, and resolving them promptly.

To create their immersive designs, the studio uses various software tools. Midjourney has been their go-to software tool from the start, and they've even established their own platform within it. The studio also managed to integrate Grasshopper with the immersive media software Unreal, using Mindesk as an intermediary. Additionally, Heatherwick uses the immersive media software SpaceForm, which allows designers and clients to discuss the project within the design itself, making it easier to adjust.

A Heart for Soft Landscape

With years of experience, the studio sees landscape as a vital element in their projects. “Adding landscape to the design, makes it more cohesive. It adds depth to the storytelling”, Silvia Rueda noted. In the quest to make the landscape as realistic as possible, they searched for and tested various combinations of software tools to come to the ideal landscape visualisation workflow. They ultimately settled on using Rhino in combination with Unreal Engine/Twinmotion. Silvia Rueda explained, “This workflow met all the criteria: optimal quality, extensive customisation options, a wide range of outputs, real-time rendering, and high fidelity, all achieved within a short period of time.”

However Rome wasn’t built in a day, achieving this outcome was a learning process. That’s how Heatherwick created their own template, including a landscape assets library with plant species from around the world. Using the Datasmith tool, the studio further improved their workflow.

Selling the Story

To enhance their storytelling, Heatherwick generates render animated stills using Twinmotion. The studio even created an entire world within the popular game Fortnite, importing their project Little Island (New York) and turning it into a game setting. By taking this step, they intend to generate excitement about the park and its features.

The studio’s innovative approach to integrating cutting-edge technologies in their design process is paving the way for the future of architecture. By embracing immersive media and developing unique workflows, they are not only enhancing their projects' realism and storytelling but also making design decisions more intuitive and collaborative. As they continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible, the studio's work will undoubtedly inspire and shape the next generation of architectural design.

Watch Silvia Rueda's Talk below.