Technology in Architectural Practice

TL;DR - Can anyone recommend software products that automate structural framing in (early) design phase?

With my naive belief that structural framing in *typical* buildings is rather formulaic (or maybe at the conceptual phase), I'd imagine I could provide a building type and a desirable span to some algorithm that could give me the appropriate loads, layout and rudimentary sizing.

Over the years my designer colleagues have echoed the same sentiment. So are there products that can skip the heavy-punchers like SAP or ETABS? Can conceptual phase framing be done by a tool like parking by TestFit, for example? Something simpler and cheaper but still tested, appropriate for fast, iterative designs. I've once seen TT CORE showing off Asterisk. Has anyone had any experience with it? It looks like it's in open Beta perhaps

You missed my point. I precisely want to skip any amateur engineering I may attempt before the contract engineer tells me to redo most of the design. Also the failure of that walkway bridge was cause by a detail that came way later than a building framing exercise. 

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Zichu Wang

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Hi Zichu,

Have you looked into Clear Calcs at https://clearcalcs.com/. They are probably what you are looking for. Architects use them to get a basic idea on the structural portion of their design concepts, etc. In graduate school I used Visual Analysis which is way easier than SAP, ETABS, and/or Risa. 

Best,

Thank you Daniel. Yes it's definitely something I could use. I do remember the pains of navigating RISA. A consistent feature of these tools is that they are good at analyzing a known frame. I wonder if there are tools that can take a massing model and recommend a framing. Perhaps the tech isn't there yet. 

The closest I have seen in my experience is Forteweb from Weyerhouser. It is an online wood member design software that provides framing options per your loading and span conditions. Check it out: https://www.weyerhaeuser.com/woodproducts/software-learning/forte-software/. I wonder if there is something similar for concrete and steel? I would start at the ACI and ASIC web sites to see what resources they have. For heavy timber, check out Woodworks.org. 

Best,

No experience with this. But have you seen what the guys over at Hypar are doing? They have created a platform where you can write in words what you are looking for and AI will generate a full model (Arch and Struct) for what you are describing. Obviously take it with consideration, but may be the starting point you are looking for. I believe it is free to try and use as well. 

Video showing what it can do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDQmoIfZc4E

Link to their website: https://hypar.io/

Yes I'm a fan of Hypar. Can't wait till it matures and have scripts we can purchase. Maybe it's already there. I just have to make another pass at it soon.