Playing the ball quickly using 3D structural design analysis
As Macobo’s Structural Design team leader, ing. Liesbeth Torfs is closely involved in highly diverse projects. She’s more than happy to comment on some of the recent and current projects that her team has worked on. "Challenges can be very different from one project to another," Liesbeth says. "Consider for example the 'De Kering' project in Lommel, Belgium, for which we have worked with D&A architecten on behalf of Loomess. The ground floor is fully furnished as a commercial area, while on the floors there are 23 apartments with spacious terraces. Also, there is an underground level providing ample parking space. Located in the commercial heart of the city of Lommel, this project elegantly combines renovated and newly built parts.
In projects where renovation is involved, we must be able to play the ball very quickly as on-site interventions are needed more frequently. Under these circumstances, it is of particular importance to have access to a structural design analysis software like Diamonds. Analysis models can be updated and recalculated on the fly, providing us with the instrument that we need to provide added value to both the project developer and the architect almost instantaneously.
Calculation times are a definite plus of Diamonds. Because Diamonds allows us to recalculate a structural design in just a matter of minutes, we firmly improve our agility as an engineering team. In addition, Diamonds' great ease of use is essential to us in our day-to-day tasks as structural engineers. If a new colleague strengthens our team (and in a fast growing company like Macobo, that happens frequently), it only takes a few days at the most to get up to full speed with Diamonds. I don’t know of any other structural design analysis software that makes this possible” Liesbeth concludes.