“During planning, geometrically complex building projects require a CAD software which makes the necessary tools available for all adjoining areas,” says Günther Mayerhofer, managing director and design manager of TESIGN – ALU | STAHL | GLAS | DESIGN GmbH, which was founded in 1998. The Austrian planning office from Stoob carries out the technical planning of projects that impress all over the world.
The reference list is constantly growing and reveals international architectural highlights such as the Etihad Museum in Dubai, whose facade is described by the trade press as an “intelligent organism”. In his search for a planning software capable of realising all building shells such as mullion-transom facades, sheet metal facades, panel walls, locksmith constructions and steel constructions, Günther Mayerhofer was convinced by HiCAD and the ISD Group during an on-site demo in 2015. Since then, the modules Steel Engineering suite premium and Metal Engineering suite premium with the additional tools for freeform surfaces and profile installation have been in regular use of the planning office.
The building complex of the educational campus Berresgasse in Vienna invites 1,100 students to learn in educational areas with several kinks behind a trendy larch wood facade. “1,000 m² of glass fibre concrete panels were used for the plinth on the first floor,” says the managing director. “Three floors, each with four radially arranged educational areas, are based on it.” When asked why HiCAD is used here and there for construction, the Austrian answers: “Because production-oriented dimensioning, individual annotation and detailed blanks make modelling easier for us – regardless of whether wood, glass or other materials are used.” As a further plus he refers to the staircase and railing configurator in the HiCAD Steel Engineering suite, which enables individual 2D/3D constructions and a faster itemisation of the supporting structure during the planning phase. “The bidirectional interface to LogiKal® from the HiCAD Metal Engineering suite gave us full access to libraries with special profiles for facades, skylights, windows and doors. As well as access to several thousand standard parts and standard profiles for the integration of various fastening elements,” says the engineer. “LogiKal® takes over the static pre-dimensioning and confronts us with questions such as if the selected profiles are sufficient for the loads occurring at the location, or whether glass inserts can withstand the loads acting on them due to possible turbulences, temperature differences etc. In short: The interface to HiCAD enables a better economical dimensioning of the parts.”
The demand for modern design is growing. Many modern facades have arbitrarily curved surfaces that are difficult to mould into a certain shape or to be described analytically clearly. The curved roof of the Etihad Museum in Dubai, for example, but also the recently completed project “Wohnen am Schweizer Garten” in Vienna with the irregular grid structure of the balcony parapets in front of it. “Thanks to the HiCAD module for free-form surfaces, we were able to meet this demanding task,” says Günther Mayerhofer.
During planning, geometrically complex building projects require a CAD software which makes the necessary tools available for all adjoining areas.Günther Mayerhofer, Manager Director at TESIGN GmbH
Bills of materials at the push of a button, changes by a mouse click – whereby similar changes to different objects can be carried out in only one processing step – are further strengths of HiCAD, to which Günther Mayerhofer attaches great importance. “For complex building envelopes, in classical steel construction and locksmith constructions, the automated generation of workshop drawings and bills of materials is very helpful,” he confirms. “Today, everything must go fast. This includes the rapid transfer of information to purchasing or production in standard formats like DXF, DWG or STEP. The smooth interaction of planning and construction holds a huge potential for increasing productivity.” In the field of BIM, TESIGN GmbH is waiting for a final introduction – “at least for public projects,” says the managing director. “The ISD BIM concept will help us in due time.”
So far, TESIGN GmbH has achieved its goals in the context of geometrically demanding facade constructions with HiCAD. “The introduction went off without a hitch,” says Günther Mayerhofer. “It is not without reason that our company continuously trains further technicians on the basis of HiCAD. Our designers, who had previously been working and are still generating production documents with AutoCAD 2D, were able to quickly adapt the design practice with HiCAD, thanks to the helpful training measures.” In addition to the product, the fair cooperation with ISD naturally contributes to the satisfaction of the Austrian. “Of course I recommend HiCAD to others – the large output of production documents and the compatibility for all companies are a huge advantage for all companies in our industry.”
The introduction went off smoothly. It is not without reason
that our company continuously trains further technicians
on the basis of HiCAD.
Günther Mayerhofer, Manager Director at TESIGN GmbH