New Opportunities for CAD Vendors in the AEC Conceptual Design Market
September 7, 2008By Marek Villermann
Article Highlights:
- The conceptual design phase is not well supported by current tools
- Vendors are now more intensely targeting the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) conceptual design market
- An ideal Building Information Modeling (BIM) integrated conceptual 3D modeling solution may be on the horizon
Keywords: Conceptual design market drivers and trends, integration of processes, enhancement of techniques
Competitive Environment
The AEC conceptual design software market in the US and Europe is considered fragmented, with low multi-vendor activity and insufficient software functionality.
Currently there is no single leading CAD conceptual design tool appearing in the market. AutoCAD dominates the AEC software market, but has functions for detailed design which are not necessary in early design stages, and is therefore functionally over weighted.
As a single conceptual modeling tool non-CAD Google SketchUp now leads the architecture market, and is also used in alternative segments. However SketchUp is not considered a suitable vertical application for architects' or engineers' use in their design process due to its limited capabilities.
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Since the recent acquisition by Google, SketchUp solution is amongst leading AEC software packages developed both for conceptual and detailed design. In 2007 SketchUp rapidly gained 7% of AEC market share, according to Gartner Research, and is predominantly used for conceptual design. |
According to the latest survey conducted by Business Advantage, design architecture groups are the largest user groups of SketchUp.
Apart from AutoCAD and SketchUp other CAD tools have significantly smaller conceptual design market share and are presented by numerous 2D CAD, 3D modellers and project management tools, which are common at both conceptual and detailed design stages.
Market Approaches
The innovative combination of a 3D modeling tool with a GIS addition enabled user friendly SketchUp to achieve a significant AEC market share. Rapid penetration of SketchUp shows that the AEC market is ready to adopt a new conceptual design tool and there is immense potential for it.
The AEC conceptual design market is now increasingly considered by many vendors as being attractive; leading jewellery and yacht design software vendor McNeel consider the AEC conceptual design market as a new growing segment for their Rhino product, however Rhino is not traditionally positioned as a pure conceptual design application.
New opportunities have recently been identified by leading CAD vendors in the conceptual design space. Vendors now have a tendency to focus more on the development of conceptual design tools, which historically have been in the shadow of detailed design tools.
Market Drivers
Opportunities have appeared over the changes in construction project delivery methods both in the US and Europe, where design process standards are currently being transformed, and there is a strong demand from architects and clients for a solution to make early design stages more cost effective.
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It is now widely accepted that early design stages could be strengthened by the integration of the conceptual and preliminary design process, including transparency of workflow and collaboration improvements (more integrated teams, earlier involvement and collaborative decision-making). |
Design workflow changes have the greatest impact on larger companies who have implemented BIM, and also on small and medium sized design and design-build architecture practices, who are traditionally diverse in the number of components included in conceptual design processes and typically do not have fixed design process patterns.
Addressable Market
The total architecture conceptual design addressable market consists of a broad range of architectural businesses. There are 20,000 architectural firms in the US alone, with gross revenue of approximately 4% of the total annual output of the US economy (AIA Press). However, growing BIM adoption in both the European and the US architecture markets involves an increasingly wide involvement of other functions at the early design stages - including project managers, drafters, civil and structural engineers - enabling the early sharing of critical information.
Architect's Needs
At the conceptual design phase architects still commonly rely on pen and paper, and believe that currently the phase is not well supported by CAD tools.
There is strong demand for a new 3D modeling solution that enables the design of intuitive concepts by sketch, NURBS, generative geometry or other functions linked with presentation capabilities, in order to compete during the tender stages and meetings with clients.
Design Software Trends
The solution - according to leading CAD vendors, including Joe Croser, Global Marketing Director, Platform Products at Bentley Systems - is one of the types of vertical applications used in the design process. Further software development includes links with project management and GIS data, as well as integration into a BIM framework - BIM being considered not just as underlying technology, but as the change in design process.
Vendors should consider incorporating architectural practices into new conceptual modeling solutions, so commonly used early design workflow stages are easily linked with design workload.
Design functionality enhancement includes modeling, concept generation, criteria analysis, visualisation, digital fabrication (prototyping, 3D printing) and interoperability between BIM and non-BIM software.
Conclusion
The multibillion $ AEC market currently offers unlimited opportunities for CAD vendors - a flexible but sophisticated 3D conceptual modeling solution is widely expected.
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