The Rhubarb Retail news page is full of retail design advice  and opinions. This latest post offers 5 tips for small retailers to maximise their retail spaces during the Olympic Games. Check it out here: http://www.rhubarbretail.co.uk/#news

Mel

With all the current excitement and talk of BIM and Revit, I have been thinking recently about the future of AutoCAD.

At CADS we’re pretty representative of the market, and our current mix of licenses is around 15% Revit / 85% 2D CAD (AutoCAD and MicroStation). It will remain this way for some time yet, largely because this is where our customers are in the cycle.

If we examine the manufacturing marketplace, Autodesk took the (at the time) brave decision to remove AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop and migrate everyone to Inventor.  My personal opinion is that this won’t work in the AEC market due to the construction supply chain being quite different. The approach Autodesk are taking of nudging customers to 3D via product suites is the right way to go.

A recent survey of Architects showed 55% market share in AutoCAD with no other product (including Revit) being in double figures.  Perhaps more telling was that in the National BIM Report conducted by NBS, 35% of the 1,000 respondents had no CAD at all!!!

So AutoCAD is here to stay for a few years to come.

We hear all too often that the growth of multichannel retailing, as great as it is reported to be, has a detrimental effect on our high streets. Indeed a number of retailers either have closed, or are planning to close, a great number of their outlets because of their reducing profitability. These retailers say that they are placing more emphasis on their online offers, or simply blaming on-line shopping for the demise of their physical stores.

It is great then to see how some retailers are embracing this multichannel world of retail, using their store estates to assist and further promote online shopping by creating a buy-online-collect-in-store offer. Ingenious really, and obvious!

Online sales won’t suffer, in fact their growth will continue, maybe even accelerate. It could be that many people – like myself – who usually put off on-line shopping because they aren’t at home to accept the deliveries, will be encouraged to use the service knowing they can collect in-store at their convenience. The option of buying online reduces the time needed to be spent in a store, so the simple collection option seems much more attractive.

And there are still cross-sell opportunities…

With careful design and planning of the collection points in store, there also lies an opportunity to encourage impulse purchasing and boost the failing in store sales. A win-win scenario so it seems.

C A Design services are in the enviable position of not only having the ability through our Rhubarb Retail interior Design team to create the in store look and feel, but our large and flexible teams of CADS Retail planning experts  can also quickly and efficiently provide all the planning support required to ‘roll out’ a concept such as this.

Contact our retail team on 01493 440444 for more information.

Julie

At C A Design Services, we’re big users of Autodesk CAD software, such as AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max, and more recently Revit; but most customers aren’t aware of our Microstation Services.

Microstation Experience:

We are currently working for a major client on a long-term engineering based project,using Microstation.
The work includes maintaining and updating existing drawing records, and creating new drawings as required. This is a varied project, which draws on a number of CAD drafting disciplines, including the use of document control systems, revision of drawings following redline mark-ups, and digitising and redrawing archived hard copy drawings. On top of this, the drawings are necessarily complex, therefore attention to detail and quality control procedures are paramount.

The team have also been involved in various projects for other clients, including:
•    Redrawing a series of P&ID, HVAC and General Arrangement drawings in Microstation format to a very tight deadline
•    Updating a series of construction drawings to client requirements
•    Reworking a series of track and overhead line equipment drawings for a rail operator
•    Clinical Space Planning in an on-site resourcing role

Examples of the types of drawings we have produced are:
•    Schematic Diagrams
•    Wiring Diagrams
•    Single Line Diagrams (SLD)
•    General Arrangement Plans
•    Section and Elevation Drawings
•    Geographic Route Drawings
•    Plant Layout drawings
•    Compressed Air Diagrams
•    Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams (PNID)
•    Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning Drawings (HVAC)
•    Other Mechanical & Electrical Plans
•    Block Diagrams
•    Fire System Plans
•    Space Planning Drawings

We also provide other Microstation based services, such as the cleaning up and updating of your raster files using Bentley I-RAS software, or carrying out Microstation to AutoCAD file conversions.

So if you have any Microstation queries, please do not hesitate to contact Ross Cooper or Mark Johnson in our sales team for further information.

Daniel – CAD Technician

C A Design Services

Whilst this creates new opportunities for building design, it poses many challenges given that dementia can develop in people as young as 40 and these new environments must cater for residents who cover all stages of the illness.  The fundamental principles of the design should include creating a home that is as much about comfort as it is function and making an environment that offers its residents familiarity and safety.

Whether residents choose to take their own furniture or move to a facility where this is provided, good space planning can be an important tool in creating personal spaces which can ease the problems associated with dementia. Simple things like placing the bed in view of the WC and creating a layout with clear walkways, free of clutter and obstacles can all ease the feeling of anxiety or confusion. Open shelving and storage spaces can also be of benefit in helping the resident’s recall where they left their possessions and ease their agitation if they can’t find them. Memory boxes in bedrooms and large, prominent photo frames are also hugely beneficial in triggering memories and providing topics of conversation between residents, carers and their visitors.

While we are used to planning hospital environments, it is important to remember these are homes being created, not hospital wards and the residents personal spaces must reflect this. Of course there are elements from hospital planning that will inevitably be necessary in care facilities of this nature but comfort, security and familiarity must always be a priority.

With so many new homes being built, it is feasible to refurbish existing properties, which fall below the necessary standards now recognised?