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Illuminated columns with inset shelves and walls of white laminated metal and frosted glass pay homage to the fine jewelry, art books, and other artwork on display.

McCall's Software of Choice

Under the direction of information services director John Chan, AIA, McCall Design Group has been using ARRIS CAD ever since the firm's founding in 1989.

Although many CAD systems worked at catching up during the following decade, ARRIS CAD was one of the first to offer integrated 2D and 3D, parametric modeling, file sharing for networked teams, and direct links to the high-end renderer Lightscape from Autodesk, Inc.

Chan cites numerous advantages these features have offered the firm over the years. "Retail design," he explains, "is very fast paced. There are times when other teams in the firm need to drop what they're doing and move quickly to help on getting a project out. ARRIS CAD has supported networking longer than other systems, and it enables us to put many people on a project at the same time."

ARRIS CAD automatically saves multiple design changes to a single project database. It also supports users working simultaneously on different hardware platforms.

Chan observes that, because the ARRIS software is complete without a lot of add-ons, there is little customization necessary. Any newcomer to the firm who already knows ARRIS CAD will take no time to adapt to the McCall environment.

Chan also appreciates that ARRIS CAD "thinks" like an architect. "I could be 80 years old," he says, "and still find the software accommodating my design methods." Moreover, the system is so easy to learn, Chan says, that everyone in the firm is a user. They believe this contributes to the firm's efficiency in design and project management.

Integrated Rendering

Over the years, ARRIS and Lightscape have grown up together. Chan says the direct translation between the two is a real time saver. Materials and lighting settings can be made within ARRIS, so that minor design changes do not require alterations to the Lightscape file.

And because Lightscape computes exact surface illuminance levels, the user doesn't have to recompute the lighting in a scene with every new view.

ARRIS CAD is the core application, which incorporates 2D drafting, 3D modeling, and file management tools. ARRIS Architect adds tools for "intelligent" structural elements, stair generators, door and window placement, and special symbols for construction drawings.

Users can attach to building objects nongraphic data such as fire ratings, costs, U-values, colors, or manufacturer part numbers. Reports can be generated from such data to compute thermal characteristics, cost estimates, and so on. A library of generic furniture, equipment, and fixtures is available, and this can be extended and customized to suit a firm's standards.

The 50-person, San Francisco-based McCall Design Group, which maintains a national and international practice, specializes in retail work for clients such as Banana Republic, Gap, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma. Renderings of the completed projects within ARRIS and Lightscape are also used by these retailers in their e-commerce Web sites to simulate the spatial quality of the built environments.

B.J. Novitski is managing editor for ArchitectureWeek and author of Rendering Real and Imagined Buildings.

A version of this article originally appeared in the August, 2001 issue of CADALYST.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) designed by Mario Botta. Photo: Great Buildings Photo © Artifice, Inc. Computer rendering of the new San Francisco Museum of Modern Art store in the San Francisco airport. Image: McCall Design Group The airport store is intended to remind visitors of the forms and materials used in the Mario Botta-designed museum in nearby San Francisco. Photo: Cesar Rubio Lightscape rendering of the SFMOMA store that was modeled in ARRIS. Image: McCall Design Group A photograph of the completed store closely resembles the pre-construction computer rendering. Photo: Cesar Rubio Floor plan, SFMOMA store. Image: McCall Design Group Lightscape rendering of the SFMOMA store. Image: McCall Design Group   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.