One constant in architecture is the need to deal with large amounts of data. However, in the past five years, advances in geographic information system (GIS) software have made the task of processing information much faster.

“When building models, it would entail days of work collecting information about the area before we could start working on our own building,” said Dane Stokes, design technology specialist for ZGF Architects. “It is a huge time-saver.”

That savings derives from custom software being used by ZGF and other firms. For instance, designers used to spend days sifting through topographical maps to obtain elevations and city maps to locate buildings. Web services like Google Earth would be needed to count a structure’s bricks and determine heights of neighboring buildings. Now ZGF uses software that uses city GIS data files to plot exact building heights, street curbs, lighting, land grades and landscape features.

“It depends on the city,” Stokes said. “Portland is good. Literally every tree in Portland is mapped. Seattle isn’t so good.”

Creating models that show exact heights and an area’s context used to take days; now it takes hours.

“We can populate our models with this information,” Stokes said. “I wouldn’t call it automation, but it is a streamlining of the process. It allows us to focus on our building.”

Available data allows the computer to build a model of the surrounding area and put a designed building into the file. That file is then sent to the company’s model shop, where it is constructed using tools such as 3-D printers.

The ability to sort through such vast amounts of data also allows architects to narrow potentially thousands of design options to a select group.

“We are not letting computers design buildings for us,” said Ryan McCullough, head of research and development at Ankrom Moisan Architects. “The computer can pick out the most optimal solutions for certain problems. What it will give you is 50 options that are pretty good.”

Ankrom Moisan has begun using GIS software to accelerate the process of compiling feasibility studies and other tasks, McCullough said. A computer can quickly help find sites that allow a desirable floor area ratio or are zoned for mixed-use buildings.

“We have GIS model of Portland built down to the tax lot level,” he said. “You can look at site specifics. What are sites that allow 10,000- to 40,000-square-foot buildings? You can look for mixed-use sites within a certain area.”

The biggest advantage in the advancement of GIS technology is how it saves time in the design process. It also helps architects and developers choose the right sites for a project.

“In a lot of cases, you are looking up pretty arcane information,” McCullough said. “At that point, you are figuring what I can even put here.”

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