As maker culture seeps into more and more of what the AEC industry does, spaces with the sole purpose of being used to do and create will become increasingly important. With this in mind, Autodesk has created an industrial workshop and innovation studio with a focus on making things in the built environment.
The Boston-based Building, Innovation, Learning, and Design (BUILD) Space will host teams from academia, industry, and practice doing work in fields including digital fabrication, design robotics, and industrialized construction. At no cost to the teams, the BUILD space will provide them with access to an appropriate workspace, advanced training, equipment, Autodesk personnel and executives, and other industry leaders in order to help them best accomplish their project goals, whatever they may be. The trade-off for the use of the space at no cost is that Autodesk gains a better understanding of how their construction customers and the broader business ecosystem will work in the future.
Courtesy of Autodesk
The BUILD Space is a sprawling 34,000-sf facility with space and equipment to support work with steel, wood, stone, concrete, ceramics, glass, and composites such as carbon fiber. Among its 60 pieces of large-format equipment are six industrial robots; 11 dedicated workshops for wood, metal fabrication, composites, 3D printing, laser cutting, and a large-format Computer Numerical Control router and waterjet; and a five-ton bridge crane for large fabrication projects and moving equipment and materials between floors.
Pillar Technologies, a company that uses on-site sensors to monitor for destructive environmental conditions such as fire outbreaks, high humidity exposure, and mold growth, was one of the first companies to join the Autodesk BUILD Space startup incubator. The company needed a space where it could continue to develop and improve their technology and chose the Autodesk BUILD Space because it allowed it to accomplish this goal in just a few weeks with minimal cost.
“This is so valuable because as a startup company, our scarcest resources are time and money,” says Alex Schwarzkopf, Co-Founder, Pillar Technologies, in a press release.
Autodesk chose Boston as the city for its BUILD Space due to its vibrant startup community, world-class universities and colleges, and large talent pool.
Courtesy of Autodesk
Courtesy of Autodesk
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Prism-shaped design unveiled for five-star hotel in Saudi Arabia
Goettsch Partners has been commissioned by Saudi Oger Ltd. to design a new five-star, 214-key business hotel in the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As a design-build assignment, Saudi Oger is serving as the contractor, selected by developer Rayadah Investment Company. The project is sited on Parcel 1.08, one of the first 10 parcels currently under development in the massive new master-planned district.
| Aug 11, 2010
Data center construction costs are down, according to a study by Environmental Systems Design
The current economic crisis has an up-side for owners of mission-critical facilities: On average, it costs less today to construct a new data center than it did in late 2007, according to a study by Environmental Systems Design (ESD). ESD found that the prices of feeder and cable have dropped by more than half, major data center equipment by 12%, labor and materials by 19.6%, and shipping and handling by 15% from the fourth quarter of 2007 to July 15, 2009.
| Aug 11, 2010
9 rooftop photovoltaic installation tips
The popularity of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels has exploded during the past decade as Building Teams look to maximize building energy efficiency, implement renewable energy measures, and achieve green building certification for their projects. However, installing rooftop PV systems—rack-mounted, roof-bearing, or fully integrated systems—requires careful consideration to avoid damaging the roof system.
| Aug 11, 2010
USGBC’s Greenbuild 2009 brings global ideas to local main streets
Save the planet with indigenous knowledge. Make permanent water part of your life. Dive deep water for clues to environmental success. Connect site selection to successful creative concepting. Explore the unknown with Discovery Channel’s best known guide. These are but a few of the big ideas participants can connect to at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, taking place on November 11-13, 2009 in Phoenix, Ariz.
| Aug 11, 2010
ASHRAE introduces building energy label prototype
Most of us know the fuel efficiency of our cars, but what about our buildings? ASHRAE is working to change that, moving one step closer today to introducing its building energy labeling program with release of a prototype label at its 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.
| Aug 11, 2010
USGBC considering LEED for Data Centers program
In a blog post this morning on Earth2Tech, Justin Moresco writes that the U.S. Green Building Council is giving strong consideration to developing a version of its LEED green building rating system for data centers.
| Aug 11, 2010
Johnson Controls announces program to help customers reduce chiller energy costs by up to 40%
Johnson Controls Inc., the global multi-industrial leader in providing energy efficiency solutions, is launching a new program to help owners of YORK® centrifugal chillers reduce chiller energy use by up to 40 percent. The program encourages facility managers to install variable-speed drive (VSD) technologies and identifies rebates and other financial incentives to assist with the payback.
