Archinect - News

Company that projects life-size plans for client walkthroughs is coming to the U.S.

2022-10-06T11:20:00-04:00

A company that projects architectural plans at a 1:1 scale is planning to expand its operations to the United States. Lifesize Plans, headquartered in Australia, describes itself as "the world’s first patented projection system allowing clients to walkthrough their building project in life-size before construction begins."

The company was founded in 2017 by Chris Ghaleb, whose early days included an appearance on the television show Shark Tank. In their large showrooms across Australia, Lifesize allows any project to be projected at a 1:1 scale, while also providing real furniture, household items, partition walls, and decorations to offer clients a deeper understanding of their proposed scheme’s spatial qualities.

Image: Lifesize Plans / Instagram

"With the use of state of the art technology and tailored programs we are able to show your complete dwelling – including upper and lower floors, backyards, swimming pools and entertaining areas, along with driveways and parking spaces to...

Munger Hall now has a walkthrough for the skeptical

2022-06-03T18:31:00-04:00

Not giving up is an important aspect of undergraduate learning, and the University of California, Santa Barbara is neatly reinforcing that lesson by offering a new preview of its besmirched Munger Hall megadorm project seven months following the initial public rollout.

Billionaire donor Charles Munger’s ambitious design is now offering in-person tours of mockups to students, faculty, and staff in addition to an animated video walkthrough of its record-breaking 1.68-million-square-foot interior, which is beset with outward-facing lounges and common areas to offset an otherwise “inhumane” lack of windows and natural light in the living quarters.

Photo courtesy UCSB.

The university began erecting full-scale physical mockups a few years ago with the purpose of soliciting “campus feedback,” but plans of in-person tours were pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the opportunity of walkthroughs has reemerged, the exhibition also aims at dissuading a growing chorus of skeptics t...

"A blueprint can give you an idea, but this cements it for you.” – VR's promising future in architectural communications

2016-01-25T18:00:00-05:00

LHB has become one of the nation’s first design firms to incorporate virtual reality, or VR, across the sweep of its in-house teams [...] “With VR, you can inhabit the space in full scale...You get a far more physical sense of what that space is going to be.” [...] Virtual reality also has potential to be “the great equalizer,” LHB’s Fischer noted. A middle-school maintenance worker can put on a VR headset and notice design flaws that might go unnoticed by project managers.