We’re bringing real-time masterplanning one step closer

Buro Happold and Flux launch their free SmartSpaceAnalyser app, an intuitive tool that can extract rich data from a city district on a Google map in just a few clicks.

Imagine if urban planners, architects and decision makers had access to rich, layered data about the district or city masterplan they were working with? And if complex modelling data analytics was accessible right from the web, from within a familiar Google Maps platform?

What if they also had access to analytical tools that demonstrate how their designs or decisions affect the quality of life, economic value and environmental impact – eg; how vibrant, noisy, windy, congested or active the new site would be? And able to run these analytics in real-time, as you manipulate the design model?

Real-time Masterplanning is on the horizon through a collaboration between global consulting engineers Buro Happold and Flux, launching launching their beta version of the SmartSpaceAnalyser app on the Flux App Store.

This is an exciting time for the industry. Realtime analysis and simulation tools will go a long way in transforming how we design and operate the buildings and cities of the future, and this collaboration with flux.io is a major step in that direction.

Shrikant Sharma, Smart Space Director at Buro Happold

Visit smart.burohappold.com to find out more about Buro Happold’s SmartSpace team and get a link to the free tool. Or keep reading below.

Extracting available data and exporting it to design programmes

Using a drag and draw interface on top of Google Maps, the tool currently in beta users drop target points and then  provides visual feedback on performance measures, including connectivity between existing sites and new developments, travel distances, visibility and wayfinding.

Users can quickly run these analytics in real-time, then export all the analytics to the most common 3D modelling and BIM environments of Sketch-up, Rhino 3D and Revit, for further analysis and integration with the design workflow.

This is possible thanks to the power of Flux’s interoperability platform and the real-time modelling and analysis tool developed Buro Happold’s Smart Space consultants. This initial release focuses primarily on the spatial context analysis of the urban realm. The future extensions to the tool will allow modelling of environmental and economic impacts – as well the impacts of the development in terms of how happy a place is for people!

Review the current situation, identify trends, highlight issues and spot opportunities

Being able to harness, visualise and drill down into the spatial connectivity information is crucial to understanding the current situation, identify trends, highlight issues and spot opportunities. An ever-increasing volume of data about the cities we live in is becoming publicly available – going beyond describing shape and form it tells us how and when people use spaces and resources and what they feel about their experience. How can we use this rich information to shape and enhance our future cities, buildings, lifestyles and societies and communities?

SmartSpaceAnalyser is also extendable to incorporate live data sources and highly compatible with our simulation tool SmartMove, facilitating real-time monitoring of a city, evidence based decision-making and predictive modelling to inform future scenarios.

We recognise the risk of not using this data and going with instinct or intuition – it can result in inefficient designs, poor user experience and in the worst cases serious incidents. The outputs from the app can help make strategic and tactical decisions, drive designs that are based on evidence not gut feel, and optimise real-time operations in a way that we know will work. Ultimately, basing decisions on data saves money, improves experience and helps avoid catastrophes.

Want to try the tool right now? Click here.