BESSARDs' Studio prides itself on its small footprint, allowing complete control over the architectural design process. Using ARCHICAD and Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies, the company's employees create high-quality complex projects.
"Computer technology empowers architects to enjoy their workflow."
This is how Charles Bessard connected the use of the latest digital tools in his company with the satisfaction that architects have when they see their projects implemented.
Everyone is responsible for the whole process
BESSARDs' Studio is housed in a former warehouse opposite Falledparken in Osterbro, Copenhagen. The history of BESSARDs' Studio dates back to 2005, when Charles Bessad, together with his partner Nanne de Ru, founded Powerhouse, an international company with ambitious goals and offices in Copenhagen and Rotterdam. This collaboration lasted more than 10 years, but then each partner decided to go their own way. As a result, Charles Bessad created BESSARDs' Studio, which he now runs with his wife Lotte Bessard. While Powerhouse's strategy was to expand and grow its team, BESSARDs ’Studio focused on streamlining workflows and building a close-knit team of partners and employees with the necessary knowledge to fully develop architectural designs in close contact with customers. “We prefer to remain a small but efficient architecture firm, where employees are attentive to all stages of design,” says Charles Bessad, one of the partners of BESSARDs ’Studio. - The small size of the company gives a lot of freedom in choosing an approach to each individual project. This means that each employee is fully responsible for their work. Thus, we manage to remain a team of professionals without spending too much time on the administration of the company. The goal of BESSARDs ’Studio is not expansion, but a high-quality study of projects with a full understanding of each stage of their implementation."
"We want to change the design process in such a way that architects have a holistic approach to each project they develop."
Attention to detail
“The details are far from secondary. They may not be immediately evident, but it is the details that ultimately determine the functionality of the building, its overall perception and the ambiance of the various rooms. Details can tell whole stories about buildings, which is why we strive to create building designs that are as full of detail as Swiss army knives. However, the real miracle happens only when all the initial design conditions are taken into account: the building site, the functional purpose of the building, its area, building materials and budget,”explains Latte Bessad, who is the second partner at BESSARDs’ Studio.
BESSARDs ’Studio is involved in a wide variety of projects, from private homes and yacht design to the reconstruction of a lighthouse or the conversion of a large factory building into a climbing wall. New AArch is a competition project for a new architecture school in Aarhus, created by BESSARDs´ Studio in cooperation with Lacaton Vassal. The school building is designed to host a variety of competitions, research activities and teaching. “Our approach to design, of course, leaves its mark on the projects we do,” says Lotte Bessad. - An integrated approach always involves working in several directions at once, such as communication with the customer and the contractor, analysis of the development site and the functional purpose of the facility, its budget, structures and building materials. Sometimes we solve our problems from general to specific. In other cases, our approach changes dramatically, that is, the details or preferred materials become the starting point of the entire design."
BIM technologies provide a complete analysis of the project
It is important for the client that the architect controls the project budget. This requires the implementation of estimates already in the early stages of design. “We want to control volumes and other quantitative indicators in order to understand the cost of construction. Some solutions allow you to save on building materials, but they are technologically complex. Therefore, our goal is to obtain the total cost of the building from the very beginning of the project,”says Lotte Bessad.
The most important thing is to “touch and feel” the building. This expression is also used by Apple when describing its devices and software products. “Participation in architectural competitions is only a superficial work on projects, because about 90% of the time and effort is spent on concept development, visualization and preparation of demonstration materials. We like to implement our projects, because experience and satisfaction from a well-executed project cannot be replaced by any picture,”says Charles.
Working comprehensively on a project, an architect needs to constantly solve various issues, often related to different stages and sections of the design. Therefore, the use of BIM solutions is incredibly important for small engineering firms.
“BIM helps us unlock and maximize our own potential. To tie together all the design stages, we need a single software solution. By building our work on the basis of BIM, we can get more accurate estimates and have full control over the project, explains Lotte Bessad. - Our customers are not interested in typical buildings and standard solutions. But it is quite difficult for allied specialists to immediately determine the exact cost of performing some work, so it is very important for us to have a clear understanding of the tasks and the applied design solutions."
Integral part of the process
During the still not very long existence of BESSARDs ’Studio, BIM solutions quickly became an integral part of the company's workflow. “Designing within a single model allows us to better control the entire project from the outset,” comments Charles Bessad. - Using BIM is also a way to secure a company. The architect immediately plunges into the elaboration of the details and structures of the building. This leads not only to a decrease in the cost of construction, but also improves its quality, because control over the entire project reduces the risk of errors."
“You start with a better prepared foundation and can switch to working on details and then back again to general design decisions. With this approach, ARCHICAD is a unique tool compared to all other BIM solutions. Charles Bessad, architect
"ARCHICAD is fantastic!"
All BESSARDs ’Studio employees are engaged in BIM design. "It is fantastic! ARCHICAD allows us to do all the work in 3D, significantly saving our work time. As we do this, we can add more and more information to the models, thus linking the different stages of the project,”explains Charles. He sees great benefits in Building Information Modeling: “BIM allows you to quickly solve problems related to different stages of design, work on the concept and detailing, and perform calculations. Starting with a better prepared foundation, you can switch to working on details and then back again to general design decisions."
“ARCHICAD is unique compared to all other BIM solutions. BIM design is an integrated approach that replaces the traditional organization of the workflow. Traditional stage design does not always solve complex problems well. An integrated approach makes it possible to find more interesting and consistent solutions, getting significantly better results, Charles and Lotte argue.- It is important for the creative process that the architect is comfortable with the organization of work. This increases energy and contributes to a constructive and productive dialogue between the designer and the customer."
Meeting the new with the old
An example of a project for a modern house with a thatched roof. Since the outer layer of the roof is very thick and the inner structure is thin, it was necessary to model a multi-layer roof structure so that the architects could determine the required wall heights and better design the building. In houses with thatched roofs, low exterior walls look more harmonious. The entire structure was created, calculated and visualized directly in ARCHICAD at the stage of preliminary design. Such an integrated approach demonstrates the ability to solve issues and problems related to different stages of design.
Everything is concentrated in the BIM model
Storing all information and working in one model increases the speed and quality of design. Therefore, BESSARDs' Studio has dedicated resources to create professional visualizations directly in ARCHICAD. In their work, architects also use the mobile BIMx app in conjunction with Google Cardboard, even when creating preliminary models. This simplifies the assessment of the scale of projects and allows customers to familiarize themselves with the proposed solutions without leaving home. BESSARDs ’Studio combines traditional architectural principles with modern workflow requirements. They do not wait for the development of technologies, but are constantly looking for new ways to use existing ones - as great architects always did.
About BESSARDs' Studio
Founded by Charles Bessad in 2005, BESSARDs'Studio was originally called the Powerhouse Company ApS. Today BESSARDs`Studio is an award-winning architecture and research company led by Lotte and Charles Bessad and based in Copenhagen. Over the years of development, the company has come to an integrated approach to design, combining at the same time the search for conceptual solutions, elaboration of details, economic assessment, field supervision and project support.
About GRAPHISOFT
GRAPHISOFT Company® revolutionized the BIM in 1984 with ARCHICAD® Is the industry's first BIM solution for architects in the CAD industry. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the architectural software market with innovative products such as BIMcloud ™, the world's first real-time collaborative BIM design solution, EcoDesigner ™, the world's first fully integrated energy modeling and energy efficiency assessments of buildings and BIMx® Is the leading mobile app for showcasing and presenting BIM models. Since 2007, GRAPHISOFT has been part of the Nemetschek Group.
