Entuitive’s Vertebrae explores innovation

While it might be an overstatement to suggest Entuitive Engineering’s Vertebrae is revolutionary, the engineering firm says it has and will continue to enhance design, identify material and costs efficiencies and savings, and reduce construction challenges.

Developed over an 18-month period and used on projects such as Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto and the new Central Library in Calgary, Vertebrae is not a product, software, or even a service.

Rather, it’s a methodology the firm is taking in exploring emerging technology relating to building design and construction, says Peter Olendzki, senior structural engineer and head of the Vertebrae group.

"We play with these advanced technologies to determine the best applications to our client’s specific challenges and to our internal workflow," he says.

"When we have determined that a technology is viable, we move it out of Vertebrae and into that workflow."

It’s similar to how technology is commercialized in the high-tech or biotech sectors, he explains.

Currently, the Vertebrae group is exploring computational modeling, environmental and daylighting study analysis, virtual reality, and 3-D printing.

One area which Olendzki says the company has successfully moved from the experimental stage to integration with its regular project stream is the linkage between parametric modeling tools and its structural analysis software.

Because of the parametric nature of the modeling, proposed design changes are made in real-time without leaving the 3-D environment or changing parameters — and often with the architect, the client, the contractor, and even subcontractors sitting together in one room.

The impact of those changes from a design, cost, and construction perspective can be seen, analyzed, and debated. Not only does this save time and money it greatly increases collaboration among the various project partners, says Olendzki.  Architects like this approach because it allows them to quickly explore many options for complex geometric design to arrive at optimal solutions compared to more traditional design which can take weeks or months to complete.

Contractors, building owners and developers also like it because it is quick, helps optimize the design and potentially reduces construction costs.

A specific example is the firm’s design of a transit shelter. It involves an irregular geometric shape that would be clad with glass panels. (The project can’t be identified for confidentially reasons.)

"Using the parametric modeling processes that was developed by our Vertebrae group, we were able to very quickly build a 3-D model which then was linked to our structural analysis software and run through thousands of options of the curvature of the façade to determine the optimized size of the glass panels," he says. "Running through those options took only a matter of minutes and the results were displayed in an intuitive visual representation."

Another project is the New Central Library in Calgary where Entuitive Engineering used the parametric mode/ structural analysis software linkage to quickly optimize the steel trusses.

That played a large role in helping create large, open spaces that are central to the building’s design, he says.

In other spheres of Vertebrae, the firm is collaborating with a number of partners to explore 3-D printing structural steel components, says Olendzki.

"This is an emerging field that will greatly impact how buildings are constructed in the future."