WHW visits the Data Cave

Spring has finally arrived in Halifax - and what better way to celebrate the change of seasons than a visit to the Institute of Computational Astrophysics, at Saint Mary's University.  This month, teams of WHW architects, computer modelers, and program staff have been visiting Saint Mary's to learn about their Data Cave facility, an 3D, interactive, full-immersion computer simulator operated as part of the Atlantic Computational Excellence Network (ACEnet).  This advanced facility is used by scientists and researchers throughout Atlantic Canada to model the behaviour of everything from star clusters and galaxies, to molecules and sub-atomic particles. 

The use of computers in architecture is quickly moving beyond simple physical design and presentation work, to include parametric modeling techniques such as BIM (building information modelling).  The idea is to allow architects and design teams to become more productive, and allow clients to integrate their long-term operating decisions with the physical structure of their buildings.  It's better design making better buildings.

During our visit to Saint Mary's, we had a chance to look into the future at how technologies and facilities such as the Data Cave might be used to visualize dynamic energy distribution, air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, and other hard to conceptualize qualties that can make-or-break a great building. Our visit to the ACEnet facility at Saint Mary's University was hosted by Professor Robert Deupree, of the Department of Astronomy and Physics, and Director of the Institute for Computational Astrophysics.