Hikuwai Residential Subdivision - Southern Land Ltd

Project Summary

A 200+ lot residential subdivision in “Wanaka – one of the most beautiful, breathtaking, towns that New Zealand’s South Island has to offer.”
(Source: Hikuwai website)

The Challenge

The magnitude of the project was the main challenge, but the team at Southern Land was confident they could find a solution using the right tools.

The Solution

All aspects of the subdivision process were calculated, designed and drafted in 12d Model software, starting with the scheme plan and finishing with IFC drawings.

Using 12d Model’s Multipage Plots functionality to manage drawing sets, the team determined that using 12d Model as a ‘One Stop Shop’ for all aspects of the subdivision process would be the best decision for this project:

1. Scheme Plan
• The Initial Boundary Data was first calculated with the Traverse spreadsheet
• Lot creation numbering and labelling was achieved through use of the Estate Lots tools
• Xtra_User_drafting tools were used for dimensioning
• The Insert Table From .csv feature was used for Memorandum of easements tables
• A four-page scheme plan set was created using Multipage Plots, with Title Block information read in from a drawing register.

Throughout the process, there were four revisions required. Revision changes were lightning fast as each step of the process was recorded through 12d Model Chains.

The process of adding some additional lots into the first stage of the project consisted of adding lot polygons, numbering them, updating the drawing register, and running the labelling and plotting chain.

2. Engineering Design
From the Scheme Plan 12d Model project, the relevant models were shared out so that any lot numbering changes happening on the Scheme Plan were able to follow through to the Engineering drawing set.

A number of Design Chains were set up to record each step of the design process on the way through so that any changes made in the design could be easily updated through all aspects of both the design and surface Models, and updated in each relevant drawing.

For example, if a vertical alignment of a road was changed, the roading chain would resolve all super alignments to update any computators and re-calculate the road and earthworks design strings from the MTFs. The surfaces chain could then be run to re-calculates surfaces, and update cut-to-fill depth plans and plots to model design contours. From there, the drainage chain would regrade drainage strings and plots to model in both plan and long sections.

This process means that from the beginning of a project, the team could first set up Multipage Plots, and then add in the design elements required for Councils/Contractors’ approval/construction.

At all stages of the design process, Southern Land could quickly and simply print a drawing set (even if the design was not complete) for discussion and collaboration with clients/engineers and contractors. Any design changes made following those discussions/collaboration with other professionals could then be easily and promptly updated and, within minutes, be shown on a plan face.

On top of this, when the time came for construction, Southern Land could guarantee that the design information shown on the approved set of plans was exactly what they had out in the field with them to set out, not something drawn in a drafting package elsewhere.

The Result

Southern Land’s Grant Wandel said, “Multipage Plots were a real game changer for me in the way I am able to plot large sets of .pdfs straight from 12d Model with small file sizes.”

He was similarly impressed with the way in which revision changes could be made with lightning-quick turnarounds.

Other benefits of using 12d Model on this project included:

• Drawing Titles and Revision being controlled in one place (drawing register)
• Dynamic CAD drafting functions - when changing the shape of a lot, the area and dimensions change with it
• Typical Drawings and Notes and legends written in/out to the 12da Library for future use in other drawing sets
• 12d Synergy attributes fed straight to the plan face

12d Model’s Multipage Plots functionality offered the ability to design a subdivision from concept to completion in an efficient and dynamic manner. This resulted in an accurate, complex, robust, attractive, and timely design that easily surpassed the increasingly demanding expectations from clients and local governments.

Being able to work wholly within one software package, with no external products required.