Real-time design
So far, the HOK team have used Unreal Engine throughout the entire schematic design process for the project, which includes the Centre Block building receiving a host of upgrades including seismic base isolation pads, high-performance insulation, and mechanical and electrical equipment such as enhanced audio devices in the Senate and House of Commons.
“From day one, it’s helped us to perform content audits internally, and convey our proposed design intent in a far more engaging way,” Cichy says. “We do not possess another tool that can handle multi-terabyte data streams as well as Unreal Engine—regardless of whether these are represented in real time or simply harvested to coordinate various data sources.”
Their interactive walkthroughs have already brought huge benefits to the Centre Block project, as clients could make decisions and comment on what they did or didn’t like about the project’s renovation design strategies directly in virtual reality, before spending billions on a decision that could make permanent changes to a site of historic significance.