CREJ

36 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / March 2018 ELEMENTS Virtual Reality I recently sat down with Gensler architect Alex Garrison to discuss where, why and how the firm has been using virtual reality, and what the response has been. Can you describe how has your office been using VR and what the reception has been like? AG We’ve been using VR for a few years now, primar- ily for 360-degree rendering and we share those with clients through Samsung Gear headsets in the office. Overall clients love it. It blends both seeing the de- sign of their project with the novelty of being able to use a VR headset. We’ve had a very positive reaction and it’s certainly a real asset to our design process. Our design teams internally are also really enjoying using it. There’s always something new we discover for the first time when we put on the VR headset and start looking around the space that’s being designed. Overall, it’s been really positive. Can you describe a recent project where VR played a role in your design? AG We’re working on a project at Eagle County Airport, where we’re adding a new waiting area to the existing terminal building. As part of this, we needed to devel- op everything from a structural concept to the look and feel, including materiality, lighting and even how large the windows will be for the mountain view while pas- sengers wait for their flight. The visual impact of these separate elements really stand out when we render and look around the design wearing the VR headset. For instance, in one case we had a couple of different structural ideas; one of them had large trusses that ex- tended into the volume of the space and it felt cramped when we viewed it through a headset. Following that, we tried a concept without the deep trusses and the space felt big and voluminous. VR offered a compelling sense of scale, which allowed us to accelerate the design pro- cess. So as a designer who has been practicing ar- chitecture for some time, it still helps with the understanding of scale and space? AG Absolutely. As architects, we often rely on bench- marks, such as certain story-to-facade ratios or typical window heights because we know they have worked in the past. Now, on top of using benchmarks, VR can help us explore, experiment and push these thresholds to see what a triple-height space would feel like, for example. We’re able to simulate our experimentation, learn from Robert Kendal Managing Director, Yulio Technologies Talking Virtual Reality for Architects and Clients Virtual reality has been helpful in designing Giambrocco – a mixed-use project planned in Denver – to ex- plore the public realm that stitches together several buildings and different uses into a cohesive whole. Alex Garrison