Teaching CAAD at Sheffield University

The University of Sheffield Department of Architecture has been using Computer Aided Architectural Design in its teaching now for over ten years. During that time there has also been a major research unit in CAAD working in the department and most of the software used in our teaching programme has originated in our own research unit. Our students have now got access to a wide range of CAAD programs including 2D draughting, 3D colour visualisation, environmental analysis, structural design and cost estimating. We have generated our own specialised systems of terrain modelling and intelligent building modelling which link to both the visualisation and environmental appraisal software. Students also have access to data base and word processing software. CAAD has been used in all five years of our course and we also have students working with CAAD during their professional experience years. Over this ten year period we have gradually altered and refined our approach to the educational use of CAAD and this paper will describe this approach and present some of the lessons we have learnt. I want to organise the paper into two main sections, firstly what are we trying to achieve by teaching CAAD on our course, and secondly, how do we fit this into the curriculum and what effect does it have