Travellers: Design collaboration and digital media

This paper examines the use of 3D electronic medium as a tool for procuring detailed design information for the Sandridge Bridge Travellers project. The Sandridge Bridge Travellers project required the production of 10 7.5 m of tall × 5 - 12 m of wide figures under very tight programme and budget constraints. This was achieved through a synthesis of art and engineering, whereby structure and sculpture become one and the same. Traditional procurement routes would have entailed the production and interpretation of drawings and design details at all discipline interfaces before fabrication; an approach that was unfeasible given the constraints. Instead, The Travellers project saw a single electronic file pass backwards and forwards from client to architect, engineer, and fabricator, with information from the initial artistic concept work phases through to analysis, design, member scheduling and fabrication all integrated and facilitated by a single electronic medium. Key to the delivery was the use of 3D modeling and scripting programs that enabled the efficient use and development of design information through all stages of the design process. This enabled total integration of all trades requiring a collaborative approach where each party maintained joint ownership of the 3D design information from inception to conception