BricsCAD helps SLIK Architekten create reliable architectural drawings

Located in Zurich, Switzerland, SLIK Architekten is a medium-sized architectural firm that presents a strong portfolio of cutting-edge building and urban design projects. SLIK Architekten uses BricsCAD and BricsCAD^® BIM permanent network licenses to create reliable architectural drawings quickly.

One of the founding partners at SLIK Architekten, Steffen Lemmerzahl, shared his thoughts on the growing importance of 3D modeling in today’s architectural space: “The architectural drawing has been the main medium of our profession for quite a long time and BricsCAD is our tool of choice to make these drawings. Our design plans are sent for approval to landlords and authorities and finally to construction builders to realize them. Meanwhile, a 3D model has become more and more important. Since our founding days, we use 3D models to develop our designs and BricsCAD comes in when a design is realized and we need a precise and exchangeable IFC-Model.”

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
Initially, SLIK Architekten worked with the industry-standard CAD software developed by Autodesk^®. Recent changes to Autodesk’s licensing model didn’t align with the way SLIK Architekten operates. Their workflow requires them to have the ability to access their work anytime, anywhere, and be in control of decisions regarding software updates. Lemmerzahl commented: “We can’t risk losing access to our main body of work because a software company decides to change something in their products. In general, we use an ecosystem of different software packages where BricsCAD fits in very well with its perfect DWG compatibility.”

MAKING THE TRANSITION
Moving from AutoCAD^® to BricsCAD was a straightforward process for SLIK Architekten. It was important they could still use their original templates and libraries. Lemmerzahl explains, “A small team of two did all the preparations regarding our libraries and templates. Then we deployed BricsCAD running parallel to AutoCAD^® LT to make sure we had a fallback if we needed it. When we made the migration from Windows 7 to Windows 10, we removed AutoCAD^® LT and nobody ever noticed.”

The transition to BricsCAD was fast and took little effort for the team at SLIK Architekten. “We didn’t need any support during migration outside of manuals and wisdom of the forums,” commented Lemmerzahl. “BricsCAD is our main workhorse. We rely on it and we trust it.”