Feature Factory: Product Design and Architecture in SolidWorks

“That storefront looks spectacular. I’m tellin’ ya, it looks like it’s sizzlin’ right up from THE GROUND.” Yes, the colors are mesmerizing your eye holes and you grasp for word to explain how structures can seemingly float curvaceously in front of you.

Steel, screws and a little SolidWorks magic, I say, and Feature Factory has got loads of magical magic-ness – by which I mean, they’ve got some engineers, designers and fabbers that know a thing or two about creating fine architectural features using parametric modeling.

Good ideas, better reality
Feature Factory is based out of Toronto, ON Canada, but has client and projects all over the world. They are not shy about letting anyone visiting their site how important parametrics are to the process of designing and constructing architecturally-rich structural systems and facades.

What we have discovered is that PSM [Parametric Solid Modeling] is not just a fundamentally new and better way of doing things, PSM is building. Unlike conventional drawing, which does not handle each component individualy, during the PSM design process the geometry and dimensions of every component is defined, effectively laying out the material for subsequent cutting and processing. – ^{Advatages of PSM}

There’s pages of content in their featured projects that show just how they are using SolidWorks for everything from signs and storefronts to houses and kiosks. I’m serious, nothing seems to big or small for this team and the detail they show of their SolidWorks models makes their knowledge about constructing structures from a 3D parametric modeling approach all the more apparent.

NYC Gehry building signage
Imported building geometry helped in the design and construction of this IAC sign for the Gehry building.