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How Affinity WorksTrelligence Affinity is easy-to-use software that allows you to capture building project information in a hierarchical manner based on simple assumptions that reduce data entry. The natural workflow in Affinity increases your ability to make informed decisions as you lay out space plans for the building. Architectural Planning & Programming1. Capture key project data & use to create the Program in Affinity.
Questionnaires can be shared with team members who do not have Affinity installed allowing experts and building owner constituents to participate easily in the requirements gathering process. Everything about the questionnaire is customizable as part of a template including what information is captured, how the questions flow and the presentation. Integrate your questionnaires with your firm’s processes, and if you choose, build it into your firm’s secure website.
Enter data directly into Affinity. Data can be entered directly into forms in the application or saved from the questionnaires to tables such as this Site Properties view. Just like the questionnaires, these forms can be customized so you are capturing the right information in the right order and at a level of detail relevant for your projects. Alternatively, import space program data from Excel into Affinity. Affinity can import complete space program information from a .csv or .xlsx file for immediate access for edits, reviews and reports. In addition to key department, room, quantities, areas and components, Affinity can import an unlimited number of associated data properties about each department, room or components. These are user-definable in the Affinity template used for the project. 2. Identify key client project requirements.
Requirements can be defined for the project, site, building, stories, spaces and any object in the plan. Affinity highlights requirements not being met in red and provides an explanation to help you make important decisions about the plan. Requirements can be measurable by Affinity (e.g. the building must include 5 Emergency Exits; the Conference Room must be at least 15 feet wide; the Cafeteria maximum capacity is 100 people at 14 sq ft each), can include relationships (adjacency and flow to), and can be 'soft' goals, for review and approval at any stage of the project.
The space program is created by identifingthe space/room type and the required quantities or areas for each space type. Spaces can be organized in meaningful groups based on departments or categories of spaces. Spaces and groups in the pick lists are customized in the template to model the type of project being planned. Once the properties, requirements and space plan are defined, conceptual schematic designs can be created using the program items as relevant building blocks. Affinity DesignAffinity Design can be used to quickly and easily build conceptual and schematic design scenarios for reviews with the project team and the client, before starting the more detailed design phase. Affinity Design offers several different approaches to the early design process, including building stacking routines, department-level layouts, use of background images for renovations, as well as many design tools for detailed schematic designs - including room shape/size manipulation, design annotations (text, lines, arrows, circles, etc.), use of view filters, including colors, space types, etc., and viewing options including 2D, stacking view, outline view and 3D view. Affinty Design is an optional step; the Affinity Program can be loaded directly into a BIM tools (Revit or ArchiCAD); that design is then synced by to Affinity for Design Validation. 1. Define the site and items on the site.
In the schematic design area of Affinity you can create the site dimensions and setbacks and add site objects, all of which are customizable in the template. For more detailed planning, enter the actual survey data of the site. 2. Layout the building(s) graphically - optionally in multiple design scenarios.
Affinity includes utilities that can automatically stack a building based on information in the Space Program and/or Relationships Diagram, according to variables entered by the user (e.g. total Building footprint size, number of stories, by Department, etc.). Affinity allows the user to drag and drop spaces from the program and visually lay them out on stories in multiple buildings. The spaces can then be manipulated (by size, shape - including curved walls, colors, etc.); all program information is kept with the space for reference by the designers and the production team. Each story is represented on a separate tab and the palette of program items, spaces and objects are items you can drag and drop onto the stories, move around, resize and define in detail. Affinity spaces are three-dimensional, information-rich objects for which you can record any amount of data and spaces with detailed information can be saved in the template and reused quickly in the design process. 3. Add any level of detail to the schematic design.
Information about each space is defined in the Properties view and the specific names and types of properties can be customized in the template. Affinity can include cost and area data as well as details about the finish or use of the space. Calculated information is highlighted in gray. If required information is not being met or correctly defined, the row is highlighted in red.
Requirements can be set for each space in the project and those not being met are highlighted in red with an explanation. Affinity allows you to define intelligence among items in the project such as requiring that a space be located at the front of a building or adjacent to another space.
Many additional details can be captured using the Affinity schematic design options. For example, objects can be added as a fill related to the size of a space so you do not need to calculate the number of items required. 4. Work in a tabular view for defining the building.
The project outline view, another tab in the Schematic Design area of Affinity, provides all the detail of the plan in a hierarchical mode. You can drag spaces from libraries of spaces, openings and objects on the left navigation pane in Affinity or add items defined in the space program just as you do on the story views. Data can be edited in this tabular view making it easy to create an initial plan before thinking about the graphical layout.
Affinity lets you visualize the schematic design in 3D, stack and block the spaces and determine if the basic plan is ready for the design phase. Pan and rotate the design, separate the floors or view the building in wire frame. Project Analysis & Validation1. Let Affinity analyze the plan.
Reports in Affinity help you to review the project and identify the relationships between the plan and the initial design. Reports are available in HTML and Excel formats and can be customized to show the specific information needed for your project. The Schematic Design Summary provides general information and details about each space. Excel reports can be edited and shared with the project team. 2. Affinity validates design compliance with the program requirements.
Re-check the requirements views for the project or review requirements reports to identify issues in the initial design. Or, open the Program-to-Actual View in the Space Program and turn on the red alerts to view discrepancies.
Early stage cost estimation is available with Affinity. Cost is defined at the project level in a hierarchical structure so you can add specific cost to any space or item in the plan or allow the defaults to provide a thumb-nail sketch of cost based on the size and quantity of spaces. Affinity handles fixed and variable cost for any item in the plan. Interoperate1. Open the Affinity project file in ArchiCAD or in Revit for full BIM integration.
Once an Affinity project is opened using the Affinity for ArchiCAD or Affinity for Revit integration, you can check and edit requirements for the project and each space.
All the Affinity views are also available within the BIM tool (including the Space Program, pictured above) and as you update the plan in either view, the other one is updated automatically (in ArchiCAD) or after clicking 'Resync' (in Revit Architecture). This integration delivers a deep level of interoperability for the project. 2. Export to CAD tools or software that supports DXF or CSV formats.
You can export a DXF file defining many preferences for the Affinity file and import that information into a CAD tool or an estimating tool. Affinity also supports CSV formats. Customize Affinity Templates to Model Your Firm’s ProcessesAffinity is modeled on a template system so that you can control the workflow in the product and the details of the system related to specific project types. Tutorials assist in learning to create templates for various project types such as hospitals, schools and institutional buildings. You can also work with Trelligence or a Trelligence-certified process consultant to create the templates for your projects. Technical RequirementsAffinity is available on all current Microsoft Windows platforms. Minimum requirements:
Affinity architectural software is available with English language support. We are working with our resellers to provide additional language support.
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Trelligence is designed to “inform the designer, without forcing the design programming onto the designer”.
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