Building blocks for success

Architectural industry mainstay improves staff productivity and services to partners and clients using Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard software.

Competition is tough on the international stage of planning and architecture. Global organisations have to work faster and more creatively to win a contract, and are constantly looking for innovative ways to present their ideas and streamline the creative process.

Founded in Australia in 1938, HASSELL is a single, privately owned international network of design studios. Each has the flexibility and autonomy to service local clients, and the advantages of access to an integrated culture, combined resources, and collective experience.

A multidisciplinary design practice, HASSELL is structured around the key disciplines of architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and planning, with integrated sustainability and urban design capabilities. Drawing on influences from many disciplines, HASSELL combines learning and experience from all disciplines to inform their design work.

Creative collaboration from anywhere

"Our technical pieces developed for clients in Australia and internationally are the result of combined efforts of our three main technology teams: ICT, CAD Management, and Business Systems," explains HASSELL's Chief Information Officer, Bill Rue.

For many years, HASSELL had used Adobe Acrobat software intermittently to convert proposals and other support materials into high-quality, reliable print output and easy-to-distribute digital files. The Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files produced for architectural technical drawings can accurately reflect the scale of a plan. This is a valuable industry tool because it means that external consultants, engineers, and clients can use the free Adobe Reader to view and interact with drawings without having to purchase software or revert to paper.

"Adobe Acrobat Pro is fantastic in its simplicity and much richer in functionality compared to competing applications. It generates quality Adobe PDF files with the resolution that we expect when we present plans to our clients," says Rue.

With the success of Adobe Acrobat Pro, HASSELL teams were inspired to utilise innovative design and collaboration technology to create the optimum environment for working on client projects across the practice's studios in Australia and internationally. They also wanted to create detailed site plans and impressive graphics that made every document they produced stand out.

Leveraging Adobe solutions

HASSELL chose Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard for approximately 250 of its design professionals. An additional 750 licenses of Adobe Acrobat Pro were provided to HASSELL employees, ensuring the application was available to the entire organisation.

"We followed a structured change management and evaluation process with all roads leading to Adobe. No other tools came close to the reliability and consistency of Adobe software," says Rue. "From past experience, we knew Adobe PDF could be used to speed up workflow and allow quick markups; a perfect starting point for where we wanted to go."

"Using Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard software made sense because it enabled us to roll out our new software capabilities efficiently," says Rue. "Our approach to upgrading gave us flexibility and stability, which is a key challenge when adopting any technology. We can also take advantage of new upgrades, and better meet our internal compliance policies."



User satisfaction boosts productivity

Following a seamless roll out, the reaction from HASSELL employees has been positive. The new software has resulted in extra efficiency and productivity with faster turnarounds. In addition, customers soon began to notice a higher quality of work in less time.

"Due to the ease of using Creative Suite Design Standard software, we have only heard positive feedback from employees, partners, and clients," says Joint Group CAD Manager at HASSELL, Dale Hewlett. "Furthermore, using Adobe Acrobat Pro for review purposes has helped ensure professional output and instilled even greater client confidence in our capabilities."

Interactive presentations and a "green" and easy revision process

In HASSELL's Perth studio, Adobe Acrobat Pro enables the practice to create an interactive web presentation tool.

"Using dynamic shop drawing stamps, the review cycle has become more straightforward," says Hewlett. "Whether it is internally from HASSELL, or externally from architects, drafting professionals, or clients, comments are clearly documented and easy to read. The markup functions are terrific, and phenomenally easier and quicker than sending detailed instructions in e-mail or retracing plans on paper!"

This helps ensure the integrity of the review process is upheld and discussion and further enhancement of the design is facilitated.

Similarly, in the Brisbane studio, revision stamps have been customised to help automate the creation of forms and collection of data. "There are certain areas of the business that have benefited immensely from the ability to customise and automate XML forms in Acrobat Pro," says Hewlett. "We have a significant number of licenses and certain skill sets, so it makes sense to build on this with all the functionality Acrobat Pro provides."

"An added bonus to relying on Acrobat Pro in the approvals process is we are a much more sustainable business. Previously, our use of printing, couriers, mail, and written instructions was a lot heavier," adds Hewlett.