1. Introduction
4th Dimensional Façade Solutions is a New
Zealand-based design and build consultancy,
which specialises in glass façades, and also deals
in timber and steel works. Founded by Jason
Dent, 4th Dimensional Façade Solutions has
been operating since 2004 and has been using
Autodesk products since 2007.
Today, the two-man façade design consultancy
is renowned for accomplishing projects which
involve ordering 100% non-site measured
materials. The company prides itself on
completing projects with unique physical and
environmental features and developments that
involve highly complex design and building
procedures.
4th Dimensional Façade Solutions has recently
completed a variety of projects that have
provided a number of design & build challenges
for the company to overcome. These projects
include the RAL Café that sits atop Mount
Ruapehu, 6,000 feet above sea level on the edge
of the mountain; Casita Miro Restaurant, a Gold
medal winner in the New Zealand Master Builder
Awards, with a distinct Moroccan-style design;
and a dream holiday home, Jagged Edge, located
within the exclusive Lake Ridge Subdivision,
Closeburn, Queenstown.
Taking on the impossible
RAL Café is a $10.5 million structure that
experiences extreme weather patterns. Despite
the challenging weather conditions, the project
had to be completed within nine months to
ensure it could maximise the revenue from the
popular ski season. The project was therefore
under a strict nine month deadline. Casita
Miro also had a tight deadline of nine months
to ensure the venue was ready for the summer
wine season and the tourists that would visit the
region.
The power of Autodesk
Inventor makes the
impossible, possible
Autodesk®
Inventor®
enables
100% non-site measured
award winning structures
4th Dimensional Façade
Solutions
Customer Success Story
Autodesk®
Inventor®
Professional 2011
AutoCAD®
Mechanical 2011
AutoCAD®
2011
Autodesk®
Inventor®
View 2011
With Autodesk Inventor,
the entire project team
could work efficiently
from a single 3D model
and use the Digital
Prototyping workflow to
save time in the building
phase. This enabled us
to spend more time on
exploring our creativity
and developing highly
innovative designs.
—Jason Dent
Founder of 4th Dimensional
Façade Solutions

2. Professional 2011 enabled 4th Dimensional
Façade Solutions to confidently order 100%
non-site measured materials from overseas
manufacturers for each project.
The design team developed complete 3D
models of the façades for RAL Café, Casita Miro
and Jagged Edge using Autodesk®
Inventor®
,
and used the visualisation tools to accurately
demonstrate these models to clients.
Digital Prototyping was used to invent unique
solutions such as the window system for Casita
Miro, by accurately and clearly visualising how
the system would appear and work in the
structure.
Also, the ‘Look At’ feature in Autodesk Inventor
was used to conduct strike analysis for Jagged
Edge, and AutoCAD®
2011 and AutoCAD®
Mechanical 2011 were used for 2D modelling
to minimise on-site errors and effectively
collaborate with architects, engineers and
constructors.
For More Information
To find out how Autodesk and Digital Prototyping
can help boost innovation and speed design
times, visit www.autodesk.com.au/inventor
Along with meeting tight timeframes both
projects also required the purchase of pre-
manufactured materials sourced from overseas
suppliers to ensure the unique designs were
commercially viable. This required the 4th
Dimensional Façade Solutions team to have
exact measurements four to six months
beforehand, based on 100% non-site measured
material designs.
Located on a mountain without road access,
RAL Café required a helicopter to transport
materials to the building site. The helicopter
could only carry 800 kilograms at a time, and
effectively cost $10,000 for each hour of use,
putting pressure on the design team to provide
precise weight measurements for each object
transported and to ensure the design was right,
first time.
Further, the Casita Miro restaurant involved
designing a highly complex operable windows
system with a completely new operational
design. The designers needed a reliable design
software solution to invent and develop this
system through Digital Prototyping, and to be
able to use the measurements in the designs as
a basis for ordering materials, again without any
on-site measurement.
Jagged Edge’s main challenge was that the design
was a half-bridge, half-house structure, involving
highly complex trigonometric designs. Each
façade on the structure was rhombus-shaped
and the design contained no 90 degree angles.
Autodesk delivers the right solution
4th Dimensional Façade Solutions created Digital
Prototypes to ensure that façade designs were
completely accurate. The reliability of these
designs developed in Autodesk®
Inventor®
4th Dimensional Façade Solutions Utilises Autodesk
Digital Prototyping to Build Challenging structures
Images courtesy of 4th Dimensional Façade Solutions
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, and Inventor are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or
affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk
reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typo-
graphical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
“By using Autodesk’s 3D design software solutions,
we could deliver the seemingly impossible for our
clients and truly bring their visions to life. The digital
prototyping tools in Autodesk Inventor enabled us to
design and build projects with 100% non-site measured
materials, pre-manufactured overseas to significantly
reduce cost.”