The digital transformation has been changing the way cities are planned, built, and operated for several years. For landscape architects, this means above all: complex information must be processed faster, more precisely, and more collaboratively. To meet the growing demands in planning, we are continuously working to increasingly digitize our processes. In doing so, we rely on an integrated, data-based workflow that already ensures greater transparency in many projects and enables us to make informed decisions at every phase of the project – even as we continuously develop this path forward.
Our office is continuously working to establish a continuous digital workflow that connects various data sources and tools and has already supported us in many projects. In addition to traditional CAD systems, we rely on model-based 3D planning and increasingly on AI-powered tools that accelerate internal processes or support variant generation. These technologies enable hybrid planning concepts in which digital models and analog expertise blend to create a precise yet artistically open planning process.
We offer digital services both internally – for example, in the form of model-based discussions between disciplines – and externally through interactive visualizations and transparent data interfaces.
BIM is no longer just a vision for the future at GREENBOX; it is an established part of our planning processes and has already been successfully applied in numerous projects. We work model-based in both infrastructure projects and complex office and educational buildings, where the open spaces are an integral part of the overall model.
In outdoor space planning, BIM involves not only 3D modelling but also the integration of interconnected information, ranging from materials and construction sequences to technical parameters. This results in comprehensible, consistent planning statuses that can be consistently coordinated with other trades.
Technical infrastructure can also be precisely modeled:
We plan drainage pipes, shafts, backflow structures and other elements in the digital model, enabling mass surveys directly from the BIM model, which significantly increases accuracy and cost certainty. Clash detection between trades or components are of course part of the process and minimize subsequent adjustments in the construction process.
The use of artificial intelligence is developing dynamically and opening up new possibilities – both in the analysis and processing of planning data and in internal communication. In addition, we are testing AI-based applications that help us speed up recurring work steps or make complex content more understandable for different target groups. In parallel, we are developing initial small internal tools and workflows to be able to utilize these potential even more purposefully in the future.
Based on our long-standing engagement with digital-analog space planning concepts, we quickly developed our own area of expertise that explores innovative communication and visualization methods. Under the label GREENBOX.digital, we also created PANOTOOL®, an interactive VR/AR-based tool for immersive delivery of urban and spatial planning content. It combines information, interaction, and edutainment, making complex spatial relationships immediately tangible – an approach that we continue to use in project-specific ways today, even though it is not a focus of our acquisition efforts.
© Saskia Uppenkamp // GREENBOX