Structural design in an automated building system

Structural design of buildings has proven particularly difficult to automat e. Parametric templates are too limited to be practicable, and purl AI-base d approaches have found little application in design offices. This paper pr esents 'Intelligent Parametric Templates' (IP) for structural design within an Automated Building System. It demonstrates that, for rectangular plan b uilding types, comprehensive automation of general and detailed structural design is feasible. The software 'knowledge modules' that were developed de al with rectangular buildings. IPTs for two complete slab solutions have be en implemented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.