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Describing an object in 3D geometry is the digital equivalent of a dictionary - we don't need any more words or a different grammar, it’s just the way you put them together that makes it possible for us to express any thought or sentiment.

The architectural tools that we have now allow us to do just that, with freeform structures, parametrics, component libraries to share already created components and so on. That is why the emphasis nowadays is more on the ability to share information with other people within the industry, because we might not have started with the same set of bricks, and on improving the process that allows us to do so.

Software developers built up their software applications in isolation, sometimes using the same core modelling processes as others, bending them to fit their own technologically unique requirements. The biggest challenge to the industry over the last couple of years has been to share model data from disparate sources, hence the development of standards, IFCs and every other intermediary file format.

This is why one of the most pertinent features of the latest version of Tekla Structures is its ability to utilise 3D model information created in other applications - to import, for instance, solid objects from SketchUp and convert them directly into Tekla components.

SketchUp is a very familiar and widely used direct modelling application that allows users to create 3D models through the manipulation of surfaces. One can speculate that Trimble, the owners of both Tekla and SketchUp, had some sort of integration of both applications in mind when they originally set about their acquisition of the application from Google.

Like any IFC object, SketchUp models can be converted directly into BREP objects, allowing users to add whatever additional information is deemed necessary to that imported with the model, to render it suitable for use - such as materials, performance, supplier or cost.

A piece of piping, therefore, knocked up very quickly within SketchUp, can be brought into Tekla - as long as it is a watertight 3D solid object and turned into a Tekla object. You could do the same with a freeform spiral ramp, or a complex flight of stairs. There are no limits to the complexity of the model you want to bring in - perhaps something that could not have been created within Tekla, such as a Hilti fixing bolt supplied as an STP file.

I suspect that SketchUp also had some influence to bear on another newly enhanced Tekla Structures feature - the ability to directly manipulate surfaces by pushing and pulling them. It works very much like the extrusion feature in SketchUp, and can be used on all elements in a Tekla Structures model - even reinforcement. Individual reinforcement rods can be selected and directly manipulated and bent into new shapes.

Something else that’s already available in the software is the ability to add material to an existing part, and then combine them both to make a single new part - one way of rapidly developing new components on the back of old components! And one step further towards the unlimited design possibilities that Tekla is now starting to offer.

This is bolstered by SketchUp’s other features. Whereas previously users only had access to Tekla's component catalogue, containing objects specifically created for use with Tekla Structures, now they have access to SketchUp's full 3D Warehouse, where they will be able to find a wealth of 3D objects created by SketchUp users, including building components grouped together in different categories and, of course, the buildings themselves.

Tekla can also export SketchUp models, or just highlighted sections of a model. That's a handy tool that can be used with the software's geolocation feature - probably a hangover from its days with Google Earth - which allows a model to be placed on Google Earth, where it can be seen within the context of its proposed surroundings (terrain or buildings).

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