Keysoft Solutions’ recent acquisition of the LANDCADD suite of landscape and civil design software is set to bolster designers’ ability to manage risk, costs and compliance in both the early design and facilities management phases of a project.
Specialist landscape and traffic software developer, Keysoft Solutions completed the acquisition of LANDCADD from US based Eagle Point Software on 1st June as part of its long-term plans to substantially enhance its landscape offer to both UK and international markets.
It offers a comprehensive suite of landscape and civil design software to enable users to model the landscape, produce professional planting, irrigation and site plans for both public and commercial developments.
As well as an international plant database with detailed descriptions including characteristics, climate, colour, conditions, growth, maintenance and planting sizes, LANDCADD also includes surface modelling for site design and analysis that enables users to create ground models from site data and modify the surface to visualize their design proposals in 3D.
Product director, Mike Shilton explains: “The additional features available from LANDCADD not only enable us to enter new markets but there are key features which considerably enhance our existing landscape Building Information Modelling (BIM) capabilities. There are a range of new modules that are designed to help assess and manage landscape areas, such as the ability to: consider the effect of existing land formations on the behaviour of water on site and how this can be managed to create new water bodies and reduce flooding; assess the visual impact of new features in the landscape and show how these can be mitigated; and, design the effective management of hydration for planting schemes.
“With pressure on land availability, the options for both commercial and housing developments are often limited and it is increasingly important to manage out risk and predict the behaviour of both water and tree growth in landscaped developments, especially when it comes to multi-level sites. Modelling information can also feed into planning of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) to comply with Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
“It will also prove invaluable in helping to integrate planned water features within developments, and model the long-term management of the assets, predicting how water features, trees, plants and other facilities will develop and interact over time, demonstrating their impact and supporting the development of scheduled maintenance programmes. We are already talking to users about how to make the most of the new features within their BIM projects.”
LANDCADD offers the capability to create 3D ground level surfaces, which users can then build upon with BIM objects, with tools to help with the maintenance phase of a project. It will complement Keysoft Solutions’ existing range of landscape and traffic management software, which assists landscape and highways professionals in the creation of detailed 2D and 3D drawings.