Cloud platform streamlines workflows and enable real-time design reviews with clients
West Coast architecture and urban design practice SERA Architects has reworked how it delivers master planning projects by adopting Arcol, a cloud-based BIM 2.0 platform that enables real-time, multi-user collaboration.
The firm had been managing early-stage design across a mix of tools, including SketchUp, Rhino, and Revit. This fragmented workflow required frequent file sharing, version control, and manual data tracking. Design changes often meant updating spreadsheets to recalculate metrics such as floor area and unit counts, while client presentations were largely static, requiring significant rework after each review.
Seeking a more efficient approach, SERA deployed Arcol on an 80-acre mixed-use master planning project with a tight programme and multiple development scenarios to explore.
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Using Arcol’s cloud “multiplayer” environment, more than four team members were able to work in the same model simultaneously, with changes made by one designer immediately visible to others. According to Arcol, this removed the bottlenecks associated with single-file ownership and enabled parallel exploration of design options across the site.
“Instead of bouncing between five different tools and passing files around, everything lives in one place,” says Josh Cabot, project architect & senior associate, SERA. “Your whole team and your clients can work in the same environment without syncing or running spreadsheets off to the side.”
According to Arcol, a key benefit came in client engagement. Instead of presenting static PDFs or slide decks, SERA shared live browser links to the model. Clients could view current proposals, leave contextual comments, and see design changes and their impact on project metrics in real time during review sessions.
“If a client makes a request we can make that change live and they can see the impact of that change immediately. It’s a totally different kind of presentation,” said Cabot.
Arcol also enabled rapid option testing. Teams could duplicate schemes, generate variations in hours rather than days, and compare scenarios side-by-side using templated presentation boards that updated automatically as designs evolved.
“For me, the value of Arcol is in the speed of testing and establishing a wide range of development yields so you can focus more energy into the part of the design process that emphasises placemaking,” says Spencer West, associate | urban design project manager, SERA. “Arcol allows you to quickly iterate based on site constraints and uncovered opportunities, allowing us to discover what that potential yield can be early on, which makes us any developer’s best friend.”
