Add on course on Building Planning & Drafting

The student association of our department, ACE (Association of Civil Engineers) organised an Add-on Course on Building Planning and Drafting using AutoCAD from 11-09-2023 to 15-09-2023 in association with SSCADD International. This five day course provided the students with an opportunity to get an overview of the building rules, developing a plan from the requirement from concepts and drafting using AutoCAD.

The session on Day 1 was led by renowned architect Mr. Johny Kaitharath, Chief Architect-Solids, Kochi. He has previously conducted sessions for students on campus and received much appreciation. The session, 'Building Planning - An Architect's View' was a blend of classroom discussion and field visit. Students were taken to visit a site, perform the necessary measurements, and evaluate the plot's area and structure. Everyone afterwards had to create the site plan in the afternoon, which was highly practical way of approaching a building planning.

Ms. Neeraja Nair, our faculty member, gave a detailed session on "Building Rules and Planning"  on Day 2. She provided detailed explanations on buildings rules and the terminology used in the construction sector. The session, “Line Sketches” was led by Ms. Rinu J. Achison, from our department on the same day. The session gave a clear understanding on how to develop a plan, the students practiced drawing a line sketch of their own home or building.

On the third day, the session moved to CAD. The resource person was from SSCADD International, Thrissur. The session was hands on, conducted in the computer lab. The basic tools in AutoCAD was introduced and the participants learned how to draft the plan using the software. This session continued to Day 4, where the elevation and section of the building were developed. By the fifth day, the students were able to draft an entire plan, elevation, and section on their own. An introduction to Revit was also given on the last day.

The course was really appreciated by the participants for the design of the contents - starting from the architects point of view, site visit, moving on to building rules, sketching, drafting using software and finally with an introduction to Revit. It is beyond doubt that this has added lot of value to the students.