Arlington Street
Computational Design, BIM Coordination, Geotechnical / Retaining Structures
Over 1.5 kilometres of retaining wall on a steep 1.8 hectare Wellington site, generated by script rather than modelled by hand, so 301 new homes could keep moving while the architecture above them was still changing.
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- Sheet 01-09
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Background
Arlington Street is a social housing development providing 301 new homes, including 40 supported housing units, on a 1.8 hectare site leased from Wellington City Council. It replaces outdated council housing with medium to high density development on steep terrain.
The problem
The site required over 1.5 kilometres of retaining walls: concrete cantilever and freestanding walls from 0.6m to 3m high, and timber and UC pole walls with lagging between 2m and 4m. On terrain this steep, with architectural requirements still moving, hand-modelling each wall meant rework every time either changed.
What I built
Working with the lead engineer, a computational design script that automates wall generation, with Speckle integrated to apply and retain BIM information through the design process. 3D models of the walls were built for constructability and collision assessment rather than relying on 2D sections.
Outcome
Rework caused by site complexity and shifting architectural requirements dropped significantly. The 3D models supported constructability review that would not have been practical to run on a wall set this size by hand.
The wall generation script is documented separately as its own tool.