An interactive smartphone app designed to take visitors on an engineering tour of the King’s Cross development in London could soon be adapted for use on other construction schemes or areas of the industry, said the app’s developer the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE).
ACE Trails is a free app, created to celebrate the association’s centenary, which guides users around the King’s Cross area, highlighting the innovative solutions devised by engineers to help create some of the most technologically advanced buildings in the UK.
Developed with input from sponsors including Kier, Arup, Taylor Woodrow and EC Harris, it includes location-based facts from engineers who worked on projects, 15 streamed videos, computer-generated images and photographs describing a range of engineering expertise from acoustics to tunnelling, lighting and transport planning.
The iPhone and Android app was developed to inspire school children and students into a career in engineering, but ACE is now looking to port the location-based video and technology into other apps suitable for other projects and other areas of engineering and construction.
The app has been developed to inspire students to get into construction
ACE project manager Jane Calvert-Lee told CM: “We will certainly be rolling it out into other areas of the industry, the software platform we have created is easily replicated and could apply to many other project schemes involving engineering or construction. It enables us to embed photographs, videos and computer generated models into maps, which can also be played independently on YouTube.
“There are many potential applications, particularly for teaching purposes. We envision graduate engineers using a version of it to find out what it’s like to actually work on a project and some of the challenges they might face. We are also planning to contact the CIOB to see if they are interested in adapting it for use as part of their education programme,” she added.
King’s Cross is currently undergoing largest redevelopment in central London, due for completion in 2016, featuring 50 new buildings, 20 new streets and 10 new parks and squares. Within the ACE Trails app, Kier engineers explain the innovative environmental technologies employed in Camden Council’s 85,000 sq ft new Civic Building, which will potentially be the greenest building in the UK.
Arup engineers explain the challenges faced at St Pancras Station, the lower level of which was originally used to store beer barrels but had to be transformed to allow light in for shops.
They also examine the complex tunnelling required to create the Western ticket hall in King’s Cross underground station, which had to be completed while the station remained open, whilst avoiding any damage to the heritage buildings above.
“As it is our centenary, we wanted to create something that would last well beyond 2013 and interest and excite young people into thinking about a career in engineering,” said Calvert-Lee. “This is first app we’ve done and in three months if it proves successful, we hope to roll it out into other areas of the industry.”
