The Architects’ Laptop: A+I Uses Real-Time Digital Sketching to Reinvent Workspace Design

“A+I stands for Architecture Plus Information,” explains Brad Zizmor, Co-founder and Principal of the New York-based firm currently redefining the conventions of workplace design in the city. A+I’s data-driven approach to design requires that the team use powerful technology that can handle the daily rigors of building information modeling (BIM) — which makes it the perfect practice to put Microsoft’s Surface Book to the test.

“We are, as architects, focused not just on software, but also on hardware, and the ergonomics and industrial design — how you use it in space — is very important to us,” says the architect. A+I’s design team has been using the laptop to develop projects from concept through to completion across New York City, focusing on a typology it has become renowned for — contemporary workspace design.

“Workspace is no longer just about the office; it also extends into the city,” says Associate Principal Sommer Schauer. This belief is being translated directly into A+I’s latest project, a huge new communal workspace in Bushwick, Brooklyn that unites a series of nine buildings with a high level of accessibility. The Surface Book has proven to be a huge asset to the team, with seamless synchronization between devices making it easier than ever to work together.

“I have a team of six people who plug into the project in a very collaborative way,” explains Ian Colburn, Senior Associate and Project Manager for the development. “We use the Surface Book in real-time as a sketch tool and project it to a larger screen.”

The level of flexibility in the design of the Surface Book belies its incredible power. The laptop’s specs enable the architects to work smoothly with software usually reserved for desktop computers, the types of applications that used to see architects “chained to their desks”. Indeed, the designers at A+I have grown so comfortable using the laptop around the studio and on the construction site that they are now using it for one of their most personal projects to date — their very own studio.

“Another project we’re working on right now is an office space for ourselves, which is really exciting,” says Schauer, emphasizing the benefits of the Surface Book’s high level of mobility: it can be transformed from laptop to tablet in seconds. “[The Surface Book has] been great for taking to the site, for taking photos there, for drawing on those photos. The ability to have a record of that is very different than the old-school method of drawing on the wall and hoping the carpenter takes that detail and does something with it.”

Given this level of convenience, it seems likely that the Surface Book will remain a staple piece of hardware at A+I in the coming years. For more information and images of the New York-based studio’s recent projects, explore their in-depth firm profile on Architizer.