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Issue Date: February 2001

You are never too old

February 2001

Some architects still use the drawing board rather than working straight off the computer. Drawing board bound architects know they have to move into new technology sooner or later but old habits die hard. Some cite time to learn as the problem while one quipped that he needs the mind of a 19-year-old.
"Not true", says Roy Morrison, an active architect now in his mid-80s who has had a romance with Caddie for 14 years. He is presently designing a clinic and house for a Dr Francis Hyera in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
Roy was recently presented with a certificate of recognition by the management of Caddie as a most valued client.
L-r: Roy Morrison and Gerhard Mostert, General Manager, Caddie
L-r: Roy Morrison and Gerhard Mostert, General Manager, Caddie
"Contrary to belief, there is no restriction using Caddie - instead it offers greater freedom. It is a constant joy to be able to select a drawing or a portion of one and use functions such as shrink or stretch; copy or move; multiply a given number of times; rotate; mirror and so on; not having to draw more than once and being able to manipulate at will; not having to use an eraser instead simply select and delete; with release 7 there is now an 'undo' safeguard which is in itself rather miraculous at times. Plotting is without effort, there are no pens to change or paper to watch. I can annotate as easily as typing away and achieve neat lettering at last, and always produce immaculate drawings where everything is neat."
He continues, "The list is endless because there are so many things which can be done, for example, copying a drawing or highlighting a portion of one, to a clipboard at a certain scale and then pasting it into the same or another sheet with an automatic change of scale to suit. Care to achieve consistent accuracy between all drawings in a set can be arrived at by working methodically so that dimensioning is correct to the decimal part of a millimetre everywhere."
Roy's career spans 68 years (with a short 20 minute retirement break). Born in Egypt, he has walked a colourful career path in the UK, Zimbabwe and in South Africa. His last 'official' post was with the SA Engineering Corps, with the rank of General, where he spent 15 years in the Architects, Engineers and QS Section. It was during this time that he started using Caddie, also writing five booklets on designing and drawing. A project he is extremely proud of is the Bikers Church in Midrand. "On Caddie, the speed of output of drawings made it possible to keep up with frequent changes of program resulting in an expanding community who noticed, as work progressed that the facilities could accommodate demand. It was a joy to be able to keep up and not lose control of the design and ensure excellent acoustics in the multipurpose hall. The quality of sound needs to be experienced when 400 members sing flat out with a full orchestra and a perfect overlap of sound. The vaulted form has no square corners therefore there is no billiard ball effect or echoes notwithstanding the size of the church including a 5 m wide concourse adjacent. When empty a pin can also be heard to drop from one end to the other Ā±40 m. Just facts!"
With the release of Caddie's 3D version last year, Roy took no time at all to become proficient. "The 3D is as easy to use as the 2D version. Drawing board architects should see CAD as a tool of expression and with 3D it is amazing to see plans come into shape immediately."
Caddie
(012) 665 0000


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