Chief Architect Software is a developer of 3D architectural home design software for builders, interior designers, architects, and DIY home enthusiasts. Chief Architect uses

BIM Building information modeling (BIM) is an approach involving the generation and management of digital representations of the physical and functional characteristics of buildings or other physical assets and facilities. BIM is supported by vario ...

tools to create a 3D model of the structure and automatically generates all of the building systems of the home. For the professional architectural and building market, it publishes the Chief Architect product line. For the consumer DIY market, it publishes the Home Designer product line. Chief Architect Software is located in

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 54,628 at t ...

, United States. Chief Architect was first released in 1992 as

3D computer graphics software 3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of perfor ...

product that ran on an early version of

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Version 3.1. Chief Architect Software has been reported to be easy to use (in comparison to other 3D CAD packages) for 3D home design, and thus provides a valuable tool in the hands of builders, contractors and homeowners who have traditionally lacked the skills to run complex CAD software.

History

Chief Architect

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

is a

privately held Company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

founded in 1981 in

Palo Alto, CA Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. Initially the Company was named Advanced Relational Technology, Inc. (ART) and developed

relational databases A relational database (RDB) is a database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a type of database management system that stores data in a structured form ...

. The Company's founder, Jack Simpson, a physics PhD from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, was a native of

and relocated the Company to Coeur d’Alene in the early 1990s. At that time, he changed the business from database software to home design software. In 2005, the name of the Company name was changed to Chief Architect, Inc. 3D Home Cut-Away

Chief Architect software was initially created for home design due to Simpson's frustration in designing by hand. Finding that intuitive residential design software did not exist, Simpson created Chief Architect - a tool to design homes. Chief Architect's first version of this professional 3D CAD home design product line was officially sold as version 2.0. New versions released over the years with key automated building features to help improve the process for residential design. In 1993, the Company licensed a simplified version of the software to

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' Karateka'', and ...

for sale in the retail / DIY market. The Company ended its relationship with Broderbund in 2002 following the release of 3D Home Architect 4.0. In 2003, Chief Architect signed a license agreement with

Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned newspapers, magazines, television stations, and websites. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than ...

to license the name Better Homes and Gardens. The Company used Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer as the successor to 3D Home Architect. In 2009, the Company replaced Better Homes and Gardens name with Home Designer. In February 2014, the Company released its first

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

compatible version for the professional design market. This release is engineered in a way that allows users to run a single license on either a Mac or Windows computer and most notably, there is file compatibility when moving a plan between

operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

. In June, 2016 the Company released the Chief Architect 3D Viewer mobile app for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

. This app allows users to experience 3D models generated in the Chief Architect desktop software to help visualize the design before construction has begun. The app features a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

experience without use of a headset.

Products

; Professional Home Design software : Chief Architect Premier, Chief Architect Interiors - compatible with PC and Mac ; DIY / Consumer Home Design software : Home Designer Software by Chief Architect - compatible with PC and Mac ; Mobile App Home Design software : Chief Architect 3D Viewer - compatible with iOS and Android

References

{{Authority control Architectural design BIM software Building information modeling Computer-aided design software

History

Products

See also

References