Fast+Epp, the structural engineering firm with an international reputation for work in architecturally expressive structures, has turned to Speckle Workspaces to transform how they design, collaborate, and communicate.

Speckle viewer: Show it, don’t say it

Fast+Epp’s projects are anything but ordinary. Take their gymnasium with a roof that follows a wavy, sinusoidal pattern—a design inspired by mathematical equations. Traditional tools struggle with this level of complexity, but Speckle thrives on it.

Using Grasshopper in Rhino, Fast+Epp creates parametric models to experiment with truss configurations and roof shapes. Speckle lets them push boundaries without getting bogged down.

"Speckle allows us to explore and present complex, unique geometries in a way that traditional tools like Revit or 2D PDFs simply cannot," says Kent Theobert Pretorius, Computational Design Manager at Fast+Epp.

During client meetings, Speckle’s online 3D viewer turns static presentations into dynamic, interactive flows. Fast+Epp overlays and compares design options in real time, showing clients how each choice impacts the structure—both visually and functionally!

Kent highlights the impact of this approach, noting that presenting live during meetings helps clients grasp the concepts more effectively and drives quicker buy-in for specific design schemes.

Traditional 2D presentations often fall flat:

"Normally, you present an option on 2D, it's a PDF document, and you maybe present three of them, but to the client, they kind of look the same." Kent says.

Speckle changes this by making designs tangible, helping clients see the interplay between aesthetics, user experience, and structural integrity.

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The Hive at 2150 Keith Drive in Vancouver will be North America's tallest timber-braced frame building, featuring a striking mass timber superstructure and façade.

Designed with DIALOG, it uses innovative timber frames and CLT shear walls, extensively tested and planned, and visualised using Speckle!

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‍Speckle Workspaces: Collaboration without compromise

Fast+Epp has fully embraced Speckle Workspaces to streamline collaboration and project management.

Private workspaces let them securely share flagship projects with clients and internal teams. "Workspaces have redefined our experience with Speckle. We are pretty clear in terms of what they potentially could mean for us," Kent notes.

They started small, with a workspace for their marketing and BIM teams. Now, they’re expanding to a second workspace with more seats for their engineering team. This move reflects their commitment to making Speckle accessible across the organization, not just to a handful of power users. Workspaces also make it easier to track progress, share models, and keep projects on track.

Speckle Automate: The gem of Workspace

For Fast+Epp, the gem of Workspaces is access to Speckle Automate, more precisely, the custom automation they had set up. It eliminates manual processes, delivering faster insights into model data.

"The reason why the automation feature stands out for us is we could do it more efficiently, getting insights to our data by utilizing automations," Kent explains.

Fast+Epp is integrating automated features into custom web applications embedding the Speckle viewer to enhance usability. Doing this they can automate the viewing of specific data sets which doesn’t just boost efficiency—it also sharpens decision-making.

"Data in general allows us to make better decisions going forward and to reflect better on past decisions that we've made," Kent adds.

Kent and the team were able to smoothly set up their custom Speckle automation with the help of the always-on Speckle Community support and guidance from our dev team:

"Automate transformed the chore of embodied carbon calculation into a tool for continuous, accurate, and effortless design feedback. We were able to help encode how the specific complexities of Fast+Epp's formulas interacted with Revit data, and then we were able to deploy that same tool to any number of new or existing projects. Results could be evaluated against any previous project versions in Speckle and then validated in 3D, providing a complete picture of how, why, and if a design was performing the way it should.", shares Charles Driesler, Speckle’s Automate Software Engineer.

What’s next for Speckle and Fast+Epp?

Kent Pretorius emphasizes that investing in Speckle is a wise decision.

The benefits of this investment significantly enhance the overall user experience, and improve interactions between clients and architects, which makes design decision-making much smoother, says Fast+Epp.

For their team, Speckle is more than just a tool; it's a strategic partner that helps them push the boundaries of architectural possibilities.

And now, Speckle Workspaces open up the door to stronger collaboration, deeper data insights, safer data environment and a more streamlined team processes. Try how it feels today!