Fish farm hatcheries designed by Plastsveis AS. Image courtesy of Plastsveis AS.

When working in an unusual design industry, it’s imperative to have a flexible software solution. Just ask Reidulf Øien, Designer/Planner at Plastsveis AS, a fish farm service and produce supplier that specializes in creating the land-based components of fish farming. Located in Sømna, Norway, the small 39-person firm has been in operation since 1988, creating state-of-the-art hatcheries for salmon, cod, halibut, and arctic charr farming. Serving various regions of Norway, Scotland, Denmark, and Canada, the firm recently became a part of AKVA Group, the world’s largest supplier to the aquaculture industry.

Image courtesy of Plastsveis AS.

Øien works closely with project managers to create detailed plans and drawings for various building sites. However, designing the hatcheries is very complicated and involves incorporating even more complex biological processes into the model. With everything modeled from start to finish in 3D using Vectorworks Architect with Renderworks software, including drawings of pipes, tanks, and water treatment systems, as well as all documentation, Øien finds the tool selection and detailed viewports in Vectorworks to be particularly useful.

“Through the years I have used both AutoCAD and Solidworks,” said Øien. “However, I find that Vectorworks has more logic that’s able to be utilized when drawing complex models like complete land-based fish farms.”

Image courtesy of Plastsveis AS.

Øien regularly attends Vectorworks software training courses at Dakantus AS, Vectorworks’ distributor in Norway, to keep his drawing skills top-notch.