Inventive thinking for façade design is paramount for the development of architecture. A well designed façade has the capacity to challenge ones perceptive about architecture. A building’s acoustics performance, light transmission, energy efficiency, and interaction with the external environment also depends on its facade design. There are many different strategies to follow when designing a faced and each has its own pros and cons.  A productive approach towards selecting a suitable designing process is by stitching multiple modes of exploration together and create a holistic narrative about the whole experience and goals of the building. Designing a Facade occurs in stages. We plan both, what we want it to look like and what is behind or inside, in no strict order. Sometimes one leads the other.

Benefits of using interactive building design:
●        It is aesthetically appealing.
●        Interactive building facades can help to unlock new opportunities for the building.
●        Offers an opportunity to enhance the energy-efficiency of the building.
●        Interactive building designs can help to enhance better airflow. 
●        Promotes better interaction with the environment for natural lighting, aesthetics, and control. 

Hand sketching is an insightful method for exploring faced strategies which helps you quickly clarify design logics and orders. Hand drawing is perfectly adapted to the creative process and offers a useful and fast means of communication with the rest of the team and with the client. Most architects usually start with hand sketches due to their speed and because they allow for easy communication with the rest of the team. Hand drawings are a very practical means of showing some details, whether they are to aid the planning and construction processes or to pass to the renderer to ensure that the final CGIs are faithful to our project vision.

Massing models are developed in conjunction with sketching to explore the scale of architectural moves in the façade. Massing is a term used in architecture that refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as the size of a building. Massing models can be quickly made and expose how local decisions and larger gestures relate to the building and the site at large, helps to define both the interior space and the exterior shape of the building. The massing model represents those models that focus on the massing of architecture, rather than its structural detail, building material, colour, layout, or facade. Massing of any structure may it be exterior or interior gives an architectural touch to the space or form as a whole.

Digitally rendering façade options are a powerful tool for exploring idea due to its ability to place the viewer in the dedicated space.  An interesting asset of using digital renderings for design exploration is the ability to communicate with a wider audience of viewers, including those who are not trained in architectural representations, and who otherwise may not be able to fully understand what is being drawn. Architectural rendering software allows users to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of an architectural design. Architects and interior designers use architectural rendering software to enhance their designs and create a more realistic representation of what their final design may look like.

                                                                          The Best Apps for Designing Interactive Building Facades

Chief Architect is an interactive building design solution created to use three-dimension rendering for creating complete commercial and residential buildings. It is also a perfect choice for designing facades for all your building projects. Chief Architect allows you to streamline the building design process. The app comes with powerful tools that help you to focus on quality and complete the building design rapidly. 

AutoCAD This is one of the leading building apps for architects on the market today. The app is like a staple in the industry because it is one of the oldest. It was developed in 1982 and it became the first Computer-Aided Design (CAD) app to be released for personal computers. Many architects today use AutoCAD to develop two-dimensional models for sections of buildings, such as building facades and floor plans. 

Cedreo If you are working on a building design and want to complete it fast, one piece of software that you can count on is Cedreo. It is a 3D home design app for contractors, home builders, remodels, and developers. 
Revit is a BIM app for architects and engineers. It is one of the most advanced building design apps and you can use it to design parts of buildings or an entire building. The app allows for coordinated 3D design by offering tools that not only make working on building designs easy but also allow you to complete it fast. The app also allows you to produce 3D models that provide clear visualizations of how the facades and other sections of the building will look like.
Site Analysis & Planning
The analysis of a project’s site is often documented with overlaid diagram sketches illustrating wind directions, solar paths, topography and terrain, vegetation and landscape, infrastructure, contextual relationships, directional views and more.

Concept design - creating the product 
At the concept design stage, key performance criteria for the building envelope are identified. The architects can develop the façade concepts by taking into consideration target performances, safety and durability.  Conceptual building sections are explored with sketches that consider floor-to-floor heights, structural depths, vertical circulation, and potential daylighting strategies. Concept design generally takes place after feasibility studies and options appraisals have been carried out and a project brief has been prepared. 
During the concept design stage, the design team will develop:
    The design concept.
    Outline specifications.
    Schedules of accommodation.
    A planning strategy.
    The cost plan.
    Procurement options.
    Programme and phasing strategy.
    Buildability and construction logistics

Developed design 
Detailed design is sometimes referred to as 'developed design' or 'definition'. It is the process of taking on and developing the approved concept design. Key to this process is applying existing knowledge and further research into materials, façade systems and manufacturing techniques to suit the client’s expectations.
Detailed design should include:
    Overall layout.
    Road layouts and landscape.
    Operational flows and departmental operational policies.
    Horizontal and vertical circulation routes
    occupancy numbers for each space.
    Identification of standard and non-standard room layouts.
    If appropriate, room data sheets.
    Building dimensions and gridlines.
    Architectural plans sections and elevations of buildings

Technical design 

The design is now further refined to provide a technical definition of the project. Typically characterized by frozen architectural information, this stage permits the finalizing of drawing details and the performance specification study and elaborate sketches of design alternatives. 
Generally the phrase ‘technical design’ refers to project activities that take place after the detailed design has been completed, but before the construction contract is tendered or construction begins. The lead designer co-ordinates the preparation of the technical design. As this may involve design not only by the client’s core design team but also by specialist subcontractors, By the end of the stage the architectural, structural and mechanical services design and specifications should describe all the main components of the building and how they fit together, any performance specified work should be defined and there should be sufficient information for applications for statutory approval to be completed. Room data sheets are also likely to have been prepared along with outline technical specifications.