Space Database Blog

Chicago

2015-11-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from a recent trip to Chicago: a homage to Hugh Ferriss!

360 Video

2015-10-16T11:34:00.000-04:00

Here's a 360 video tour of our office.
Click and drag on the video as it's playing to look around: you can see a full 360 degrees around you!

This was taken during the final game between the Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers!
I used the Bubl Camera to capture this video.

Virtual Tour for 3457 Superior Court

2015-10-09T10:07:00.000-04:00

Blackwood Partners has a building in Oakville with great potential. To showcase what could be done, Blackwook asked Space Database to create a virtual tour.

We created a 3D model from our survey and rendered into a series of panoramas that were linked together into a web based virtual tour. Click on the images to look around and follow the animated buttons to move to the next scene.

Rendered Perspectives

Using the same model, we can also create any number of still images like these:

Rendered 360 Panoramic Tours

2015-08-07T13:51:00.002-04:00

We've seen photographic panoramic virtual tours become quite commonplace. Did you know these tours can also be created for 3D modeled space?

Below is a virtual tour for a space that we previously modeled and presented as an animated video

Here you can see the same technology used to present a photographic virtual tour:

Whether you want to market space as-is or present what could be, a virtual tour showcases the opportunity in an engaging interactive way that's sure to make your offering stand out!

Construction Sites

2015-06-26T16:31:00.000-04:00

Here are a few photos of construction projects in the neighbourhood. Architecture is at its most interesting when it is being built or torn down!

I've converted these to black and white. When you take away the colour, you see much more of the structure and texture.

St. Clair 3D Stacking Plans

2015-05-21T13:03:00.002-04:00

We've made some enhancements to Slate's website for their portfolio at Yonge and St. Clair. We've set these buildings up with 3D stacking plans:

A 3D stack enhances availability listings in three ways:

It showcases the building's architecture - a key aspect of its character.
Interacting with the building model fully engages prospects with the opportunity.
It illustrates exactly where spaces are located.

Slate wants to present availability in manner that is intuitive and captivating. The 3D stack will ensures that opportunities stick in the mind of potential tenants.

Visit Slate's site here: http://www.slatestclair.com/index.html

Virtual Tour Features

2015-04-29T17:31:00.004-04:00

We've been publishing quite a few virtual tours lately. We'll share some examples below.

We worked with a professional photographer to help our surveyors develop their skills. The idea is that we can be cost effective if the same people who create the drawings can also take the photos during the same visit.

The feedback that we've received so far has been good. The animated location maps have been popular and we've got a new appreciation for how important the views out the windows can be!

Some Examples:

This building is centrally located in Toronto. We decided to showcase how close it is to everything at two scales. First by car and then by walking. A key benefit is that you can walk anywhere downtown in minutes.

9255 194 St, in Surrey BC is an industrial warehouse building with a beautifully designed office area. A couple of good photos convey the quality of construction.

This building in central Calgary overlooks a beautiful park. We created a panorama to showcase the view from inside.

Slate's Properties at St. Clair

2015-02-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

Slate Asset Management owns a collection of buildings in the Yonge and St. Clair area of Toronto. To help market these office properties, Space Database designed and developed a leasing website. The site has building info, pictures, stacking plans and drawings - all fed automatically from the Space Database platform. All the availability data is automatically kept up to date.

Take a look here: http://www.slatestclair.com

A marketing website for Slate's properties at Yonge and St. Clair

We will put together websites like this for our hosted clients free of charge! Take a look at some of these other examples:

H&R REIT - Leasing site for an office portfolio

Piret (Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust) Leasing site for an industrial portfolio

AeroCentre Offices - Leasing site for a group of buildings

More Photographic Stacking Plans

2014-09-26T17:43:00.000-04:00

Adgar Canada has put together a new website. We are pleased to be providing the leasing and availability content for them. We've taken the availability data feed from the Space Database Platform and combined it with photographic projections of the façades to produce compelling, automated stacking plans.

The example above is the stacking plan for 1867 Yonge -( look under 'Available Space'). Adgar has several interesting buildings in their portfolio. These photographic stacking plan reflect the character of the buildings and are more likely to engage the imagination of someone looking for space.

Try this live example:

Contact us to learn how Space Database can add dynamic and compelling content to your commercial real estate leasing efforts!

Virtual Tours

2014-06-26T10:36:00.000-04:00

Looking for a way to present your marketing material in a nice simple format? Put it all together in a Virtual Tour!
Our Virtual Tours allow you to combine your drawings, photos, videos, animations and renderings into a single coherent web presentation.

Virtual Tours are not just for high-end space. Here's a tour of a modest industrial building in Edmonton:

The tour works as a stand alone link but can also be embedded in another page. The tour automatically detects the device you are on and optimizes itself. Try the link on your iPad or phone as well as on your desktop!

While we are on site measuring, we always take photos. In this case we added a site map and a panoramic rendering of one of the spaces. We've priced our tours to work within tight marketing budgets.

Here are a few more examples:

Call us to find our more: 1-877-516-8920 and speak with either Tina (extension 225) or Greg (extension 236)

Photographic Stacking Plans

2014-05-28T14:47:00.001-04:00

We've used the concept of orthogonal photographic façades to create data driven stacking plans. We've got an early example at Adgar's website. Take a look here at the stacking plan for 170 University in Toronto.

The availability data is drawn from the Space Database platform. Any changes made by the Adgar team are instantly updated on this stack. Each highlighted suite links to suite details including 2D drawings as well as 3D, photos and video in some cases.

We feel that these photographic stacks convey a better sense of the character of the building and are therefore more compelling and memorable for the prospects that use them. Expect to see more of these from us!

Northwest Healthcare Properties

2014-04-24T17:32:00.000-04:00

Northwest Healthcare Properties have launched a beautiful new website. Take a look at http://www.nwhp.ca

We're very proud to have had the opportunity to support the new website with leasing availability pages. Drill down through the portfolio and you'll find availability data driven by the Space Database platform. Our powerful and versatile API has been used to seamlessly integrate the latest availability.

Stacking plans, availability reports, 2D and 3D drawings clearly show prospective tenants the leasing opportunities that are available in the portfolio.

Whether on the road or in the office, Northwest leasing managers can easily keep their availabilities up to date through the Space Database platform. Changing space from occupied to available is as simple as clicking a check-box!

Photographic Façades

2014-04-07T11:24:00.000-04:00

Here's a technique that combines the concepts of panoramic 'stitching' with the geometric projection principles of photogrammetry. We are able to combine photos of a façade taken at street level, stitch them together and then straighten them into a proportionally accurate façade projection.

I took these three photos:

And turned them into this façade:

The result is equivalent to a 1-point perspective as you might have done in school. It would make an attractive background for a stacking plan!

Here are some more façades:

Smooth Videos

2014-03-06T10:43:00.000-05:00

Video walk-throughs are a great way to present space. Cameras and phones now have terrific capabilities for creating high quality video. And yet its hard to do. Walking around with a camera creates shaky video that is hard to watch.

To make a good video, we need some form of stabilization. Hollywood uses very expensive steadycam technology that involves camera rigs fitted with gyroscopes. We've come up with a more economical solution. First we use a mechanical stabilizer that uses weights to balance the camera. Next we apply a software process to further smooth the video. We turn a bumpy, shaky walk-through into a smooth fly-through!

ISO 9001 Recertification Audit

2014-02-07T15:47:00.001-05:00

For two days last month our company was under the microscope of an ISO 9001 audit. We're very happy to announce that no non-conformances were brought up and we in fact managed to impress our auditor with the quality of our management systems!

ISO registration is not easy to get or simple to maintain. Thanks to the hard work of our entire team, our management system has been recertified for another three year term!

our new registration certificate

Customer Satisfaction in 2013

2014-01-25T12:25:00.001-05:00

We've just completed the analysis of our most recent customer satisfaction survey. In December 2013 we invited clients to give us feedback via a web based survey. In addition, we engaged an outside consultant to conduct interviews with a selection of customers.

We conduct this survey every year for several reasons.

We want to hear honest and objective feedback on how well we are performing.
We want to identify any points of weakness and opportunities for improvement in our service.
We want to gather feedback to help us develop better products and services.

We were delighted with the results this year. When we tabulated our scores, we saw measurable improvements in several areas. We had experienced rapid growth in 2011 and 2012 and we had a bit of trouble keeping up with the workload. In 2012 we saw a slight decline in turn-around times. We set ourselves a goal at the start of 2013 to improve this performance. Our strategy was to try and maintain a slight excess of production capacity so that we could be more responsive to work requirements.

Based on our internal controls, we knew that turn around times for both building surveys and update work substantially improved during 2013 and we were glad to see this fact reflected in our clients opinions.

You can take a look at our report here:

You can compare this to last years analysis here:

Out with the old, in with the new!

2013-12-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

We're coming up on new year and we're getting set with a brand new website! There's new content and we now have up-to-date examples of our work. The site provides a concise overview of our current capabilities. Check it out here!

Our new site, ready for 2014

We were attached to the old site and we'll miss it. It served us well!

Our old site, retired in 2013

The most interesting stacking plan in the world!

2013-10-15T10:13:00.000-04:00

Take a look at this stacking plan. Click on the available space and you'll find 2D and 3D drawings, video walk-throughs as well as panoramic views out the windows. All the content is driven and controlled by our Space Database web application!

H&R REIT

2013-08-07T15:17:00.002-04:00

H&R REIT has a new leasing site! Check it out here: http://www.hr-leasing.info. The site was designed and built by Space Database. It's an automated site powered by the Space Database platform.

We're very proud to launch this integrated solution which helps streamline H&R's marketing processes. Changes to drawings and availability data within Space Database are instantly and automatically reflected on the H&R website.

From site surveys and area calculations to 2D and 3D marketing content, Space Database provides an integrated and seamless service that supports H&R's leasing team with current, accurate and attractive data, allowing them to focus on getting deals done.

Photogrammetry

2013-06-12T11:56:00.000-04:00

Photogrammetry is the practice of determining the geometric properties of objects from photographic images.

Using several photographs of the same object from different angles provides the information necessary to calculate the 3D geometry of that object. Specialized software first recognizes objects and then reverse-engineers the original 3D geometry using 2D images.

When would you use this technique?

Photogrammetry is used in many different fields. It's used to analyse and model scenes of accidents and crimes. It's used in archaeology, geology and land surveys. And of course it can be used for architecture and building surveys!

No specialized equipment is required other than a good camera (it should use optical rather than digital zoom). A user can take lots of photos and only decide later that a 3D reconstruction is required.

How do we use photogrammetry?

At Space Database, we typically survey building using laser distance meters and mobile computers. We take diagonal measurements and use triangulation to determine angles.

Sometimes these techniques are not enough. If there are spaces we can not easily reach or if particular geometry can best be determined from inaccessible exterior locations, then photogrammetry is a fantastic additional tool.

In this example, we used photogrammetry to create an accurate outline of the exterior of the building that we used as reference for our interior survey.

HTML5

2013-06-03T17:10:00.000-04:00

We've been working hard to bring powerful graphic capabilities to mobile devices. Our goal is to do this without plugins and without requiring users to install dedicated 'apps'. We've achieved two milestones this week!
We can now display CAD directly in any browser (including Safari on iPads and iPhones) from within our on-line application. We can also now display user-customized layouts created with the Floorplanner tool. Users can revise and update these plans and share them with their colleagues.

A CAD file displayed through the Space Database site with no plugins!

A user customized floor-plan shared and displayed on the iPad

How is this achieved? Through the magic of HTML5 - an emerging new and more powerful standard language for the creation of web content. Read more about HTML5 here.

Presentation Boards

2013-05-10T11:27:00.000-04:00

Are you hosting a broker event? Or are you looking for a way to convey what could be done with a vacant space when prospects come for a tour? Might we suggest 3D models on presentation boards:

Space Database created these boards at Erindale

Mike and Greg with a couple of boards

This work can be extremely cost effective. If we've already created as-built marketing drawings for you, we just need to reformat the page and send it to a printer. If we start from scratch based on a drawing you provide, we can produce these for around 5¢ per square foot (the size and complexity of the space will affect the price. Cost includes printing and delivery in the GTA)

Call Greg at 416-516-8920 ext 236 or Tina at 416-516-8920 ext 225 to find out how we can help you with your marketing efforts.

Floored

2013-05-07T19:34:00.000-04:00

Floored, a startup in New York City has an exciting technology for presenting commercial real estate. Using an advanced 3D camera, they are able to photographically scan a space and then use their software to create an interactive customizable interior.

Watch this video from 'Disrupt NY 2013 Startup Battlefield':

Here's how it works. First a special camera is used to create a rough 3D model of the space. This is done based on the principle of photogrammetry. By combining photos from several locations, a model can be automatically created.

Photos of the exterior view are stitched together to create a panorama of the views.

Next, the model is cleaned up using a combination of automated and manual tools. Architectural elements and furniture are added.

Lighting is very realistic and can be adjusted to specific times of day.

Furniture can be added and manipulated directly in the 3D model:

Take a look at Floored's website and click on the Try It link. You can walk around the example shown above. And look out the windows from the top of One World Trade Centre!

New Look and Feel

2013-05-01T09:58:00.002-04:00

Our application has a new skin this morning! We've updated the look and feel and added a few new features. There are no major changes to the structure or navigation - we don't want to confuse anyone!

We hope you like it!

The Right Tool for the Job

2013-04-30T14:05:00.000-04:00

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

You've got space to lease. You need to present it to the world. What's the best tool for the job?

Well, that depends.
What's the space like?

Is it built-out space that presents well? You would be best off producing a self directed photographic walk-though like this one using software from Urban Immersive:

Is the space a wide open area? Perhaps and interactive panorama will work well.

Perhaps the space is not in good shape, but you have a space plan for how it could be used. You want to showcase the potential. An animated video walk-through might be your best choice:

Is the space you have available a small one? Would your prospect likely be configuring their own furniture? Give them an interactive floor-plan:

The same space could also be presented in 3D to better convey its size:

And a CAD file allows a designer to quickly produce a design:

To represent space there is no single 'best way'. Take into account the nature of the space and your target audience and it should be clear what will work best in each case!

Technology and the Pace of Change

2013-04-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

It's a cliché to bemoan the slow pace of technological adoption in commercial real estate. We were at CanTech, the Canadian Real Estate Technology conference last week. Most of the technology leadership of the large commercial real estate companies were there. During the conference, I got this tweet from Chris Fyvie:

Chris did get a few responses from others at the show - from suppliers, not from the real estate folks themselves. So what's up? Why are the managers of real estate not as excited about technology as their service providers? Why is the adoption of technology slower and less extensive than in other industries?

Perhaps technology has less to offer commercial real estate than other industries?

In my view, technology has transformed business process in these three areas:

Supply chain management
Sales and Marketing
Data Access and Transparency

It's not a definitive list by any means, but it represents areas that have been greatly 'disrupted' in several industries. Why has the business of commercial real estate not been affected as much?

Supply chain management: in retail and manufacturing, business have found huge savings in the reduction of inventories and the minimization of wasted product by improving communication through the supply chain. Real time sales data in North America can now be used to instantly tune production in China. Technology has vastly improved the efficiency of retail and manufacturing businesses. But I don't believe managers of real estate can benefit in the same way. Buildings can't be turned on and off. Leases are set and stable over many years and development and construction are planned in view of decades long, macro-economic trends. So, there's no significant supply chain innovation available to the industry.
Sales and Marketing: Again retail has been transformed by the ability of consumers to shop and transact on the web. Large new businesses have emerged and existing businesses have been transformed by innovations in web based sales, marketing and content delivery. In commercial real estate, technology is increasingly used in a supporting role in leasing to help prospects understand and evaluate options, but this is an additive, rather than a transformative use of technology. Tenants don't move often and rely on the expertise of brokers to help them through the process. Leasing reps and interior designers will continue to provide essential services. There is little chance that technology will disintermediate any of these professional roles.
Data Access and Transparency: The internet has made a vast amount of data available, transforming many markets by providing much more power to consumers and decision makers. From finding products and services on-line, to reviewing options based on opinions of other customers, to comparing prices, the web has given us far more knowledge and power in all our transactions. But, many professions depend on the 'asymmetry' of information. For example, much of the value that a broker provides is their knowledge and experience of things that are not publicly available. There are strong disincentives for people to share too much data. As much as availabilities and building information may be on-line, nobody will post or widely share data that will undermine their own professional value. There are strong forces at work that prevent data transparency in commercial real estate.

Given that technology does not offer much in the way of transformative opportunities for real estate, is it any wonder that change is happening slowly? Seen another way, if technology could confer a significant advantage, then someone would have seized the opportunity. Innovation would have rolled through the industry a the same disruptive pace it has in many others.

Technology in the wider sphere influences every aspect of our life and work and there is no immunity to these basic changes or the expectations of the public. You'll still need to get that Twitter account set up!

Is commercial real estate full of technological dinosaurs?

No.

Will technology change the way commercial real estate business is conducted?

Yes, but change will be gradual and cumulative. Efficiencies will come not in a single revolution, but in many small, incremental steps.

Space Database Opens Calgary Office

2013-04-12T13:38:00.002-04:00

Space Database now has an office in Calgary! We've been doing a lot of work out west and we're managing the data for a large number of buildings in and around Calgary. It makes sense to set up a permanent presence!

Combined with the resources of our Vancouver office, we now have the capability to quickly and efficiently survey and update buildings across the western provinces.

Our regional manager in Alberta is Sarvdeep Sangwan. Sarvdeep will be in charge of building measurement, quality control and the training and management of new staff in the Alberta region. Customer support and training will continue to be provided from our Toronto office.

Here are the contact details for the new office:

Space Database Inc.

D-406, 1919 University Drive NW

Calgary, Alberta T2N 4K6

Phone: 587-888-9057

Toll Free: 1 877 516-8920

Click for a larger map

Space Database Overview Presentation

2013-02-27T17:17:00.001-05:00

Take a look at our latest Overview presentation. It provides a quick run-down of our capabilities in twenty slides.

Space Database is a full-service integrated real estate marketing company. We'll measure your buildings, create drawings and calculate areas anywhere in North America. We'll provide interactive 2D and 3D marketing drawings, build custom data driven websites and run email marketing campaigns. We'll produce computer animated walk-throughs and set you up with interactive models on your iPad!
We'll take care of all your marketing needs, soup to nuts! Learn more about our services
All our work is managed by an ISO 9001 system to ensure the highest possible quality and reliability.

7 St. Thomas Street

2013-02-19T15:33:00.001-05:00

Here's an example of our most recent animation work. There are several improvements over earlier versions. Renderings and materials are more detailed and elaborate. The camera motion is smoother and better approximates the behaviour of a 'real' camera. We dealt with a couple of challenges. First, the space consisted of several enclosed rooms which is always a bit more challenging to animate. The other challenge was that the video is set in a yet to be built building. The views out of the large windows are created through a combination of Google Earth views, modelling and photography.

Here's the video:

Located on the corner of St. Thomas and Sultan Street, 7 ST. THOMAS will be a new concept in A-Class luxury commercial condominiums that will masterfully combine restored and modernized Victorian townhouses with a contemporary fritted glass tower.

We are great fans of this project. It promises to be a beautiful development designed by a top Toronto firm: Hariri Pontarini. It will be a commercial condo. At Space Database we own our office space, but there appears to be a significant shortage of this type of opportunity in Toronto.

Learn more about the project here: http://7stthomas.com/

The music is 'Aretes' by Kevin MacLeod (Incometech.com)

Here are some stills from the movie:

View of the fourth floor conference room and resource centre

A south facing ninth floor office

A west facing office

Space Database Overview Video

2013-02-07T17:24:00.000-05:00

I've used imagery from my recent PowerPoint presentations to build this short video. It serves as a quick introduction to Space Database software and services. At one minute and forty eight seconds it's nice little visual elevator pitch. (For a slow elevator... where you can watch movies!)

Northwest Healthcare Properties 3D Animation

2013-01-15T14:40:00.001-05:00

Most of our video animations are of large open office spaces. Here's something a bit different: a medical building interior. 101 Queensway West is a building owned and managed by Northwest in Mississauga. Medical building interiors are difficult to present as they are heavily built out with many small spaces. This video demonstrates that animated video can still be an effective tool for the marketing of this type of space.

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2012

2013-01-14T19:54:00.001-05:00

We've recently completed the analysis of our customer satisfaction survey that we ran in December 2012. We invited customers to complete an online survey and we augmented this with phone interviews with several key clients.

Our scores this year are slightly lower than in 2011. A few customers were disappointed by longer than expected turn-around times. This in turn was due to two reasons:

Growth: We doubled our revenue over the year and we were short staffed at times.
New Services: We've added 3D renderings to our marketing drawing service and it took us some time before this became an efficient process.

We've now added several bright new members to our team and they are now fully up-to-speed in terms of our enhanced services. We've opened an office in Vancouver to more effectively service the west coast. We are closely monitoring turn-around times and other service delivery metrics and we are delighted to see significant improvements in all area.

Without further ado, here are the 2012 results:

And for comparison, here are the 2011 results:

Constituiton Square, Ottawa Walk-Through

2012-12-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

This is a video we did for a full floor layout at Constitution Square at 340 Albert Street in Ottawa. The video was produced for Oxford properties. It's based on a proposed space plan for the floor. We built a model in 3D of the interior of the space as well as the adjacent exterior buildings. We've rendered details such as the lighting and reflections in the glass the create a sense of realism.

Not the navigation map in the top right corner which helps you keep track of where you are on the floor!

Our New Vancouver Office!

2012-11-16T19:51:00.002-05:00

Space Database is delighted to announce the opening of our new office in Vancouver!

A large percentage of our business is conducted in western Canada. It's time to establish a permanent western presence to enable us to deliver the best possible service to all our customers.

To ensure that this endeavour will be a success, we've put our most senior surveyor and manager in charge. Michael Luong was our first employee in 1994. During his time with us, Michael has taken on several roles. In addition to his management skills, Michael is one of the best building surveyors we have ever worked with. His work is outstanding in terms of speed, accuracy and quality. We're putting our top talent on the job!

Michael will be in charge of building measurement, quality control and the training and management of new staff in the western region. Customer support and training will continue to be provided from our Toronto office.

Here are the contact details for the new office:

Space Database Inc.

939 Expo Boulevard, Suite 1108

Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 3G8

Canada

Phone:	778-628-8439
Toll Free:	1 877 516-8920

Video Library

2012-11-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

We've put together a page to showcase some of our 3D video animations. Check it out here:
http://www.spacedatabase.com/video_library.html

We've used an API from YouTube to build this gallery. It's a great tool to incorporate any collection of videos into your site!

Cominar REIT in Ottawa

2012-10-18T08:59:00.000-04:00

Cominar REIT recently acquired several buildings from GE in the Ottawa region. Space Database continues to maintain the drawings and data for these buildings. For us, it was very simple to re-brand the building marketing sites. A change in the database switched these buildings from using a GE website 'skin' to a Cominar 'skin' . No other work was required. The web address did not have to change and Google search results were not affected.

Remember, we create websites like this or provide integration to your website for no additional charge when we manage your drawing data for you. We'll ensure that everything matches your corporate brand.

Check out the re-branded Cominar sites for 1 Antares and 1145 Hunt Club. Drill down to the availabilities and you'll find that these buildings also make use of our enhanced, multi-functional marketing drawings.

Open the files in Adobe Acrobat and try the blue links.

'Click for 3D' gives you access to a 3D model that you can manipulate with your mouse.
'Plan your space' is a link to an online tool that lets you rearrange the furniture
'Scaled 2D' and Area is a link to the second page where you will find the conventional marketing drawing content.

121 Bloor St. E. Animated Walkthrough

2012-10-04T16:37:00.000-04:00

This is an animated walkthrough video of a 3D model we created for 121 Bloor East in Toronto. The layout is based on a space-plan created by Dialog.

What gives a sense of realism to this video is not the detail in the space - we have kept it rather empty, but rather the lighting and reflections. The space is illuminated from daylight through the windows as well as the ceiling lights. The internal and external glass surfaces are reflective, which makes them more realistic. Play it full-screen!

We feel that this is a compelling sales tool for showcasing the space.

We have also created the leasing site for this building: www.121blooreast.com. We've adapted Colliers corporate website design for this 'skin'. This is a data driven site - the content is controlled by our API.

We're very grateful to Colliers for the opportunity they've given us to help with this project.

Leasing contacts for 121 Bloor St. East:

Ryan McIver, Vice President, Broker
Albert Bolter, Vice President, Broker

416-777-2200

Video Walkthrough - in a PDF!

2012-08-29T16:44:00.001-04:00

It's always been possible to link to web content from PDFs. We are now also able to embed content directly into the file. We can take our 3D models and turn them into animations that include key-plans and views out the windows. Then we embed these movies directly into PDF marketing drawings!

Check out what we've done here for 2 County Court Blvd. in Brampton

The video includes lighting in the ceiling and through the windows, views out the windows and an animated key-plan feature to orient you in the space. Here is the animation by itself:

Summer Party

2012-08-28T17:29:00.000-04:00

On August 27th, we had organized a company outing to the Island Yacht Club. Unfortunately for us, this was just about the only day in August with rain - and it poured!

We were to have an outdoor barbeque. Because of the forecast, they had moved our lunch to a big tent, but by the time we got there, the rain was so heavy that they moved us again into the clubhouse.

We had a great lunch and by the time we were done, the weather cleared up enough that we could get out on the water!

Despite the weather, we had a great time - here's a little video of the event:

Interactive 3D Marketing Drawings

2012-08-09T16:05:00.001-04:00

The latest versions of our marketing drawings include interactive 3D models. In addition to a rendered 3D image of the available space, you can now manipulate a 3D model right in the PDF file!

Click here to open and example, then click on 'Click for 3D'

In the floating window, you will see a model that you can rotate and zoom to examine. Click and hold down your mouse to turn the model around. Right-click, hold down, and move the mouse to zoom. There are more tools available by right-clicking anywhere in the square.

A scaled 2D drawings showing all the details as well as area info is included on the second page, and accurate CAD files are available on-line for tech-savy prospects and consultants

These 3D features make the representation of your space accessible and more easily understood by a wider audience of prospects and brokers.

Email Marketing

2012-07-03T10:26:00.001-04:00

Space Database provides a powerful and flexible email marketing service. Whether you use our software (free to hosted clients!) or your in-house email campaign software, we will help you deliver rich, detailed and always up-to-date content to your distribution lists.

The emails that we help you create are branded to match your other marketing material and designed to display properly in all major email clients. Your emails will be small and efficient and won't require large PDF attachments to deliver all the goods. Detailed content, including interactive 3D, is accessed through links. Your recipients will always see your most current offerings.

Our email software creates special tags in each link (and your company's software may do this too) which enable the software show you exactly who has clicked on what link. You'll have great insight into who on your list is interested in specific opportunities.

When you are a hosted client, there's no extra charge for email campaigns. We can set up a system for a single building or any particular groupings of buildings that you choose.

21 St. Clair in 3D!

2012-06-15T15:16:00.002-04:00

Take a look at our marketing site for 21 St. Clair Ave. E.. Follow the links under the Availability tab and you'll find 3D versions of all of the available space in the building.

Each of the marketing drawings now have the following features:

A 3D rendered illustration with furniture to give a sense of what is possible.
A built-in, pop-up 3D model that anyone with Adobe Reader can manipulate.
A link to a web based tool that allows prospects to move and change furniture and view their designs in 3D.
All of the basic scaled drawing and area information of the conventional 2D drawings on the second page.

We've developed a system to produce this work very cost effectively. Expect to see many more drawings like these across the web in the coming months!

The availability page is here:
http://www.spacedatabase.com/buildings/119/TORONTO/21-St-Clair-Ave-E/availability.html

Animated Video Walk-Through

2012-06-01T17:17:00.000-04:00

We've produced an animated video walk-through for 5580 Explorer Drive in Mississauga. All of the interior is computer generated and we've used the real views out the windows. Take a look:

We've got more of this work in the pipe-line, so stay tuned to our YouTube Channel!

BOMA Awards of Excellence

2012-05-25T10:02:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we attended the BOMA Toronto (Building Owners and Managers Association) Awards Dinner. We continue John Zsolt's tradition of selling the lottery tickets for the evening. The BOMA Scholarship has been renamed ' the John Zsolt BOMA Toronto Scholarship' in his honour.

It was great to see all of the teams of building managers get recognized for their hard work. Click here for all of the results.

We were delighted to see the large number of our clients' buildings that won awards. We don't mean to take any credit for our clients well deserved, hard earned success, but it's nice to see that our services are so often part of the management systems of well-run buildings!

Here's a list of our clients' winning buildings:

The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Awards

5500 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5520 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5560 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5580 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5600 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5800 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Redcliff
3760 14th Avenue, Markham Managed by Redcliff

Certificate of Excellence

1 Toronto Street, Managed by Redcliff
40 University Avenue, Managed by Redcliff
123 Commerce Valley Drive East, Managed by Redcliff
41 Adelaide Street West, Managed by Redcliff
165 Commerce Valley Drive West , Managed by Northam
320 Bay Street, Managed by Redcliff
5500 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5520 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5560 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5580 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5600 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Menkes
5800 Explorer Drive, Mississauga Managed by Redcliff
3760 14th Avenue, Markham Managed by Redcliff
2200 Yonge Street, Managed by Northam
260 King Street East, Managed by Northam
120 Adelaide Street West, Managed by Oxford
130 Adelaide Street West, Managed by Oxford
85 Richmond Street West, Managed by Oxford
65 Queen Street West, Managed by Redcliff
375 - 393 University Avenue, Managed by Manulife

Peter Masens

2012-05-15T11:40:00.001-04:00

Wendy worked at Space Database for many years and she has many friends here. We've got some very sad news that her husband passed away last Sunday. There will be a funeral in Newmarket on Friday, May 18 in Newmarket. Here is the obituary from the Star:

MASENS, Peter Glenn - Passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 13, 2012 at Southlake Regional Health Centre, Newmarket. Beloved husband of Wendy (nee Smith); Loving father of Victoria and Stephanie; Much loved Grandpa of Caleb and Isabella; Cherished son of Hannelore and the late Paul. Peter was a compassionate caregiver at Southlake Village and will be greatly missed by his co-workers and residents. A memorial service will be held on Friday, May 18 at 11 a.m. at TAYLOR FUNERAL HOME, 524 Davis Drive, Newmarket (905-898-2100). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society .

The Obituary and Guest Book are here

How do you get window views into a 3D model?

2012-05-10T15:54:00.000-04:00

How do we get a photographic view out the windows in an animated video? We can't simply paste the view onto the windows. We would lose the sense of distance because there would be no parallax. Here's a quick and simple way to make the view behave realistically:

First we take several pictures across the horizon. We need to make sure we have enough vertical coverage to present everything you can see when you are close to the window.
Next, we stitch these photos together into a panoramic view.
Inn the 3D model of the space, we create a large barrel shape around the space we have built.
We paint this barrel with the panorama. We have to scale the image to line up the views correctly. The height of the image should be such that the horizon is at eye-level when seen from within the model.
Now, when we record the animation, you'll see a very realistic view!

The above is a simple, low resolution rendering, check out the photo-realistic version here:

Interactive Multimedia in PDF Files

2012-04-25T11:44:00.001-04:00

You may think of PDF files as electronic versions of printed material, but they can be so much more! PDF files can contain various types of interactive content. For the purposes of real estate marketing, the inclusion of panoramas and 3D models is the most exciting application of this multimedia capability.

Here are two examples of what can be done:

Download this interactive 3D floor plan. Manipulate the model with your mouse, or access saved views with the buttons on the lower right.

Download this enhanced floor plan. Click on the camera icons to see 360 degree panoramas. Click on the cube icons to see view of the embedded 3D model from these location in the plan.

N.B. These features work in Adobe Reader 9 or later. Download a free copy here.

Photo Realistic Video, Views out the Windows!

2012-04-19T16:21:00.000-04:00

Here's a new computer animated, video office tour. This is truly photo-realistic. Textures, shadows, reflections and ambient lighting have been included to make this as realistic as possible. To prove how accurate this is, we've included real photography as well. It's sometimes hard to tell which parts are rendered and which parts are photos. Take a look:

Admittedly, we're showing off here! We wanted to demonstrate what can be done. The quality of this video would be over-kill for most office leasing purposes.

In an existing building, would you really need a 3D animated walk through? If the space is in good shape, conventional photographs and panoramas would adequately communicate the character of the space. But if it's not in good shape; if a substantial amount of construction is required, then a video might be just the tool to help prospects understand the potential.

Linked Panoramas in HTML5

2012-04-18T09:56:00.001-04:00

Here's an interactive panorama. Click and drag on the image to look around. When you see a red dot, you can follow a link to another view.

You've seen panoramas before. What's so special about this one?

HTML 5. This panorama works on the iPad and iPhone. Use your finger to drag around and pinch to zoom. If your browser does not support HTML5 (Microsoft IE still does not), the page will gracefully substitute a flash version. This will work on a wide range of devices and browsers.
Links. The panoramas are linked together. The links can extended to an indefinite number of views so that a complete walk through can be developed.

These panoramas can be done very quickly while we're onsite measuring. Expect to see more of these on marketing sites around the web!

Website 'Skins'

2012-04-11T15:09:00.002-04:00

We've put together a little presentation of the websites skins that we have developed using our API. This slideshow will give you a taste of how we can adapt our data feed to various branding requirements:

Building Leasing Website Gallery

View more presentations from Mikael Sandblom

Here's the same content in a movie format, if you prefer!

Demolition!

2012-04-11T12:03:00.001-04:00

Buildings are much more interesting when they are being built than when they are finished. But, even better than construction - is demolition! I've been watching this one go down over the last two weeks:

The building next door was taken down first

Mechanical monsters start the attack!

The inside looks thin and flimsy - but it's all massive timber

There were nice spaces in there...

Almost gone.

3D Renderings Transition to Photographs

2012-03-30T15:57:00.001-04:00

Here's another sample of our 3D work. What we've done here is match up a 3D model with a real space. Note that the architecture, shadows and lighting are within fractions of an inch of the real environment:

So what's the point of this?

If the space is already constructed, why model it? Just take a picture or a movie! The point of this work is to illustrate the accuracy with which we can model and render a space. This might be a very effective method to illustrate the potential of a raw space: transition from a raw space to a finished design.

Kudos to David for his fine work on this! In the works is a photorealistic walk-through. Stay tuned!

AeroCentre

2012-03-26T09:41:00.001-04:00

We're very excited to be launching our second iteration of the AeroCentre leasing website. The building that we featured prominently on the site has now been fully leased. Jones Lang Lasalle have come up with a new design for the marketing material for the complex and the owner, HOOPP felt that the same graphic style should be extended to the website.

We've put together a site that continues the graphic design of the print materials onto the web. We've also added a few new features that we think make it a more effective marketing site:

There is now an interactive site map. Scroll over the buildings and you'll see them light up in themed colours.
We've added complex amenities in an interesting way. Click on the amenities thumbnails at the bottom of the page, 'Conference Centre', for example, and you'll see the details displayed in the main section of the page.
We've worked to ensure that this all works on the iPad as we know this is becoming an essential leasing tool!

As always, the contents are driven by our Tru-Measure API so everything is always accurate and up-to-date! See for yourself: AeroCentre Offices

Virge-Kai Lindaja

2012-03-23T14:27:00.001-04:00

Today marks the first anniversary of the day we lost Virge-Kai Lindaja. Today, our thoughts are with her friends and family. We miss you Virge-Kai.

How to get marketing content into social media

2012-03-05T16:43:00.000-05:00

We're making it easier to get your leasing content into social media networks. At the top of our data driven building sites, we're adding buttons that let visitors share your buildings and listings as links in Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

Here's an example of social media links on the new skin we've developed for H&R's availability sites!

Google+

2012-03-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

Join us on Google+. We've been experimenting with this new social network and we believe that it will be a very useful platform for commercial real estate.

We think it will be an important tool for three reasons:

First, it offers a great deal of control over the content that you share. With the concepts of circles it is possible to share business related content with your colleagues and completely segregate this from content you may want to share with your other 'circles'.
Second, the service is very well designed. Google has learned from other social networks and, in my opinion, incorporated the best features of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn without repeating any of their flaws. Sometimes it's a good thing to be a late entrant!
Third, the links and content in your posts will influence Google's search results. If you want people to find you and your content online, this is a great tool to make yourself more prominent online.

I think this will be a great tool for real estate executives. It will help build and maintain a network of contacts as well as boost you and your company's online presence. I urge you to give it a try if you haven't already. I'll see you on Google+!

3D Suite Models

2012-01-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

Did you realize just how many ways you can use your Space Database 3D models?
Check this video out:

We've been building many small 3D models of available space over the last few months. We've embedded these files into the marketing PDFs: you can use your mouse to move the model around! We've also provided links and QR codes to an interactive Floorplanner page where anyone can try out various furniture layouts.

But that's only the beginning. We can also host your models on the web, or you can put your models on the iPad with a free app from Dassault Systèmes.

We can also embed models in other PDF documents. With a copy of Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can copy and paste into other marketing PDFs.

Imagine your marketing flyers with 3D models that actually rotate and move! How cool would that be?

Customer Satisfaction Survey Results

2012-01-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

Last month we conducted our customer satisfaction survey. This is a very important exercise as it helps us gauge our performance from the point of view of customers. Conducting the survey is a requirement of our ISO 9001 registration, and it is essential in our efforts to continually improve our software and services.

We got a great 11.5% response rate on our invitation to take the survey and most of the feedback was very positive. Here's a summary report of the results:

Customer Satisfaction Survey Results 2011

View more presentations from Mikael Sandblom

It's interesting to compare the results to previous years. In our 2010 survey we realized that we had a problem with slow turn-around for some of our work. We put in place a plan to address this problem. From our internal metrics, we know that we've made a significant improvement. It's nice to see that our clients have noticed! Take a look at the results from a year ago (the 2010 Survey):

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2010 Results

View more presentations from Mikael Sandblom

We greatly appreciate our clients efforts in putting in the time to give us their feedback. As thanks, we always conduct a prize draw. Everyone who participated got a chance at winning an iPad. This year's winner was Rachel Dyer of Dundee Realty Management in Calgary.

Your feedback is always welcome. If you have any complaints, questions or suggestions, we want to hear from you. Give us a call any time: 1-877-516-8920 or by email to support@spacedatabase.com.

Address Change

2012-01-03T14:05:00.003-05:00

Our move is complete. We've given up our old office at the Toronto Carpet Factroy and we've moved in to our nifty new space at Richmond St. Our address is now:

Space Database Inc.
477 Richmond Street West, Suite 903
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3E7

The entire team seems to be delighted with the new office. We're still fixing up a few little things to make it just perfect. Here's a little video:

121 Bloor St East

2011-12-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

Take a look at this great little building website my colleague Victor has put together. It's for 121 Bloor St. East. It's branded to match Colliers current web presence. Follow the links from the top menu items and you'll see how truly seamless this is!

Victor's taken the standard Colliers listing page and added in data driven availability data including a stacking plan, descriptions and rates as well as accurate, site surveyed marketing drawings. The back-end data is driven by the robust, ISO 9001 registered drawing management system from Space Database.

Here's another example of what we put together for 1881 Yonge for CBRE:

If you would like to add similar marketing tools to your website, please contact Greg Mounsey by email or give him a call at 1-877-516-8920 ext. 236.

Design and Construction

2011-12-02T21:50:00.000-05:00

Work is progressing well on our new office. We did have a few plumbing and wiring 'suprises' when we took down some of the walls. We've adjusted the design accordingly and are moving on. Check out the movie:

We've got a 3D model of the space which helps in planning. The current space:

The imagined future space:

New Office

2011-11-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

We closed on our office condo purchase on November 15th. The space is austerely empty and beautiful now. I was in there while the sun went down. I turned by photos into this little movie.

On Monday, construction starts. We only have a few short weeks until we have to move in! Busy times!

2 ways to get 3D models online - and one way to get them on the iPad

2011-11-17T14:15:00.008-05:00

We've been producing a lot of 3D models for as-built marketing drawings lately. We've also worked on ways to make these accessible to a wider audience. Here are two ways to easily get your models on the web:

First, consider using the built-in 3D capabilities of Adobe Acrobat. Any computer with Adobe Reader 9 or later will be able to view your model in 3D. You can distribute the file by email, or post it on-line:

If the model above does not work, try downloading the file and opening it with Adobe Reader.

The second method for publishing in 3D is to use a hosting service such as 3Dvia. Upload your model on their site and you can share it and embed it on the web.

If neither of these methods are working for you, chances you are using an iPad 'sans Flash'. Have no fear, there's other ways to access your model. For the iPad, download the 3Dvia app. The models that you've uploaded to the 3Dvia site are now automatically available on the iPad. You can turn it around and zoom with your fingers.

3D can help your prospects better visualize the space you have to offer. Even if you think it's a gimmick, it may just make your option a bit more memorable. Contact us to find out how easy (and cheap!) it can be to add 3D to your marketing tool-kit

Enhanced Marketing Drawings

2011-10-18T17:45:00.002-04:00

The way we provide marketing drawings has been subjected to a bit of a make-over. We've changed the graphic standards to improve drawing readability and we've added new features to enhance their functionality. Check out this video for an overview:

Office Space Videos

2011-10-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

Check out this video originally posted over at Chris Fyvie's blog Office Search Toronto. It's a movie that Chris produced in collaboration with one of the companies whose office space he takes care of. It showcases the company with a target audience of prospective clients and employees. The movie has a 'secondary' role of showcasing the role that the office space itself plays in supporting the culture of the company. It indirectly speaks to the role of a broker in helping the company define itself.

At Space Database, we're planning a move in January. I put together this little movie to showcase our new office space:

And here's a movie of our current space:

Like our current office? It could be yours - it's available for sub-lease! Please contact Steve Keyzer at Colliers to discuss.

Northam Realty Stacking Plans

2011-10-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

We are pleased to announce that Northam Realty has implemented the latest generation of our stacking plan software on their website. Over the years Northam Realty's website has been powered by Space Database content in a variety of ways. The delivery of our content has evolved to keep pace with the evolution of Northam's website design.

Check out the 'Availabilities' page for 2 Carlton St. When you click on the available space on the stacking plan, you'll get a detail box on the left which includes links to accurate and up-to-date floor plans. As with all Space Database marketing tools, the stack is not just an elegant graphic presentation, it's the front end of a software and service solution that ensures landlords always have current, site verified marketing content.

Kipling Realty

2011-10-03T18:06:00.000-04:00

The challenge: Build a full-featured corporate real estate site in six weeks. It will need all new graphics. It must be easily edited by a non-technical client and, oh yeah, it needs to be in three languages. That's a pretty tall order as we've seen website development take a year or more in some cases.

Kipling Realty is a successful real estate company and they needed to establish and appropriate web presence - fast. The company is run by Richard Geurts and Stephen Lewis and has built up a significant portfolio of residential and retail properties including the village at Mont Tremblant.

Kipling hired Chad Ming to design the webiste. To provide a flexible Content Management System, we used an open source software called Concrete5. As this site had to be developed in three languages, ease of use in making content changes was essential. With this system, it's now easy for a non-technical person to login and make changes to any page.

This easily editable content framework also allowed us to add in Space Database features such as interactive maps and marketing drawings. And of course we used QR codes on business cards to link to contact pages on the website.

We congratulate Kipling Realty on their new site. We think it looks terrific!

New Office Space

2011-09-26T10:00:00.029-04:00

Space Database will be moving in 2012! We love the building we're in, the Toronto Carpet Factory, but the time has come to buy a place of our own. Commercial office condos are not that common in downtown Toronto, but we found one at 477 Richmond. The new space is very different from what we have now. It'll be a glass box in the sky rather than a brick and beam factory space from the 1880's.

As you can see, I took a couple of panoramas with my iphone. I took one other one that somehow confused the software. I'm including it here because I think it's really quite lovely:

Hold the mouse button down and move your mouse to pan around.

It turns our new office into a strange 4D mobius strip of space. I'd never be able to generate such an interesting collage if I tried. Creativity through a software glitch!

As excited as we are about the new space, we'll be sad to leave the Carpet Factory. We’ve been here since 1993 and we've moved all over the building: Suite 131, Suite 402, Suite 301 and now Suite 446. The Carpet Factory is a beautiful building with a great community of tenants. Our landlord, York Heritage Properties have been consistently excellent over the years. They are warm and friendly and do a great job of looking after both buildings and tenants. We feel guilty moving away!

Saving Energy with LED Lighting

2011-09-22T12:28:00.001-04:00

Over the last couple of years we have seen LED technology applied in more and more situations: break lights, cross walks, traffic lights, and most recently for interior lighting. Faraday Lighting Company now offers a range of products that will bring the advantages of LED light to conventional commercial applications.

White LEDs were invented not much more than ten years ago, and the technology continues to develop at a rapid pace.

LED lights are extremely efficient. For the same lighting levels, LED fixtures consume around 50% of the power of equivalent fluorescent bulbs. This would be one tenth of the power consumption compared to incandescent, and with far less heat. Check out this comparison chart. As you can see, not only is LED more efficient, it's also a cleaner technology that fluorescent lighting.

Faraday Lighting is a Canadian company that offers several LED lighting options for commercial building applications. The format of the fixtures is not limited to bulb replacement. LED lighting is also available in tube and flat panel formats that can be incorporated into existing ceiling configurations.

White LED arrays assembled in tube fixtures

White LED arrays assembled as flat panels

Check out this case study for a Toronto office building. Various types of lighting were replaced with LED. Energy costs were reduced by 50% and the whole project will pay for itself in two years. A very compelling business case! Read more at Faraday Lighting Company.

INDEXIO™ Improvements

2011-09-01T11:52:00.000-04:00

Over the last couple of months we've made quite a few improvements to our INDEXIO™ application. Visit our INDEXIO™ page to learn more, or check out this short video - it explains everything in under three minutes!

Space Database Summer Party

2011-08-25T23:42:00.000-04:00

Each year we have a summer staff fun day. This year we had a great day at the Island Yacht Club. We managed to get everyone out except for Said who was away in Ottawa. We got most of the spouses and some of the kids to come too. IYC is a hidden treasure on it's own little island.

From SDI staff day 2011 - 19 Aug

We took the club tender over to the island. First we hung out for a while and had a few drinks and then we chowed down on a BBQ lunch. Next, we competed in scavenger hunt. Everyone had a great time and the winning team gloated appropriately!

Afterwards some of us went swimming and hung out by the pool while others played some tennis. Later we went out on Viz and Mikael's boat. There wasn't room for everyone so went out for a couple of rides. Here's a little movie of the day:

Tru-Measure Video

2011-08-09T14:40:00.000-04:00

Commercial real estate leasing managers need accurate and up-to-date data to be effective. And they need tools to distribute and communicate the information that they have.

Tru-Measure is a software and a service that lets landlords first leverage a highly competent north-American wide network of building surveyors to keep their data up-to-date. And then it helps them distribute rich content through websites or any other medium using a sophisticated marketing database.

We've put together this short video to give you an overview of what Tru-Measure provides for you:

New Presentations

2011-07-05T11:42:00.000-04:00

We've created two new presentations to illustrate the services we provide for commercial real estate property managers and leasing managers. They are on our main site on these two pages:

I've also embedded them here. Click on the arrow at the bottom of the image to navigate through the presentations.

Space Database for Property Managers on Prezi

Space Database for Leasing Managers on Prezi

We've used an innovative web based presentation tool here: Prezi. I think it makes for unique and compelling presentations!

Web Linked Business Cards

2011-06-29T16:43:00.007-04:00

Business cards are really important. They're an essential way that people share contact info. But contact info is no longer stored in a rolodex, it's in your email and phone contact list. Wouldn't it be great if there was a simple way to allow people to add your contact info to their electronic lists without having to type it in?

Well there's an easy way, using QR codes and vCards. Here's a QR code that I've added to back of my business card:

Scan it and you'll get to a page that looks like this:

This page contains all of my conventional contact info as well as links to social media. There's a link to 'Download vcard'. On a Blackberry, clicking on this will prompt you to save my info into the phone's contact list - which will then sync back through Exchange into Outlook.

On an iphone, the website is displayed slightly differently. The iphone does not allow for the downloading of vCard files through the Safari browser. We've got a work around whereby a user can send the vcard to themselves. Visiting the site on an iphone looks like this.

Once you get the email, you can save the attachment directly into your contact list.

A Wider Reach

2011-06-17T12:53:00.000-04:00

The internet allows companies to get there message out to the marketplace far more effectively than ever before. Technology opens up several new channels of communication.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is not just a cheaper version of conventional post. It is a medium that can provide a great deal of insight into engagement and interest. If you're not already doing this, we can show you how to find out exactly who clicked on which link and when they did so.

Websites

Websites are corporate brochures. They have become the most significant declaration of a corporate brand. But they can be used for even more. A website with rich, detailed interactive content about leasing opportunities will help you stand out and will make your site 'stickier' for potential tenants.

Search

There's not much point in having a great site if no one can find it. We can help you use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to help get searches for your building addresses onto that critical first page of results.

Web Advertising

Web advertising lets you get your message in front of a very targeted audience. For search ads, your ad appears only when someone is looking for what you specified. For both search and display ads, you control the geographic location of your audience and even the time of day that you want it visible.

The Mobile Web

Smart phones are everywhere and you need to make sure that your content is easily accessible to people on the go. We'll help you implement QR codes and other strategies to make your content and contact information easily accessible in this new medium.

All of these channels offer opportunities for commercial leasing. They allow you to cast a wider net and increase the chances that the right tenant will find you sooner.

Tech Night

2011-06-08T10:44:00.000-04:00

Last night was 'Tech Night' at the Niagara Street Public School. I ran a workshop on 3D design tools. Everything I showed the kids was based on tools that they could use at home for free. Here are some of what the students came up with:

A School re-design: Sketchup model placed in Google Earth.

A dream house: floorplanner.com

A dream house: Sketchup model placed in Google Earth.

A School re-design: Sketchup model.

The three tools we looked at were:

Floorplanner.com This is an entirely web based tool. Just visit the site and set up an account for free. Floorplanner is very easy to use. You draw a plan in 2D and then view it in 3D. This tool is good for simple layouts but not so great if you want to make more elaborate models with roofs etc.
Sketchup is a free tool from Google. You need to download and install it. Make sure you get the free version and not the 30 trial for the 'Pro' version. This is a powerful, full featured 3D modeling program. It takes a bit of effort to learn - check out YouTube for tutorial videos.
Google Earth is a great program on it's own. It's free, but you do need to download and install it. It works great with Sketchup. If you have both on your system, you can export your models and look at them in context.

QR Codes in Drawings

2011-05-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

We've started to use QR codes to enhance marketing drawings. For hosted buildings that use our marketing sites, we are able to add a QR code that links back to all the latest detail online.

Marketing drawings might get distributed, emailed and printed all over the place. Out of context, they don't provide much detail about the actual space or the building. With the QR code, anyone looking at a drawing can use their phone to get back to your building site for all the details, features and amenities as well as get links to all the up-to-date drawings for currently available space.

QR codes are everywhere these days. It's 'Main Street' now. They're on posters and ads, on billboards, in buses and subways. By using a QR reader app, smart phone users can access special offers and get more information. These codes can contain contact information, web addresses and few other kinds of data.

What you need:
You need a smart phone with a camera: iPhone, BlackBerry or Android. Next, install an app for reading these codes. Search for 'QR Reader'. Now, just run the app and point the camera at a code. Try this one:

Panoramas in Busy Places

2011-05-10T12:29:00.003-04:00

We were in New York last weekend and I thought I'd share with you a couple of the panoramas I took while there. The technology is very simple - no fancy camera or tripod, I used my iPhone to take the pictures and a simple app to stitch them together.

It's possible to create these images in dynamic, busy places. While we're on site we've started to take pictures like these where appropriate. We're excited about the fact that we can now embed them directly into marketing drawings. Expect to see more examples soon!

First off, here's a view of Grand Central Station (click and drag to move around) :

Next here's a view of the current state of Ground Zero:

And here are a couple of views of Times Square at night. I like the strange effect due to people moving around!

Space Database Inc. YouTube Channel

2011-04-20T13:03:00.000-04:00

Check out our new YouTube Channel. We've recently rebranded it and we've got quite a bit of new content. You'll find some short and simple videos about our software and services.

http://www.youtube.com/spacedatabaseinc

Tina Wolf - Client Service Manager

2011-04-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Tina Wolf as our Client Service Manager. In her new role, Tina will oversee client training and relations as well as provide support for sales activities and participate in the management of our internal ISO Quality Management System.

Prior to moving to Toronto, Tina was a Financial Advisor at TD Canada Trust in London, Ontario accumulating over 14 years experience in customer service and sales, as well as managing teams to success. Her strong understanding of the Customer Experience Cycle makes her a key player in reaching our goal of excelling in customer service and maintaining our quality control.

Please join me in welcoming Tina to the Space Database team. We are confident that she will help us to deliver the high levels of customer support and service that out clients have come to expect.

AeroCentre Offices

2011-04-13T13:38:00.001-04:00

AeroCentre is a complex of six buildings just south of the Airport in Toronto. The buildings are owned by HOOPP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) and leasing is handled by Cushman and Wakefield. Today this complex has a brand new website! Check it out here: http://www.aerocentreoffices.com/

Space Database developed this site and it is powered by our API. All of the content is controlled by our clients through our Tru-Measure application. The site offers a couple of new features. We're using embedded media to provide a better visual tour of the building. We've also incorporated a little innovation on the stacking plan pages. Instead of drilling down to a suite detail page, we now use a dynamic call-out feature to display additional details on each suite.

These are award winning, A Class buildings that are designed and managed to high environmental standards. We are delighted at the opportunity to host the leasing site for the complex!

Virge-Kai Lindaja Memorial Page

2011-04-08T09:26:00.000-04:00

Virge-Kai's family have set up a memorial page on Facebook. You can find it here. There's a large collection of photos, video and memories. You'll find pictures like this one:

Embedded Panoramic Images

2011-04-04T21:26:00.002-04:00

We've been experimenting with panoramic (360 degree) images and we've found a quick and inexpensive way to create them. The next issue has been how best to make these accessible on the web. We've come up with three solutions.

The first idea is the simplest. We've put a very long image in an iframe. Use the slider at the bottom of the image to look around.

The next idea takes the image and adds a bit of Flash magic. Click inside the image and move your mouse left and right to turn around. Observe that this is now a true 360 degree view:

The third presentation concept involves embedding the panoramas directly into the marketing drawings. If you have an up-to-date version of Acrobat, you can click on the images of the space and pan around - right in the drawing itself! Click on the image to open the PDF file.

Simple panoramas are a very cost effective way to provide a clear impression of what a space is like. It's a great addition to a marketing toolkit!

Memorial Service for Virge-Kai Lindaja

2011-04-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

Family and friends of Virge-Kai Lindaja will celebrate her life with a memorial service to be held in the middle hall, Estonian House, 958 Broadview Ave, Toronto, on Saturday, April 23, 2011, at 11 am, free parking on site.

Everyone who knew her is welcome.

Virge-Kai's family have asked that in lieu of flowers, you may consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer Canada.

Donations can be made online Here (Pancreatic Cancer Canada Donation Page)

Alternately, you can mail a cheque to:

Pancreatic Cancer Canada
446 Bank St., Suite 656
Ottawa, ON
K1V 1A8

info@pancreaticcancercanada.ca
1-888-726-2269
Charitable Number: 84870 1967 RR0001

Pancreatic Cancer

2011-03-31T20:17:00.001-04:00

Cancer is a terrible disease, but Pancreatic Cancer is the worst of them all. Here are some statistics:

The median survival after diagnosis is 3 to 6 months^[1]
3 out of 4 patients with pancreatic cancer will die within one year of their diagnosis.^[2]
The 5-year survival rate is less than 5%^[1]
The lifetime probability of developing pancreatic cancer is approximately 1 in 79^[2]

What is the Pancreas?
The pancreas is an organ that produces important hormones as well as digestive enzymes. It is tucked in below and behind the stomach and the small intestine. It is connected to other organs by various ducts. For a better and more detailed description, click here.

Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is particularly aggressive for three reasons. First, most patients do not feel any symptoms until the cancer is far advanced and there is no reliable early detection screening test. Second, pancreatic cancer has a tendency to spread rapidly to other organs in the body. Finally, pancreatic cancer does not respond well to any of our current available treatments.
Despite being the fourth largest cause of cancer death, research into pancreatic cancer treatment is woefully underfunded. Survival rates have not improved in thirty years. In the US, pancreatic cancer research only accounts for 2% of all cancer research. ^[2]
This horrible disease snatched away our colleague and friend Virge-Kai Lindaja. We strongly urge you to consider supporting pancreatic cancer research to help develop an early screening test as well as to develop more effective treatments. Please visit Pancreatic Cancer Canada to learn more.

Donations in lieu of Flowers for Virge-Kai Lindaja

2011-03-28T14:13:00.000-04:00

Virge-Kai's family have asked that in lieu of flowers, you may consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer Canada.

Donations can be made online Here (Pancreatic Cancer Canada Donation Page)

Alternately, you can mail a cheque to:
Pancreatic Cancer Canada,
446 Bank St., Suite 656
Ottawa, ON
K1V 1A8
info@pancreaticcancercanada.ca
1-888-726-2269
Charitable Number: 84870 1967 RR0001

Virge-Kai Lindaja

2011-03-24T10:01:00.000-04:00

We regret to inform you that on March 23^rd at 3:15 in the afternoon, Virge-Kai Lindaja passed away after a short battle with cancer.

Many of you will know her as the friendly voice on the phone that provided training and support. Here at the office she was a much loved colleague and a true linchpin of the organization.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and her loving husband Julius.

Embedded Media

2011-03-17T11:34:00.000-04:00

On a couple of new websites, we'll be including animated graphics to help illustrate the qualities of a building. These are media assets that fit within our automated website framework. We are using the space that is normally occupied by the building photo and inserting something a bit more dynamic. Here are some of the options we have developed.

First, here is an embedded movie with a nice little soundtrack. Click on the play button to make it go:

Here's another option. In this case we have removed the controls and the sound. The movie starts automatically and continues to loop as long as you are on the page:

Here's a third option. In this case, we display a series of images and short videos that are stored in a folder and overlay these with text headings. Because each image is a discrete file, this solution will load faster, especially on slower connections:

The decision of which options depend on the overall site design and client preferences. Expect to see media like this in new building sites over the next couple of months.

We still have some further improvements in mind. One issue is that these solutions depend on flash. Currently, if flash is not available, we simply display a static photo on the site. We would like this to 'degrade' a bit better. If there is no flash, present a javascript slideshow, if there is no javascript, fall back to an animated gif. This is what we have done here.

Another aspect we are working on is to more closely integrate this content into the main website configuration system. Currently, all these resources are in external pages that are maintained separately. In the long term, it will be better to be able to manage this content in the same way that all the other content and graphics are controlled.

Supporting the Leasing Process

2011-03-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

Space Database supports the commercial leasing process every step of the way.

TENANT DASHBOARD

First, our Tenant Dashboard software helps leasing managers plan and strategize their approach by making it easy to stay on top of existing lease details such as options and expiries. Tenant Dashboard also makes it a breeze to report on relative building and region performance so that senior management can perform valuation analysis and plan the broader corporate strategy.

TRU-MEASURE

Next, our Tru-Measure application and service ensure that you have current and accurate area information and marketing collateral. Space Database provides you with a sophisticated work order system that enables you to get update work done anywhere in North America very quickly and at fixed, consistent prices.

Tru-Measure data is published to the web via a powerful and flexible API. Your availabilities are automatically updated on your website, stacking plans, building websites and anywhere else you need them. With Tru-Measure , it's easy to keep all of your marketing up-to-date. When you need to share scaled CAD files and 3D models with prospects, they're just a click away.

INDEXIO

When it comes time for new tenants to move in, or for existing ones to reconfigure, INDEXIO gives you the edge in cutting costs and reducing project turn-around times. With INDEXIO, we'll take the disorganized basement room full of unlabeled drawings and turn it into a web-based searchable archive of PDF and CAD files that you can easily share with designers and builders. Old drawings are incredibly helpful in cutting design costs and reducing construction time. However, you can't use what you can't find. INDEXIO helps you to put your old drawings to work.

When the lease is signed, INDEXIO will help you get your new tenants into their space as quick as possible!

John Zsolt

2011-03-01T09:01:00.002-05:00

Today, March 1^st, 2011 marks two years since John passed away. As a founder, he left an indelible mark on Space Database. The company is an expression of his values and ideas. John still inspires us to do good work and to care about people: customers, partners and employees.

We miss John today, but we should also remember and celebrate the positive impact he had on all of us that were lucky enough to have known him.

More Building Websites

2011-02-14T16:48:00.000-05:00

We've launched a few more building websites. This time for Gulf Pacific Group. Here's what the site for 305 Milner looks like:

Gulf Pacific already had a well designed corporate site, but it lacked the functionality to display availability in the buildings. We used their main site as a template and applied the same look and feel to the building websites.

We've initially set up sites for two buildings. Take a look:

Each building website contains several pages of content that can easily and instantly be edited from within the Space Database Tru-Measure application. The sites include interactive, always up-to-date stacking plans with detailed suite descriptions and links to surveyed suite drawings. The location maps use the Yelp! API to provide details and reviews of local amenities.

The provision of a site like this, and/or a data feed for your corporate site (that let your web designers build customized, dynamic stacks and reports), is provided free of charge for all buildings that host drawing data with Space Database.

Space Database Presentation

2011-02-01T15:13:00.000-05:00

Check out this presentation about Space Database - it's a bit different!
Use the arrow at the bottom to navigate:

How to Furnish a 3D Plan

2011-01-28T22:38:00.000-05:00

Using the Floorplanner tool, we have created 3D models of available suites. Anyone can now easily create their own layouts and share them in 3D. Here's a step by step tutorial:

First, go to the stacking plan for 21 St. Clair Ave. and click on suite 500.
Follow the link to 'Create your own space plan in 3D!'
You will see a layout of the suite that looks like this:

You can choose to see dimensions in meters or in feet. Use the unit selector in the lower right to switch between them.
Now, let's add some furniture! Use the Library box in the top right to scroll and select furniture to add to the layout.

Drag furniture into the plan and place it where you want it. (Click down to select, hold down to drag, release toplace in the plan).

You can move the furniture. (click on the furniture, hold down and move, release the mouse button when you are done.)
You can resize the furniture by using the squares in the corners. (click on the furniture once to make the handles appear; click, hold down and drag, release when you are done. For more precise control, click on the little 'i' icon at the top left of the furniture - you can type in precise dimensions.)
You can rotate the furniture. (click on the curved arrows on the side of the furniture, hold down to rotate, release the mouse button when you are done.)
Very quickly, you'll be able to furnish your suite, like this:

Now, let's see what the design looks like in three dimensions. Click on the '3D' link in the top right corner of the drawing. If you have an old computer, this step might be a bit slow.
You will see a rendered 3D model of your layout. To manipulate the view, use the scale factor slider control on the left. To rotate the model use your mouse. Think of the model as a sphere. Click and hold down the mouse button as you move the mouse. Sometimes the model seems to jump to odd angles, but if you keep the concept of a rotating sphere in mind, it will soon make sense.

Next, you can save and share this model. Try emailing it to yourself first to see how this works. On the top left of the browser window, click on the envelope symbol. Type in a recipient email address and a message. For the first try, put your email here. Writing a message is optional.

Close your browser and check your email. You'll see a message from floorplanner. The link in the message will take you back to your layout - it's been saved and you can share it with whomever you choose. To make a new layout, repeat these steps and a new link will be created.

I think you'll find that without any experience, this is an easy tool to use. It's intuitive enough that anyone will be able to make their own personalized space plans of your space!

Space Database: not just for breakfast anymore...

2011-01-25T17:22:00.001-05:00

One of the things that stood out in our most recent customer satisfaction survey is that not all of our clients know everything that we do.
We have a strong reputation as a measurement company and this is still the single biggest service we provide. But that's only half our business. Over the years we've developed tools and services that add value to the drawing data we create. Today we run the back-end of websites; our work-order system coordinates drawing changes and updates across a network of companies; we scan, store and make available thousands of archival scanned documents.
We've got to work harder at getting our story out! To that modest end, here's a little video:

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2010 Results

2011-01-14T15:23:00.001-05:00

In December 2010 we again conducted our customer satisfaction survey. We got a good response rate to our invitation to complete an online survey and we hired a consultant to conduct a number of in-depth interviews.

We've compiled the results into a presentation and made them available online here:

View more presentations from Mikael Sandblom.

Overall the results were very good and we were flattered with the many kind comments that we received. In seeking to improve our business and service delivery, we are very interested in our clients opinions as well as suggestions for improvement. This survey is an important tool in helping us evolve and develop Space Database.

We have reviewed all of the written comments and shared them with our staff. We take this input very seriously and are very grateful for the time that our customers have spent giving us their feedback.

Click here to compare our results to 2009.

3D Space Plans

2011-01-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

3D floor plans are useful for helping people who are not accustomed to looking at drawings every day to envision what a space will be like. As a marketing and leasing tool, 3D will help leasing prospects imagine themselves in a space.

In an earlier post, we told you about a tool that we were trying out for web based space planning. We are now looking at another tool that combines 2D space planning with 3D visualization. Watch the video for a quick intro:

The tool we are using here is called Floorplanner - the same tool that was used to render the Mad Men office! With a Floorplanner model of your available space, a visitor to your site can look at the space in 2D and 3D, they can also furnish the space and share their layouts with others. It works right in the browser, so there's no need for any downloads or installations.

So, how does it work?

First we take your as-built marketing drawing that we created during a site survey and we extrude it into 3D.
The 3D model is available online and is linked from a hosted vacancy report or stacking plan.
Visitors to the site can add and arrange furniture and then share and save their designs.

Here's an embedded interactive version:

Try making your own space plan. Go to suite 530 on the 234 Omed Ave. site and follow the 'Create your own space plan in 3D' link.

A Year in Review: 2010

2010-12-21T11:01:00.001-05:00

2010 is almost over - time flies! We've achieved a lot over the last year, but it feels as though there're more ways for us to improve than ever before. We'll have our hands full in 2011!

We started working with thirty three new clients this year including Allied Properties REIT, IBM Canada, Greenwin and Whiterock REIT. We are extremely grateful to all our clients, old and new. Thanks for working with us and for trusting us to manage your data. We'll continue to work hard to continually earn your business.

On the technology front we've made several advancements:

We completely revamped our surveying process and got rid of transcription errors.
We continued to develop our mobile marketing technologies
We standardized our integration services into a robust API
We developed a systematic but flexible method for publishing building marketing sites
We integrated email marketing capabilities into our services
We updated our work order ticketing system to incorporate space planning services from third party interior designers.
We developed a method to allow users to automatically update their own marketing and record drawings.
We added a component to allow users to develop their own space plans.

There's much more under development, so stay tuned during 2011!

We completed our year end on October 31st and we are delighted to report that we've had yet another great year. Our 14th profitable year in a row! We've never posted a loss since we were incorporated. Some years we did not make much, but we always made something. We have a strong balance sheet: next to no debt and no outside investors. We have built our processes and developed our software on our own dime. We're not beholden to anyone - except our clients of course! - and our staff. There's no one out there that could 'pull the plug' on us.

These good results in tough times are due to team effort. We're lucky to have a great group of smart and hard working people. Not only do they fully apply themselves to the work at hand, they also put considerable effort into continually developing themselves and getting better at what they do. It's very flattering that several of our folks have been head-hunted this year. It's even more flattering that they have stayed with us!

On a sad note, we regret that John Zsolt, our founder, friend and colleague is not around to see the success of the business that he started. On March 1st we will be marking the second anniversary of his passing. If he were still around, I am sure that we would be even further along. But if he could see how we're doing now, I hope he would still feel proud.

Enhanced Resources for Marketers and Web Designers

2010-12-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

We've beefed up our resources for marketers and web designers. We've built a set of pages with code and implementation examples of how commercial real estate sites can use our managed content to build powerful and rich leasing sites.

Space Database creates CAD and marketing drawings of buildings. We keep this info up-to-date as the building changes over time. We calculate areas for leasing and we provide software to make this data available and accessible online. As this content is the basis of any commercial leasing activity, it makes a lot of sense to use it to drive the content of a leasing site.
The new section contains descriptions of the services we offer in both XML and JSON. We provide live examples, field descriptions and code snippets to help programmers access the data. We've also added a gallery to showcase how other companies have used our content in these sites.
Unfortunately, these pages are not public and I can't link to them here. If you're a marketer or web designer and interested in learning more, email me at msandblom[at]spacedatabase.com and I will give you the link. One caveat is that these services are available only for buildings hosted by Space Database. Although there is no extra charge to use these services, we have to be managing the data to make it available.

3D Floorplan: Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce

2010-12-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

At home we have been working our way through the Mad Men TV series. (Season 1-3 on Netflix and Season 4 on Apple TV) I was delighted to find this 3D drawing and model of the new office. This office is, of course, different from the first three seasons - it would be a spoiler to say why!

The model was built by a fan: Tadej Štrok from Slovenia. He did a lot of rewinding and pausing to figure it out and it all looks correct to me. He used a free software tool called Floorplanner

Here are some images of the model:

And here's an interactive version:

Check out Floorplanner. It's a great little tool for making 2D and 3D floorplans. Like Google SketchUp it's free to use. But unlike SketchUp it works in your browser without a download and it's even simpler and easier to use.
There's also a Pro Version for real estate professionals that allows you to create walkthroughs and drawings that can be embedded in your website. It even lets visitors to your site add furniture! It costs $29 per month.

Energy Saving Technology: LumiSmart

2010-11-12T14:52:00.000-05:00

Take a look at the CFIB Business Barometer for October 2010. It shows the results of a survey of CFIB members on a range of issues. In the section 'Major Cost Concerns', fuel and energy costs was the second most significant worry for business owners. (second only to tax and regulatory costs)
In Ontario, government policies are driving up electricity costs and time-of-use billing won't help commercial buildings. The need to reduce and conserve electrical consumption, an important goal in any case, is now more essential than ever.
Some landlords are spending large sums of money to retrofit their buildings to reduce energy costs. Some of these renovations can have very long pay-back periods. LumiSmart is new device that is installed on the circuits that power existing fluorescent lighting. It can reduce power consumption by 3o% without affecting the perceived lighting levels.
The device modifies the normal wave pattern of AC current by inserting small, very rapid on/off pulses. The position and frequency of these pulses allow the total power that is supplied to be reduced without affecting the level of light that occupants see in their workspace.

The LumiSmart Device modifies the shape of the electrical AC wave.

Installation is very straight-forward. A small device is installed at the electrical panel and all other circuitry and ballasts remain the same. You can find out more form Brightnegawatts, the distributor of LumiSmart in Canada.